Carolyn Foote

The Librarians: Heroes Stemming Book Banning Tide This most recent crackdown on “controversial” books began in 2021, when a Texas State Representative compiled a list of 850 books to be targeted for removal from libraries.

“When asked what people should take away from this film, Snyder emphasized the immense courage of these everyday workers who choose to show up and fight, even though they have everything to lose.” @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social

🗣️

Watch "The Librarians" documentary next week. Free on PBS!

You're personally invited to watch The Librarians, a new documentary about censorship, libraries, and the fight for the right to read, premiering next week on Independent Lens on PBS.

www.everylibrary.org/librarianspbs via @everylibrary.bsky.social

#TLSky #EduSky #SchoolLibrarians

The Librarians: A Must-See Documentary for Book Lovers Podcast Episode · The Book Case · 02/05/2026 · 44m

“Book banning is wrong.  And we are talking about it this week.” @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social

We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”

A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."

Crockett: "Now my colleagues want to be the protectors of girls & women. I didn't hear them screaming this when Renee Good was killed in the middle of the street by the same people the vast majority of you just voted to give more money to. It was a lot of crickets, including about the Esptein files"

honestly can't keep track of all the brilliant, invaluable writers the Washington Post has let go this morning, but I cannot recall in my lifetime a once-great publication so purposefully shooting itself in the face

As we watch billionaires purchase and control and destroy legacy media, this is why supporting orgs like @19thnews.org and @pbsnews.org @propublica.org with your $$$ is important. Information is vital to democracy!

The guy who owns Amazon shutting down the books section of the Washington Post is beyond parody

This Wednesday is World Read Aloud Day! I'm on the road for the CAMP MONSTER book tour, so I'm not able to Zoom this year because I'll be visiting Austin schools in person - but here's a thread with several read-aloud videos from me that you can include in your celebration! (thread)

Slide from a talk showing a photo of Dr. Phinazee, a middle aged Black woman in a suit jacket. Text alongside her reads "Though a good policy in the long run, one negative result [of library associations merging] was that the Black library associations in each of the southern states was dissolved, depriving Black librarians of a useful anti-segregation tool and depriving most of them of library association leadership roles."

Annette Lewis Phinazee was the first woman and the first Black American woman to earn a library science PhD from Columbia University, in 1961. She was the first Black president of the NC Library Association in 1975.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette...

#BlackHistoryMonth

Welcome to Texas 😭

MS Senate committee kills House school choice package in just 90 seconds House Speaker Jason White's signature school choice package was killed in a unanimous vote by the Senate education subcommittee.

The Mississippi Senate killed their "school choice" bill with virtually no discussion. More of this!

www.clarionledger.com/story/news/p...

Well this turn against the 2nd amendment by Republicans wasn’t on my dance card for 2026.

New Consulting Contracts in Texas Will Muzzle Authors and Harm Students New discriminatory contracts in one Texas Educational Service Center will deny authors, students, and educators inclusive opportunities.

A new consultant contract at a Texas Educational Service Center would muzzle authors & harm students, barring them from inclusive experiences.

Y'all, this is REALLY BAD.

This is the next step in banning any voices outside those deemed right by white supremacy.

bookriot.com/texas-esc-1-...

This was a huge win and may slow down some of the R overreach in Texas. But note it was also won by fierce determination of local advocates who have been driving towards this outcome for years. It takes work. (And the R had seriously pissed off parents there.)

DEM TAYLOR REHMET WINS STATE SENATE SEAT IN TEXAS! The havoc wreaked by Wambsganns, Dunn, and the school boards bought and paid for with their Patriot Mobile money is featured in THE LIBRARIANS, airing Feb 9 on PBS Independent Lens @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social @independentlens.bsky.social

If you’ve seen @thelibrariansfilm.bsky.social - Wambganss was the Patriot Mobile advocate.

A huge huge signal to Tx Republicans and legislative overreach plus national issues.

So heartening to see students protesting all over Texas and to see marches into the evening everywhere.

These Minneapolis Girl Scouts have sold more than 3,000 boxes of cookies in the last 24 hours with our help. Let’s help them sell their final 1,000 boxes over the weekend so that they can spend their summer camping and horseback riding. Bonus: Helping these kids annoys book banners. 🍪🍪🍪

Portland, Maine

www.pressherald.com/2026/01/30/l...

TEA moves to fix 4,200 errors in Bible-infused curriculum State Board of Education members criticized the publishing errors and postponed their vote on the agency’s request until their next meeting.

New: The Texas Education Agency has to correct roughly 4,200 errors in a Bible-infused elementary school curriculum that was approved by the state two years ago, the State Board of Education said Friday.

Texas Board of Education delays vote on reading list Faced with a proposed list of almost 300 readings for K-12 students, the State Board of Education delayed a vote until its meetings in April.

It feels good to have a voice! Proposed reading list for Texas students draws concern over religious themes, lack of diversity www.texastribune.org/2026/01/28/t... @txfreedomread.bsky.social @freadomfighters.bsky.social @frankstrong.bsky.social

This was in response to incredible testimony from @saras1959.bsky.social and @rebeccabendheim.bsky.social from @authorsabb.bsky.social, btw.

Educator Who Read ‘I Need a New Butt!’ to Students Wins Job Back in Court

This is great news! I wrote a letter on Toby's behalf back in 2022, but he still lost his job.

To recap, the TXlege mandated that TEA create at least one title per grade on a mandatory booklist. So TEA made a lengthy "required" list peppered with archaic titles and little diversity especially for Latino students who make up over 52% of students in Texas.

Ask Me Anything Auction item 'Ask Me Anything' hosted online at 32auctions.

Hey, there! A fantastic auction to support Minneapolis! I'm happy to participate. Offering up an "Ask me Anything" Zoom for individuals, Critique groups, or schools. But there are LOTS of incredible items to bid on! Check it out! www.32auctions.com/organization...

Bad Library Bills, 2026 Edition: State-Level Legislation of Concern Alabama, Ohio, New Hampshire, and several other states already have bills targeting libraries and books on deck for 2026.

Eight states have pre-filed and/or introduced really bad library and book censorship bills for the 2026 legislative session already. Here's what they are, what they'd do, and how you can and should push back–whether you live in these states or not.

buttondown.com/wellsourced/...