Book Ban

On Wednesday, the Boise Library Commission considered, and rejected, a request to remove a children’s book from its collection.

The ALA says 4,235 titles were challenged at U.S. libraries — the second-highest year on record. Forty percent of the challenged works involved LGBTQ+ subjects or the experiences of people of color.

For the last five years, Rediscovered Books and the writing organization The Cabin have been giving away copies of books that have made it onto banned book lists.

It’s National Banned Books Week, but a Boise bookstore spotlights banned books year-round.

Schools and libraries are seeing unprecedented attempts to pull books, deemed controversial by some, off the shelves. A new study finds those books are often about and by diverse people.

“I'm so glad that we have diversity in our interests as Idaho readers, and I am so happy to defend that.”

Rarely does a librarian ask someone else for help. Think about it: their profession is to help everyone else. That said, given the Idaho Legislature’s steady stream of proposed legislation concerning libraries, more than a few librarians are feeling overwhelmed.

Librarians from across Idaho spent their Martin Luther King Jr. day distributing copies of a "little book" to every Idaho legislator. It’s a compilation of essays from people across Idaho, writing about the importance of their public libraries and why they’re against restricting what librarians put on the shelves.

Idaho librarians are under fire. Idaho Matters finds out how they are handling the new political landscape.