2023-06-25 14:02:03
The governor of Illinois has signed into law a bill he says will make Illinois the first US state to ban the books.
In other words, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker and his state are banning the book ban.
Illinois public libraries that restrict or prohibit materials for political or personal reasons will no longer be eligible for state funding beginning in 2024, when the new law takes effect.
“We’re not saying every book should be in every library,” said Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois secretary of state.
However, he added that librarians should be trusted – with their training and experience – to decide which books to put on the shelves.
Mr Giannoulias had previously said that it was important to teach children to think for themselves.
Recently, states in the US have pushed to have certain books removed from schools and libraries, especially those dealing with LGBTQ+ themes and written by people of color.
The American Library Association (ALA) announced in March that attempts to censor books in schools and public libraries in 2022 reached their highest level in 20 years.
The ALA reported that in 2022, there were 67 attempted book bans in Illinois.
To qualify for state funds, public libraries in Illinois must now adopt the ALA Library Bill of Rights, which states that “materials shall not be excluded on the basis of origin, backgrounds or opinions of those who helped create them,” or write their own similar statement.
Although Ms. Giannoulias hoped the bill would be supported by lawmakers on both sides, Republicans voted against it.
One, Tony McCombie, said he supported ‘local control’, adding that he and his colleagues did not believe in banning books, but that libraries should think carefully about the content of books which they place on their shelves.
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