library

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British Library Admits 'Injustice' to Oscar Wilde

It reinstates card revoked in 1895 following his conviction for gross indecency

(Newser) - More than a century after it was taken away, Oscar Wilde's library card is active once again. The British Library has reissued a reader's card for Wilde, 130 years after the famed Irish novelist and playwright lost his library access due to a conviction for "gross indecency"...

Library Director Fired After Book Controversy to Get $700K

Library director in Wyoming reaches settlement with Campbell County

(Newser) - A Wyoming county will pay $700,000 to a former library director to settle a lawsuit after a furor over books with LGBTQ+ and sexual themes. Campbell County agreed to the payout for Terri Lesley, who claims she was fired because she refused to remove certain books deemed offensive...

Cormac McCarthy Had a Massive Collection of Books

Scholars uncover secrets of 20K-book library; he also amassed bargain kitchen items, tweed jackets

(Newser) - Just a little over two years after Cormac McCarthy's death , a rare glimpse inside the late novelist's home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, reveals more about the man behind the myth than any interview ever could. The notoriously secretive McCarthy left behind a cluttered adobe packed with...

Robert E. Lee Is Heading Back to West Point's Walls

Painting of Confederate general was removed by law in 2022; it's not clear how it's being returned

(Newser) - In 2022, a 20-foot-high portrait of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was yanked off the walls of the US Military Academy's library in West Point, New York, after seven decades and put into storage. The move came after a 2020 law under President Biden that scrubbed the names of...

Overdue Book Checked Out Before WWII Ended Is Back

Primer on child relationships had been checked out of the San Antonio Public Library in 1943

(Newser) - A library book has been returned nearly 82 years after it was borrowed from the San Antonio Public Library. The book—Your Child, His Family, and Friends, by marriage and family counselor Frances Bruce Strain—was checked out in July 1943 and returned this past June from a person in...

Beetles Are Chowing Down in Hungary's Oldest Library

About 100K books are pulled from shelves at Pannonhalma Archabbey due to beetle infestation

(Newser) - Tens of thousands of centuries-old books are being pulled from the shelves of Hungary's 1,000-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey—a sprawling Benedictine monastery that's one of Hungary's oldest centers of learning and a UNESCO World Heritage Site—in an effort to save them from a beetle infestation that...

Judge: Trump Can Go Ahead With Library Cuts

Richard Leon denied ALA's ask to halt dismantling of Institute of Museum and Library Services

(Newser) - A federal judge on Friday denied a request by the American Library Association to halt the Trump administration's further dismantling of an agency that funds and promotes libraries across the country, saying that recent court decisions suggested his court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. US District Judge Richard...

The Most-Challenged Books of 2024
The Most-Challenged
Books of 2024
Apr 7, 2025 1:05 PM CDT

The Most-Challenged Books of 2024

George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue saw the most pushback, per American Library Association

(Newser) - Removing books from library shelves is no longer simply a story of objections from a local community or a parent, the American Library Association says. In its "State of America's Libraries" report released Monday, the ALA found more than 70% of attempted bans come from organized groups and...

Ex-NFL Player Arrested in MAGA Protest
Ex-NFL Player
Arrested Protesting
MAGA Plaque
VIDEO
Feb 21, 2025 10:53 AM CST

Ex-NFL Player Arrested Protesting MAGA Plaque

Ex-Viking Chris Kluwe went off in speech at City Council meeting in Huntington Beach, California

(Newser) - Former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe pushed back against the "Make America Great Again" movement at a meeting of the California city of Huntington Beach City Council, earning an arrest for his efforts. The details:
  • Impetus: According to the New York Times , the 43-year-old showed up at the meeting
...

Julianne Moore: My Kids Book About Freckles Was Banned

Actor says it was 'great shock' to learn Freckleface Strawberry was pulled from Defense Dept. schools

(Newser) - Last week, the Defense Department issued a memo noting it had started reviewing books in schools for military families operated by the DoD—and now an Oscar-winning actor says her children's book is one that's been pulled from library shelves. "It is a great shock for me...

Here Are Some of 2024's Most-Borrowed Books

NPR looks at data from 18 libraries across the country

(Newser) - Public libraries have been releasing their end-of-year lists, and NPR took a look at 18 of them to see what some of the most-borrowed books of 2024 were:
  • Popular across the country: Kristin Hannah's The Women, Rebecca Yarros' Fourth Wing, Emily Henry's Happy Place
  • Most popular in New
...

He Tried to Return Library Book After 50 Years

Michigan branch told him Chuck Hildebrandt he could keep it

(Newser) - Fifty years later, a man who grew up in suburban Detroit tried to return a very overdue baseball book to his boyhood library. The answer: You can keep it—and no fine. Chuck Hildebrandt, 63, of Chicago said he visited the public library in Warren while in town for Thanksgiving,...

Texas Board Reclassifies Indigenous Book as 'Fiction'

Move comes after Montgomery County removed librarians from the process

(Newser) - A review board in Texas has made the controversial decision to reclassify a book about a Native American tribe from nonfiction to fiction in a public library. The move regarding Colonization and the Wampanoag Story came after Montgomery County stripped the review board of librarians, reports LoneStarLive.com . The rationale...

Harvard's Gruesomely Infamous Book Has an Update

University announces it has removed binding made of human skin from 19th-century tome

(Newser) - If you've ever spent a rainy day browsing through Harvard's "Ask a Librarian" FAQ, you may have stumbled upon one particularly gruesome query : "What is the status of the book bound in human skin at Harvard?" After a decade of debate and controversy, that status now...

Library Comes Up With Purrfect Way to Forgive Lost Books

Worcester Public Library in Massachusetts is granting amnesty if you bring in cat pics

(Newser) - A Massachusetts library has implemented a temporary—and arguably purrfect—forgiveness program for those who've lost or damaged materials they've borrowed. The New York Times reports on the "March Meowness" initiative currently happening at the Worcester Public Library: For this month only, borrowers whose library cards have...

Author's Kids Book Flagged for a 'Laughable' Reason

Picture book placed on review list for Alabama library due to writer Mary-Louise Gay's last name

(Newser) - Marie-Louise Gay's children's books often pop up on various recommended lists, like "books to watch for" and books that "inspire a love of reading." At one Alabama library, however, one of the award-winning Canadian author and illustrator's picture books was placed on a list...

Lawmaker's Wife Accused of Targeting Little Free Libraries

She said she has been buying Bibles, 'swapping out' content

(Newser) - After a Facebook post from the wife of a Republican state lawmaker in Arkansas, conservatives in the state were accused of seeking to censor Little Free Libraries as well as school libraries and public libraries. "I have been swapping out books in little free libraries for awhile. I have...

Library Book Is Back, Nearly 120 Years Late

Treatise on electricity is safely back in the hands of New Bedford library in Massachusetts

(Newser) - Stories about long-lost library books being returned years after the due date aren't so uncommon. But rarely does the gap exceed a century. The New York Times reports that the New Bedford Free Public Library in Massachusetts has received one of its books last checked out in 1904 or...

'One of Most Sex-Ridden Books Around' Returned to School Shelves

Utah's Davis School District reverses decision

(Newser) - Bibles will return to the shelves in a northern Utah school district that provoked an outcry after it banned them from middle and elementary schools last month, the AP reports. Officials from the Davis School District said at a board meeting Tuesday that the district had determined the sacred text...

Library on Surprise Return: 'Do We Have a Story for You'

Book overdue for 44 years, $20 check turns up in the mail at Deschutes Public Library in Oregon

(Newser) - Life moves fast, so you may not be aware that Saturday is the last day of Return Borrowed Books Week . One library in Oregon has some news to share on that topic. "Do we have a story for you," reads a Wednesday Facebook post from the Deschutes Public...

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