Elizabeth Kim , Gothamist; Mayor Mamdani restores library funding after public outcry
"Mayor Zohran Mamdani is turning the page on a plan that would have cut funding to New York City libraries...
But library supporters wasted no time mobilizing against the cuts. NYC PLAN, which is made up of library patrons and staff members, held a rally for libraries in March. They also launched an online campaign describing the mayor’s preliminary budget as “terrible” for the city’s libraries."
Ruth Fremson, The New York Times; This Bookstore Gets Good Mileage
"Saint Rita’s Amazing Traveling Bookstore Textual Apothecary (its name painted on the sides and back of the van) is a vehicle for the cross-pollination of people and conversation. That’s what has evolved since Collins, now 74, began imagining her retirement dream more than a decade ago — not just selling high quality, inexpensive books, but setting her love of people, places and the wonders of a good read all in motion together."
PEN America; Banned Nonfiction Books Double in Public Schools, Erasing Authentic Stories & Histories
"In its latest report on book bans in public schools, PEN America today documents a doubling of censorship of nonfiction on subjects from history and health to general knowledge, including biographies and memoirs. The targeting of titles about real events or people underscores “an embrace of anti-intellectualism” within the book banning movement, according to the new report Facts & Fiction: Stories Stripped Away By Book Bans.
The report offers detailed analysis of the content of the 3,743 unique titles that were removed from school libraries and classrooms from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. Over this same period, PEN America tracked 6,780 total instances of bans across 23 states.
Twenty-nine percent of the unique titles banned last school year were nonfiction. In addition, approximately 13% of all unique titles fell into the educational/informational genre – texts primarily written for students for reference or learning purposes and covering a range of subjects. Overall, the rise of banned nonfiction and educational titles exposed a new casualty in the campaign to suppress and restrict learning, which goes hand in hand with efforts to undermine public education and librarianship itself, the report states.
“This latest trend shows an embrace of anti-intellectualism, undermining public knowledge by devaluing education and expertise,” said Kasey Meehan, director of PEN America’s Freedom to Read program. “It is another example of how censorship sweeps broadly, leading to removals of all kinds of books, in its efforts to sow fear and distrust in our public education system.”
As book bans in public schools have exploded since 2021, PEN America, the writers and free expression organization, has documented the crisis nationwide, counting more than 23,000 bans over the period.
The increase in nonfiction bans over 2024-2025 is especially troubling as reading scores and literacy rates decline while the report notes that nonfiction “is the gateway to literacy” and essential for young people to make sense of the world and form their own opinions. Books in this category often deal with personal, artistic, historical, and educational topics – just this month, Utah added the memoir of Jaycee Dugard, who was abducted from the street at age 11 and held for 18 years, to its list of books banned statewide."
Melody Schreiber, The Guardian ; Hantavirus misinformation runs rampant as the US is unequipped to respond to infectious disease health scare
The US’s withdrawal from the WHO – and cuts to the country’s health system – stymie officials’ response
"The outbreak of hantavirus on the Dutch cruise ship MV Hondius illuminates major gaps in the US public health system – a worrying sign for stopping this outbreak quickly and preparing for a potential pandemic of a more widespread pathogen in coming years, experts say.
Passengers and their close contacts are at risk of hantavirus and need to follow public health guidance, but the danger for most people is near zero, officials and scientists say. Experts expect more cases in this outbreak to be identified, but they are emphatic that a hantavirus pandemic is highly unlikely."
Christina Jewett , The New York Times; F.D.A. Blocked Publication of Research Finding Covid and Shingles Vaccines Were Safe
"Officials at the Food and Drug Administration have blocked publication of several studies supporting the safety of widely used vaccines against Covid-19 and shingles in recent months, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed.
The studies, which cost millions of dollars in public funds, were conducted by scientists at the agency, who worked with data firms to analyze millions of patient records. They found serious side effects to be very rare.
In October, the scientists were directed to withdraw two Covid-19 vaccine studies that had been accepted for publication in medical journals. In February, top F.D.A. officials did not sign off on submitting abstracts about studies of Shingrix, a shingles vaccine, to a major drug safety conference.
The withdrawal of the studies is the latest step by the administration to try to limit access to vaccines. It has sharply cut research funding for vaccine development, released unvetted information casting doubt on vaccines, and blocked other information supporting their safety, most recently a paper on Covid vaccine effectiveness by career scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Stephanie Convery and Petra Stock, The Guardian; ‘Living library’: inside the marine biobanks racing to protect ocean species from extinction
"These fridges are part of what the university calls its “living library”: a biobank, or long-term storage for at-risk marine life forms. Biobanks act as insurance policies against species extinction, and as research hubs for scientists studying species genetics, growth and resilience in the age of environmental crisis."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; A Note to Readers
[Kip Currier: As a long-time subscriber to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the note below arrived in my Inbox today: a new era for journalism in the Pittsburgh region and Western Pennsylvania.]
"The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which started The Baltimore Banner four years ago, takes ownership Monday of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. We are thrilled to have this opportunity to ensure that Western Pennsylvania maintains access to high-quality local journalism. We’re grateful to the Block family for its civic leadership over nearly a century and take seriously our obligation to serve the community with fairness and integrity.
As newcomers to Pittsburgh, we have been careful to fill the organization with top-notch journalists and business leaders from the old Post-Gazette. We'll rely on them to help us get to know this great city and region. We’ll also begin this spring hosting community listening sessions throughout the area to make sure we hear directly from you about what you need and want in your news organization.
Venetoulis was founded in response to the nationwide erosion of local news, with so many newspapers shutting down or being purchased by hedge funds with a single-minded focus on financial returns. We are driven, first and foremost, by a civic mission to bring trusted local reporting to communities that need it most. We’re also determined to create a successful model for local journalism that can be refined in Maryland and replicated here in Pittsburgh — and perhaps elsewhere in the coming years. Progress at The Banner suggests we are on the right path, with strong business growth, an expanding newsroom, and a Pulitzer Prize last year in local reporting.
Over time, you will notice some changes in the PG as we take vital steps to build an even more relevant, compelling, and sustainable news organization that, on its best days, will serve as something of a town square for this community. For example, as a nonprofit organization, Venetoulis does not endorse candidates or, as an institution, take positions on matters of policy. That means we will be ending the Opinion section, though we are committed to vigorously reporting on key issues so that you can be an informed citizen, and we will continue to have columnists. At the same time, being a nonprofit allows us to raise donations from the community, which has proven to be an important ingredient in Maryland for building a resilient news business. We’ll still be coming out twice weekly in print as well as delivering the daily e-edition. We’re committed, as ever, to local news, sports, and investigative work. And we’ll focus on upgrading the experience on the website and app to better appeal to the growing base of digital readers.
We are so excited to begin this journey — and we ask for your advice and honest feedback as we strive to make the new Post-Gazette best serve you and your neighbors. You can reach us at feedback@post-gazette.com."
Rory Carroll , The Guardian; Lost copy of seventh-century poem in Old English discovered at Rome library
"“This discovery is a testament to the power of libraries to facilitate new research by digitising their collections and making them freely available online,” she said.
Andrea Cappa, head of manuscripts and rare books at the Rome library, said the institution was digitising holdings from Italy’s National Centre for the Study of the Manuscript, which will give researchers access to more than 40m images.
Riccardo Fangarezzi, head of archives at the abbey in Nonantola, said he looked forward to further discoveries. “The present times may be rather dark, yet such intellectual contributions are genuine rays of sunlight: the continent is less isolated,” he said.
The poet Paul Muldoon translated Caedmon’s Hymn into contemporary English in a 2016 anthology of British poetry. The opening lines read:
“Now we must praise to the skies, the Keeper of the heavenly kingdom,
The might of the Measurer, all he has in mind,
The work of the Father of Glory, of all manner of marvel.”"
Neely Tucker, Library of Congress Blogs; (Some of) The newest stuff at the Library!
"Walk into the Library’s annual showcase of new acquisitions and the question always hits you right in the face: Where to start?
What about with this slim copy of Silver Surfer No. 1, the origin story of Marvel Comics’ “Sentinel of the Spaceways,” from the groovy year of 1968? How about this massive law book that’s more than 500 years old? The “Tombstone Edition” of a Philadelphia newspaper from 1765, which documented and amplified the American Colonies loathing of the Stamp Act and presaged the American Revolution?
There’s never really a wrong place to start. This year’s two-hour show-and-tell, held last week, brought hundreds of staffers and guests to look over intriguing displays of the Library’s recently acquired treasures, items spanning the nation, the globe and centuries of time. Many added to already impressive collections of historic figures...
It was a crowded, noisy, upbeat afternoon of discovery and explanation. Conversations buzzed and overlapped; staff experts and curious viewers leaned over display tables from opposite sides, heads together, talking loudly to be heard, gazing down at maps, manuscripts, records, artifacts and things you couldn’t have known existed."
Minho Kim, The New York Times; White House Allowed Officials’ Text Messages to Be Deleted, Lawsuit Says
Two watchdogs say internal White House guidance that text messages need not be preserved unless “they are the sole record of official decision-making” contradicted the law.
"Two government watchdogs sued President Trump and the White House on Friday over internal guidance that instructed that some text messages exchanged between officials could be deleted, despite a law generally mandating the preservation of presidential records.
The watchdogs, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, also asked a federal judge to overrule a separate but related Justice Department memo, which declared unconstitutional a longstanding federal law requiring safeguarding of presidents’ records, including text messages. The White House guidance cited the memo.
Their lawsuit comes amid a torrent of accusations that the Trump administration has disregarded record-keeping and document disclosure required by law, even as the president and his officials have sought to transform the government and push the legal bounds of their power. They have displayed a particular willingness to skirt record-keeping requirements on text messages exchanged among top officials.
In their complaint, the two watchdogs said the “deficient instructions” from the White House would “result in the irreparable loss or destruction” of presidential records."
Erik Wemple, The New York Times ; Pentagon Fires Stars and Stripes’ Advocate for Independence
"In a blow to independent coverage of the military, the Pentagon has fired the ombudsman for Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that covers the U.S. armed forces and is partly funded by the Defense Department.
“Apparently the Pentagon also doesn’t want you to hear from me anymore about threats to the editorial independence of Stars and Stripes,” the ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, wrote in a Stars and Stripes column published on Thursday. She said that the Defense Department had given no reason for her dismissal and that she had been told it was “not grievable.”
Her role as ombudsman, which she began in December 2023, was to serve as a watchdog monitoring the paper’s independence and to report concerns to Congress.
“Jacqueline Smith has been relieved of her duties as Stars and Stripes ombudsman effective immediately,” the Defense Department said in a statement."
Brenda Stolyar, The New York Times; Got an Old Kindle? It Might Not Work Anymore. Here’s What to Do.
"Earlier this week, Amazon notified its customers via email that, starting May 20, it will end support for Kindle and Kindle Fire devices released in 2012 or earlier. That means you’ll no longer be able to download new content to your e-reader via Amazon’s Kindle Store.
Although you don’t have to stop using your old Kindle immediately, the restricted functionality may force you to consider whether you want to upgrade to a newer version or ditch the Amazon ecosystem altogether.
If you own a Kindle that’s no longer supported, Amazon wants you to buy a new one. The company is offering a 20% discount that you can apply toward one of its new Kindle models, along with a $20 e-book credit that will automatically be applied to your account with the purchase of a new device. The promotion will be valid through June 20, exactly a month after the company ends support for its older models.
Here’s what you need to know about Amazon’s decision to sunset its older e-readers and tablets, and what that means for you."
Ariana Eunjung Cha, The Washington Post; Is a chatbot your doctor? Proceed with caution
"Millions of Americans regularly use AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini as a first stop for health questions related to colds, cancer and beyond. Two studies published this month suggest that may not be such a good idea — at least without a lot of skepticism.
Tiller, a research associate at the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, published his study in BMJ Open. A separate team from Mass General Brigham approached the question in an entirely different way, and the study appeared in JAMA Network Open."
American Library Association (ALA); American Library Association releases 2025 Most Challenged Books List as National Library Week Begins
"Today the American Library Association (ALA) releases its highly anticipated Top 11 Most Challenged Books List of 2025 as part of the 2026 State of America’s Libraries Report, offering a window into the ongoing challenges libraries continue to face head-on.
As the nation’s libraries unite to celebrate the start of National Library Week and communities everywhere recognize the valuable contribution of America’s libraries and the people who power them, library workers around the country continue to grapple with censorship challenges and threats to their livelihood.
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) tracked 4,235 unique titles challenged in 2025, the second highest ever documented by ALA. The highest ever documented was 4,240 in 2023.
Of the unique titles challenged in 2025, 1,671 (40%) represent the lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ people and people of color.
“Libraries exist to make space for every story and every lived experience,” said ALA President Sam Helmick. “As we celebrate National Library Week, we reaffirm that libraries are places for knowledge, for access, and for all.”
ALA documented 713 attempts to censor library materials and services, 487 of which targeted books. The Top 11 Most Targeted Titles in 2025 were:
1. Sold by Patricia McCormick
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
4. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
5. (tie) Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
5. (tie) Tricks by Ellen Hopkins
7. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
8. (tie) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
8. (tie) Identical by Ellen Hopkins
8. (tie) Looking for Alaska by John Green
8. (tie) Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout
In 2025, 92 percent of all book challenges were initiated by pressure groups, government officials and decision makers, up from 72 percent in 2024. Less than 3 percent of challenges originated from individual parents.
“In 2025, book bans were not sparked by concerned parents, and they were not the result of local grassroots efforts,” said Sarah Lamdan, Executive Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “They were part of a well-funded, politically-driven campaign to suppress the stories and lived experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals and communities.”
ALA defines a “ban” as the removal of materials from a library based on the objections of a person or group. A “challenge” is an attempt to have a library resource removed, or access to it restricted, based on the objections of a person or group. In 2025, OIF documented 5,668 books banned from libraries (66% of the total challenged). An additional 920 books were censored through access restrictions such as relocation or requiring parental permission. This is both the highest number of titles censored in one year and the highest rate of challenges resulting in censorship from 1990–2025.
To help inform library workers and the public about censorship issues, OIF recently launched several new and updated resources, including the Censorship Search Portal, which allows people to search OIF’s expansive database to learn about efforts to ban books; the Censorship Cases Bot on Bluesky, which provides real-time updates on the latest book censorship litigation in partnership with the Free Law Project; and the eleventh edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual, which offers up-to-date insights on protecting intellectual freedom, fighting censorship, safeguarding privacy, and more.
Amid the censorship challenges facing the nation’s libraries, National Library Week’s theme of “Finding Your Joy” is an invitation for everyone to explore and discover what sparks joy in them at the library. Throughout the week, Honorary Chair Mychal Threets will elevate the important role libraries and library workers play in schools and communities.
NLW 2026 Celebration Days:
Monday, April 20: Right to Read Day, a day for readers, advocates, and library lovers to take action to protect, defend, and celebrate the right to read.
Tuesday, April 21: National Library Workers Day, a day for library staff, users, administrators, and Friends groups to recognize the valuable contributions made by all library workers.
Wednesday, April 22: National Library Outreach Day (formerly National Bookmobile Day), a day to celebrate library outreach and the dedicated library professionals who are meeting their patrons where they are.
Thursday, April 23: Take Action for Libraries Day, ALA is calling on library supporters to contact their congressmembers and voice opposition to the federal book banning bill, H.R. 7661."
ALA is also pleased to share the theme of Banned Books Week 2026 (October 4–10, 2026), “Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read.” This year’s campaign features three illustrations that elevate the ways in which libraries and access to information enrich our lives. The artwork will be unveiled next week, and posters, apparel, and more will be available in the ALA Store and Library Gift Shop on April 30.
To learn more about censorship in libraries and find resources for preventing and responding to book bans, visit ALA.org/BBooks,"
Graig Graziosi , Independent; Wife of LA Clippers owner and billionaire Steve Ballmer steps in to help save the future of NPR with $80M gift
"NPR received its largest-ever donation from a living donor this week when billionaire philanthropist Connie Ballmer gave $80 million to the media organization.
Ballmer — a former member of the NPR Foundation's board — told the Wall Street Journal that she poured money into NPR because “we need fact-based journalism, and we need local journalism.”...
"I support NPR because an informed public is the bedrock of our society, and democracy requires strong, independent journalism," Ballmer said in a statement on Wednesday. "My hope is that this commitment provides the stability and the spark NPR needs to innovate boldly and strengthen its national network."...
Her donation comes at an important time for NPR. Last year, President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending federal funding for public TV and radio organizations."
Katie Robertson, The New York Times; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Saved From Closure by Nonprofit
[Kip Currier: What great news to learn that the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette will not be closing on May 3, 2026! Instead, one of America's oldest newspapers will continue through the non-profit Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism.
Newspapers are still essential sources for access to information. They also promote literacy, free expression, and informed citizenries -- crucial elements of functioning democracies.
Sadly, three print newspapers serving Northwestern Pennsylvania have ceased publication in the past two months -- Clarion News (1840), (Franklin's) The News-Herald (1886), and (Oil City's) The Derrick (1871); The Derrick is continuing as an online only publication.]
"The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which had been set to shut down in May, will keep publishing after all. A nonprofit journalism organization has stepped up to acquire the newspaper, which has survived for more than two centuries.
The Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, which runs The Baltimore Banner and is financed by the hotel magnate Stewart W. Bainum Jr., said on Tuesday that it had reached an agreement with the newspaper’s current owner, Block Communications, to buy the assets of The Post-Gazette and run it as a nonprofit. The transaction is expected to take effect on May 4, ensuring there is no gap in publishing.
The deal is a rare spot of good news for the media industry, which has endured waves of metropolitan and local newspaper closures and widening local news deserts around the country for the past two decades. A 2025 report by Northwestern University found that more than 130 papers had shut in the preceding year alone.
The Post-Gazette is one of the oldest newspapers in the United States, tracing its history back to The Pittsburgh Gazette, which was founded in 1786. It has been owned by Block Communications since 1927, and has won multiple Pulitzer Prizes. Its closure would have made Pittsburgh one of the largest metropolitan areas without a major newspaper."
Jennifer Schuessler , The New York Times; Threats to Library Funding End With Settlement by Trump Administration
"The Trump administration has reached a settlement with the American Library Association and a union of cultural workers, bringing to an end its yearlong effort to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a federal agency.
The settlement, reached by the Justice Department last week, affirms that the agency will continue issuing grants and operating its programs, which provide support to institutions in every state and territory. The Trump administration reaffirmed that it had reinstated all previously canceled grants, in keeping with a separate legal ruling last year, and reversed all staff reductions. It also promised not to take any further steps to reduce the agency.
Sam Helmick, the president of the American Library Association, said the threats had set off “a chain reaction” of cuts in services and called the settlement a victory for “every American’s freedom to read and learn.”
“This settlement protects life-changing library services for communities across the country,” Helmick said."
Caroline Davies, The Guardian; Amazon upsets ebook lovers by ending support for old Kindle devices
