'"Banning a book is the resort of a government that has lost confidence in the power of its own message,” Novack said. “Not only are book bans wrong, they are counterproductive."'
...
'The lawsuit said HB 710 “puts educators and librarians in the untenable position of having to guess whether any member of the public might file an objection to a book whose message they disagree with,” especially because the distinction of a “harmful” book is subjective.
'Sherry Scheline, director of the Donnelly Public Library, said during the news conference that the law “caused a crisis in our community...
'The Donnelly Library is housed in a 1,000-square-foot log cabin that Scheline said is about one-tenth the size of the average Idaho library. Because of the policy shift, the library has moved its after-school kids’ program to outdoor tepees to comply with the law. Scheline said budget and staffing issues compound the library’s inability to allow unsupervised children.'
https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2025/feb/09/publishers-authors-idaho-library-district-sue-stat/
I have subscribed to the weekend print edition of this paper. It's $12 a month. I also subscribe to the Salt Lake Tribune e-edition.
I encourage you to find local reporting (whether local to you, or to a place of interest or effectiveness), and subscribe. It's one of the most powerful things you can do right now, is keep these independent, small town papers afloat.
