Censorship news and advice for librarians and educators from School Library Journal
Nintendo Magazine Pulled From Middle School Library By Rocco Staino - 03/31/2009
A magazine cover of a woman holding a gun has led a middle school principal to pull it from the media center, over the objection of the librarian. More
Conservative Group Calls for Boycott of Scholastic By Rocco Staino - 11/11/2009
The Illinois Family Institute (IFI), a conservative organization dedicated to upholding and reaffirming marriage and family life, has called for a boycott of Scholastic.
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Roanoke Schools Temporarily Removes ‘Perks of Being a Wallflower’ By Lauren Barack - 11/04/2009
Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (MTV, 1999) is in trouble again—and this time it’s been removed from shelves as it goes through the review process outlined by Virginia’s Roanoke County Public Schools.
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KY Library Fires Circ Staffers for Refusing to Check Out Graphic Novel By Lauren Barack - 11/04/2009
Two circulation staffers at the Jessamine County Public Library (JCPL) in Nicholasville, KY, have lost their jobs for refusing to let an 11-year-old girl check out a book in the graphic novel series, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Their reasoning? She was too young.
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When Weeding Is Wrong: A principal asks for banned books to be removed from the collection By Pat Scales - 11/01/2009
A parent of one of our eighth graders came into the library and began pulling books off our shelves. She ended up stacking 15 books on the circulation desk—including The Giver, The Chocolate War, Monster, and Looking for Alaska—and demanded that we permanently remove them from our collection.
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Scholastic to Sell 'Luv Ya Bunches' at Middle School Book Fairs By Rocco Staino and Debra Lau Whelan - 10/30/2009
Scholastic has reversed its decision to censor Lauren Myracle’s controversial Luv Ya Bunches (Abrams/Amulet, 2009) from school book fairs and will make a slightly sanitized version of the title available at middle schools in spring 2010. The novel, however, still won’t be for sale at elementary fairs—even though it specifically targets that age group.
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2009 National Book Awards On the red carpet with nominees in the Young People's Literature category.
Photos by Rocco Staino.
SLJ Covers 2009 A bigger and better view of SLJ's covers from 2009
BookExpo America 2009: SLJ's Day of Dialog School Library Journal held a Day of Dialog in conjunction with the annual BookExpo America on May 28, 2009 at the Brooklyn Public Library. Full story: bit.ly/1a0G7o
Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (unabr.). 9 cassettes or 9 CDs. 11 hrs. Recorded Books (recordedbooks.com). 2009. cassette, ISBN 978-1-4407-3888-3: $67.75; CD, ISBN 978-1-4407-3892-0: $97.75. Gr 7 Up–Seventeen-year-old Jessica Packwood was adopted as an infant and raised in rural Lebanon County, PA, by a socially conscious vegan couple.
Celebrity decorator Evette Rios reads to enthusiastic second graders at the Brooklyn Brownstone School library as part of a First Book donation event. The Eight O' Clock Coffee brand and Candlewick Press are teaming up to contribute 20,000 books to children across the country through their partnership with First Book, an organization that provides new books to children in need.
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Jessica’s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side (unabr.). 9 cassettes or 9 CDs. 11 hrs. Recorded Books (recordedbooks.com). 2009. cassette, ISBN 978-1-4407-3888-3: $67.75; CD, ISBN 978-1-4407-3892-0: $97.75. 
