Public and school libraries are protected from pressure to remove or restrict access to books based on “partisan or doctrinal disapproval” in legislation signed by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker (D) Monday. There were 67 attempts to have books removed from library shelves in Illinois, including books about LGBTQ+ youth, the Black experience and racisim, Pritzker said in a ceremony to sign state House Bill 2789 held at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, The News-Gazette of Champaign reports.
HB 2789 makes it the policy of Illinois to “encourage and protect the freedom of libraries and library systems to acquire materials without external limitation and to be protected against attempts to ban, remove, or otherwise restrict access to books or other materials.”
Book bans are at the center of the Culture War dividing the U.S. According to The Hustings’ first report from Stacker, book ban efforts reached record levels in 2022. Scroll down from the trackbar on the far right to read the story.
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