Bookish News: 25 May 2023

Independent book stores, resisting book bans, and Neil Gaiman.

Inaugural Poem by Amanda Gorman Banned After Single Complaint

From Book Riot: In the complaint, which Gorman tweeted below, Salinas claims the poem means to “indoctrinate students” and “is not educational.” She also incorrectly lists Oprah Winfrey as the poem’s author, doesn’t specify the parts of the poem that are the source of her complaints, and doesn’t list any alternatives. Additionally, the other materials she challenged — The ABCs of Black History, Cuban Kids, Love to Langston, and Countries in the News Cuba — all had to do with Black or Latine culture.

DOE Delivers Potentially Crucial Finding in Fight Against Book Bans

From Publishers Weekly: Freedom to read advocates are applauding a final report and resolution agreement from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights that could help blunt the surge of book bans in schools.

In a May 19 letter and resolution agreement, DOE officials concluded that the Forsyth County (Georgia) School district’s removal of books largely featuring Black and LGBTQ characters created a potentially “hostile environment” for students, in violation of their civil rights. And in a potentially landmark resolution agreement, the district agreed to work with the DOE to address student discrimination issues arising from the book bans.

Just a few hateful parents are responsible for most of the book challenges in America.

From LitHub: We all know that things are bad when it comes to widespread, targeted book-banning in America. It’s a free speech crisis unlike any we’ve seen in a generation, and follows in this country’s grand tradition of moral panic-as-national pastime.

But did you know that just 11 people are responsible for more than 60 percent of book challenges in the 2021-22 school year?

How Should We Feel about Barnes and Noble Now?

From Book Riot: Years ago, there was a push to support indies over mega chains, but in recent years, Amazon’s threat has changed the story somewhat, leading many book lovers (me included) to acknowledge that Barnes & Noble, as one of the few remaining brick-and-mortar chains, is still a preferable option over Amazon. They’ve made some headway over the past couple years as they once again spin to becoming the “hero” of the story, the big-box store that outlasted and survived Amazon, proving our love of physical locations and physical books despite the odds.

Neil Gaiman Speaks at the Alternative Graduation Held at a College Resisting Ron DeSantis’ Hostile Takeover

Independent bookselling expanded again in 2022, with new and diverse stores opening nationwide

From WFMJ: “I think a lot of people re-evaluated what was important to them during the lockdown and we realized the place we were always happy to be at was a bookstore,” says the 30-year-old Callahan, who with Ross and Carter last year founded the Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, close to Carter’s hometown. The roughly 1,000-square foot store is located on the main floor of a Queen Anne style house where Callahan and Ross live upstairs.