Welcome to the final roundup of 2024, and it’s a mixed bag, to be sure. In a year where press freedom and the simple freedom to read met unprecedented setbacks, we should cling to whatever scraps of joy and hope we can find.
• PEN America reported that more than 10,000 titles were removed from libraries and schools this year, which is more than three times the number last year, and about 80 percent were in Florida and Iowa.
• Whee! A federal judge struck down the Arkansas law that would have sent librarians and booksellers to jail for recommending books to minors. Anyone could have objected to any book for any reason and criminal charges would be filed.
• Louisiana’s bill that would criminalize librarians joining the American Library Association did not pass, but several states and local governments have banned the organization, which would have seemed like the least controversial organization in America ten years ago. Kelly Jensen has a comprehensive roundup of pending legislation.
• Elizabeth, Colo. leaders have decided to ban … wait for it… books about race, gender and mental health, and are now being sued by the ACLU.
• Libraries in Crawford County, Ark. and Liberty Lakes, Wash. are now desperately trying to stay open because book-banners are going after their funding. If you don’t ban the books we want, we’ll shut you down! Totally not censorship.
• Current banning efforts are underway in Cincinnati, South Carolina, Michigan, Indiana, Oregon, Colorado, Missouri, Texas and others. The list is shorter than usual because, well, school is out.
• In non-banning news: LitHub detailed the 50 biggest literary stories of 2024, and while some of them are silly (Nicholas Sparks adding Splenda to potato salad, which frankly seems on point for him), others are barnburners. Romance Writers of America filed for bankruptcy. New York City Public Library survived its funding attack. Stanford fired its entire creative writing program over Zoom. Authors who got canceled included Joe Arden, Neil Gaiman, and posthumous Alice Munro for various misdeeds. An Olympic boxer sued J.K. Rowling for being a jerk. AI continued to destroy life as we know it.
LitHub also had one of its most popular articles of the year: Ursula K. Le Guin on how to become a writer. (Step one: write.)
• And incoming President Trump sued the Des Moines Register for reporting that a poll indicated he might lose Iowa, and also sued 60 Minutes for … interviewing Vice President Kamala Harris.
Obviously we’ve all had better years. So grab onto that little scrap of joy, even if it’s just a really spectacular cookie, and enjoy it while you can, folks. I’ll see you on the flip side.