Welcome back, library friends. Today, we’re talking all things Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, prison censorship, and more. Let’s dive in.

Dolly Parton and Her Imagination Library
  • Dolly Parton’s contributions to literacy will outlive the star, just like she planned.
  • Related: a roundup of all of the libraries and literary organizations that released statements in honor of Dolly.
  • Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library changes lives, but states are gutting it anyway.
  • 10 things you may not have known about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
  • Dolly Parton’s books have re-entered the bestseller charts.
  • 6 of Dolly Parton’s favorite books.
Library Updates
  • The Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild have released a joint report saying that library eBook lending hurts industry sales. There’s a lot to dig into here, but I want to highlight this line: “The study also questions to what extent libraries contribute to ‘discoverability.'” Truly, I don’t understand why these groups think it’s a good idea to make libraries the enemy.
  • Flood damage left the Yorktown Library in Indiana without books, computers, or insurance.
  • The library system in Deschutes County, Oregon, did away with the Dewey Decimal System and reorganized its collections to be more like a bookstore. The result has been a significant increase in circulation.
Censorship Updates
  • Censorship in prison: fulfilling the writ of librarianship.
  • Request denied (again): navigating prison censorship from the outside.
  • Anti-censorship legislation: prisons need not apply.
  • A nonprofit that sends books to Texas prisons is facing a new hurdle: new regulations that ban hardcovers and used books for inmates. Plus, more information on how prisons are censoring what incarcerated people read.
  • PEN America has a new report on the expanding censorship in public libraries.
  • Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says that Texas is “coming for the books” in public school libraries.
  • The Sarasota County (FL) school board, which had previously been helmed by a Moms for Liberty cofounder, has flipped from red to blue in its recent election.
  • Alabama Public Library Service staff have advised the APLS board not to fill a position that was created to help libraries comply with multiple controversial administrative code changes over the last couple of years. They say there’s no need for the position.
  • Patty Hector, the executive director of the Saline County library system in Arkansas, has received a $275K settlement after being fired in retaliation for not restricting access to certain children’s books.
  • Utah has banned Push by Sapphire, the 37th book banned across the state and the first of the new school year.