States are fighting back against the tide of book bannings across the U.S. with Democratic-majority legislatures passing laws against bans. Minnesota is now considering a law and Washington, Illinois and Maryland have already passed laws. (The Associated Press, April 23, 2024, by Steve Karnowski and Mike Catalini)
The Illinois law punishes public libraries for banning books for “partisan or doctrinal” reasons. To keep their eligibility for state funds, public libraries must adopt the American Library Association Library Bill of Rights or a similar pledge. (The Associated Press, June 12, 2023, by Claire Savage)