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Katie’s parents never told her “no” when she asked for a book, which was the start of most of her problems. She has an MLIS from the University of Illinois and works full time as a Circulation & Reference Manager in Illinois. She has a deep-rooted love of all things disturbing, twisted, and terrifying and takes enormous pleasure in creeping out her coworkers. When she’s not at work, she’s at home watching the Cubs with her cats and her cardigan collection. Other hobbies include scrapbooking, introducing more readers to the Church of Tana French, and convincing her husband that she can, in fact, fit more books onto her shelves.
Twitter: @kt_librarylady
View All posts by Katie McLain Horner
What’s up, Library Land? The censorship updates from across the country keep piling up, and still Utah and Idaho managed to rise above the noise. This is the future that the new administration would love to see for the entire country, so it’s essential that we do everything in our power to make sure this doesn’t happen. If you’re looking for ways to feel a little less helpless about everything *gestures vaguely*, Kelly Jensen has pulled together a list of updates and organizations in Los Angeles that need your support after the wildfires. And on a slightly more entertaining note, I have a sneak peek at what to expect from the upcoming Welcome to Derry miniseries.
Censorship Updates from Utah and Idaho
Utah, you may remember, recently passed a law that says if a book is banned in three or more school districts, the book has to be removed from all school districts statewide. Now, the State Board of Education has issued guidance that says students can’t even bring personal copies of banned titles with them to school. The list of books banned across the state has reached 15, and is only going to grow longer.
Meanwhile, in Idaho, the Community Library Network in Kootenai County has removed over 140 books “for review” and is planning “adults-only” rooms in some of their branch libraries. This is in response to another draconian state law that says if a complaint is filed against an “inappropriate” title, libraries have 60 days to relocate the item to a section that is only accessible to adults. As a result, Idaho libraries have had to resort to extreme measures to ensure they stay in compliance with the law, and the Community Library Network is the most recent library system to reach the news.
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What To Expect From Welcome to Derry
I was alarmingly excited when I first learned that Andy Muschietti was creating a miniseries that expanded on It‘s backstory. Muschietti directed both of the recent It adaptations in 2017 and 2019, so he’s the perfect person to create an expanded Derry cinematic universe. Well, now we have a little more information about what to expect from the series.
If you’ve read It before, you know that Pennywise emerges from hibernation every 27 years or so to begin a new cycle of murdering children, and each one of these cycles begins and ends with a violent occurrence in town that Derry residents never want to fully acknowledge afterward. In the book, Mike Hanlon’s character does a deep dive into several of these events in Derry’s history. Muschietti has said that Welcome to Derry will draw from each of these interlude chapters. One of the things that makes It such a powerful novel is the way that Derry becomes its own character, and I hope that Muschietti’s vision will bring this to life.
Resources for L.A. Wildfire Aid
As part of her weekly censorship update, Kelly Jensen pulled together a large roundup of important readings and news updates related to the L.A. wildfires, along with a number of organizations and resources that are providing aid to affected communities. Take a look, and remember sometimes monetary donations are the most effective ways to help, even when you feel like you need to be offering something more tangible.
