# book bans (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 3 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover book bans. Page: Feed: --- ## [The Law Passed. Now What? Why the Rulemaking Stage Matters Just as Much](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/the_law_passed_now_what_why_the_rulemaking_stage_matters_just_as_much) _2026-08-20 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ When a bill is signed into law, it is tempting to think the work is finished. Supporters celebrate, opponents regroup, and headlines move on to the next legislative fight. But for parents, educators, librarians, and community members concerned about the freedom to read, the passage of a law is often only the beginning. ## [Arkansas's New Library Law: Lessons We've Learned in Florida](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/arkansas_s_new_library_law_lessons_we_ve_learned_in_florida) _2026-08-13 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ For many people following the recent federal appeals court decision allowing Arkansas to enforce portions of Act 372 , the headlines have been alarming. Stories have focused on the possibility that librarians could face criminal penalties for distributing materials deemed "harmful to minors." Librarians across Arkansas are understandably trying to determine what the ruling means for their… ## [Beyond Book Bans: When the Target Becomes the Library Itself](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/beyond_book_bans_when_the_target_becomes_the_library_itself) _2026-08-05 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ For the past several years, debates over school and public libraries have centered on individual books. Which titles belong on the shelves? How should concerns be addressed? Who gets to decide? Those questions are still important. But in many communities, the conversation has begun to shift. ## [What Makes a Strong School Library?](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/what_makes_a_strong_school_library) _2026-07-22 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ When people talk about school libraries today, the conversation often centers on what books should or should not be on the shelves. But perhaps we're asking the wrong question. Instead of focusing on what libraries exclude, we should be asking what makes them strong. ## [When "Temporary" Becomes Permanent: How Delayed Reviews Turn Into Quiet Book Removals](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/when_temporary_becomes_permanent_how_delayed_reviews_turn_into_quiet_book_removals) _2026-07-16 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ School libraries regularly remove books from their collections. It's a normal, professional part of library management known as weeding. Librarians replace worn-out copies, remove outdated materials, eliminate duplicates, and make room for new titles that better serve readers. Thoughtful weeding keeps a collection healthy, relevant, and useful. But something different has emerged in recent years. ## [Stop Calling Book Banning a "Culture War"](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/stop_calling_book_banning_a_culture_war) _2026-07-08 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ Open almost any news story about book bans, school library restrictions, or challenges to classroom materials, and you'll likely see the same phrase: the culture war over books. It's become such common shorthand that many people no longer question it. But the label itself deserves scrutiny. ## [What Should Schools Teach, and Who Decides?](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/what_should_schools_teach_and_who_decides) _2026-07-02 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ Every generation revisits the same questions about public education. How should students learn about the nation's founding? How should schools discuss slavery, civil rights, religion, immigration, and civic responsibility? How do educators teach difficult chapters of history honestly while also helping students understand the ideals that have shaped the United States? These are not new debates,… ## [When One Objection Becomes Everyone’s Problem](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/when_one_objection_becomes_everyone_s_problem) _2026-06-25 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ A parent in one county objects to a book. A review committee considers the challenge. A district makes a decision. Perhaps only a handful of people in the community even know the challenge is happening. Maybe there is an opportunity for public input. Maybe there is not. Maybe the decision reflects the views of the broader community. Maybe it does not. Traditionally, that decision would remain… ## [Beyond "Do You Support Book Bans?" Questions Every Voter Should Ask Local Candidates](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/beyond_do_you_support_book_bans_questions_every_voter_should_ask_local_candidates) _2026-06-17 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ Election season often brings renewed attention to education, libraries, and the freedom to read. Candidates for school board, superintendent, city council, county commission, state legislature, and other local offices routinely encounter questions about book bans and censorship. Unfortunately, many of those conversations stop at a simple question: "Do you support book bans?" ## [When a Curation Practice Becomes Censorship by Another Name](http://www.freedomtoreadproject.org/when_a_curation_practice_becomes_censorship_by_another_name) _2026-06-11 · Arielle Haughee · Keeping Up and Checking In - Freedom to Read Project_ Libraries are living collections. Books come in. Books wear out. Books become outdated. Books stop circulating. New titles arrive, community interests shift, and available shelf space remains finite. Because of this reality, librarians have long relied on a professional practice known as weeding: the thoughtful removal of materials that no longer serve the needs of the collection. ## [CLI-first decentralized compute (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/sU7H1qDkQyGF) _2026-06-11 · **Sponsored**_ Run and pay spare GPUs from the CLI — transcode, coinpay (DID+escrow), infernet (AI). ## [Book Banning Across America](https://samuelscohen.com/2026/02/27/book-banning-across-america/) _2026-02-27 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ In case you missed it, book banning is going national. On Tuesday, February 24, HR 7661 was introduced in the second session of the 119th Congress by Rep. Mary Miller, the representative from the 15th, the most Republican district in Illinois. Rep. Miller is known for, among very few other things, quoting Hitler approvingly to … Continue reading "Book Banning Across America" ## [Not a How-to](https://samuelscohen.com/2026/02/12/not-a-how-to/) _2026-02-12 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ So a week from today, on February 19, 2026, a book I edited and wrote a little of is officially appearing in the world. It’s about something I think is important–the widespread effort to limit access in classrooms and libraries to books some people think should not be readily available. My press, Bloomsbury Academic, thinks … Continue reading "Not a How-to" ## [We Have Met the Enemy](https://samuelscohen.com/2026/01/24/we-have-met-the-enemy/) _2026-01-25 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ I’m writing this on the night of January 24, 2026, at the end of a day filled with news from Minneapolis, where, at 9 this morning, ICE shot an innocent man after dragging him to the ground and pistol whipping him. The people in charge of the occupation of American have been lying about this … Continue reading "We Have Met the Enemy" ## [I Read the News Today, Oh Boy](https://samuelscohen.com/2026/01/03/i-read-the-news-today-oh-boy/) _2026-01-03 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ So we woke up today to learn that we’re kidnapping people outside the US now too. The president and whoever was the last person to talk to him decided to attack Venezuela because of drugs, oil, democracy, domestic politics, unresolved daddy issues, FIFA peace prize, whatever. And he didn’t ask Congress because only people who … Continue reading "I Read the News Today, Oh Boy" ## [This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/11/24/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-things/) _2025-11-25 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ So they’re destroying higher education in the US. It was maybe the thing we should have been proudest of. For decades after the Baby Boom filled campuses to bursting and the National Defense Education Act of 1958 responded to Sputnik by pouring billions of dollars into research, American universities were the envy of the world. … Continue reading "This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things" ## [Hey You Assholes](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/10/15/hey-you-assholes/) _2025-10-15 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ I haven’t written a thing on this blog since June because I’ve been busy and because I’ve been angry. Like maybe most of the people reading this, should such a thing happen, I’ve been moving back and forth between helpless angry and motivated angry, between there’s nothing we can do angry and we have to … Continue reading "Hey You Assholes" ## [Tech Support](https://www.creativecontractconsulting.com/new-blog-1/2025/6/13/tech-support) _2025-06-13 · Gamal Hennessy · The Comic Book Advocate_ The Question The goal of the Comic Book Advocate is to make graphic novels of all types available to all of the people who want to read them. After thinking about the issue for several months, I think I’ve discovered the first solution I’m going to implement to achieve this lofty goal ·The main obstacle to achieving to expanded access to graphic novels is the rising tide of censorship in America,… ## [Going Underground](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/06/01/going-underground/) _2025-06-01 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ Below please find a few words I delivered to introduce the closing plenary of a seminar last week. It’s short but says something about what it’s like for humanities professors trying to help run departments, divisions, or colleges during the worst assault on higher education this country has ever seen. Association of Departments of English/Association … Continue reading "Going Underground" ## [All Politics (and Comic Book Bans) Are Local](https://www.creativecontractconsulting.com/new-blog-1/2025/4/13/all-politics-and-comic-book-bans-are-local) _2025-04-13 · Gamal Hennessy · The Comic Book Advocate_ In the few months that I’ve been researching and reading about comic book bans, I’ve noticed two types of stories. The first type is the school you’ve never heard of, in a town you don’t know, in a state you never visited, has banned a book you may not have read. These stories may seem remote, isolated, and inconsequential, more of an anecdote than a problem. The second type of story is the… ## [Requiem](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/03/16/requiem/) _2025-03-17 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ Anna Akhmatova This set of poems was written by Anna Akhmatova from 1935-1961. Most of the poems were written in the 1940s, but Akhmatova did not think it would be safe for her to publish them at the time. They weren’t published in Russia until 1987. The below steals from a few different translations I … Continue reading "Requiem" ## [Ship software peacefully (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/zNMV2Vyoiq0m) _2025-03-17 · **Sponsored**_ Connect your repo and deploy instantly — Railway handles config, scaling, and monitoring. ## [You Gotta Fight...For Your Right...To Read Comics](https://www.creativecontractconsulting.com/new-blog-1/2025/3/5/n8eeqpmvov2sjcukiu7rko2senlz8y) _2025-03-06 · Gamal Hennessy · The Comic Book Advocate_ In the past few weeks, upheaval has impacted everything from geopolitics, to the economy, to civil liberties. It is easy to get sucked into a cycle of doom scrolling and notification anxiety in the face of what feels like never ending chaos. While feelings of monolithic, existential dread are understandable, the solution may be far more manageable. Yes, there are large, complex, and wide-ranging… ## [Dear Donald John](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/02/19/dear-donald-john/) _2025-02-20 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ Dear Donald John,We're just going to pull the band-aid off here: we're writing to tell you that we don't want to see you anymore. We don't want to hurt your feelings, because you seem to be kind of thin-skinned, like the kind of thin-skinned where if somebody makes a joke about you you'll run for … Continue reading "Dear Donald John" ## [Gulf of America](https://samuelscohen.com/2025/02/11/gulf-of-america/) _2025-02-11 · Sam Cohen · Samuel Cohen_ With help from Merriam-Webster: gulf noun 1. A part of the ocean or sea extending into the land The U.S. has a few gulfs, among them the Gulf of Alaska, the Gulf of Maine, and the Gulf of Mexico. California has a couple more gulfs. The country’s also got plenty of sounds and bays and … Continue reading "Gulf of America"