A display of some books that have been challenged around the country is seen at the Mott Haven branch of the New York Public Library in the Bronx, New York City, Oct. 7.
Ted Shaffrey/AP
On Jan. 1 , Illinois’ new law meant to slow the rapid rise of books being challenged or pulled from library shelves goes into effect. And librarians across the country are watching to see if a similar law would work in their state – particularly when it comes to threatening funding for libraries.
The Illinois law states that in order to be eligible for state grants, a library or library system must adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, which says:
“Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.”
Last fiscal year, Illinois awarded more than 1,400 library grants totaling about $62 million, according to Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, whose office will oversee the program.
“We’re not telling any library or any school district or library district what books they have to have in circulation,” Giannoulias says. “What this legislation does is say that we want to trust our librarians who have the expertise, the education, the experience to determine what books should continue to be in circulation.”
According to the American Library Association, nearly 2,000 unique titles were challenged in libraries across the country between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31. That’s a 20 percent increase over the same time last year. And most of those challenges were for…
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