Literacy festival cancels events after authors pull out over 'discriminatory' policy

The Plum Creek Literacy Festival in Seward, Nebraska, canceled its Children’s Festival and Adult Conference September 24–25 after several authors withdrew in protest of Concordia University’s code of conduct, which they called discriminatory toward the LGBT community. The absence of several books from a presale list, and a subsequent explanation for why one author was pulling out of the event that went viral on social media, led the festival to cancel its Friday and Saturday activities.

Lincoln (Neb.) Journal-Star, Sept. 23

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Sarah Ladd writes: “When children are unnecessarily removed from their homes, experts say the separation puts them at risk of chronic mental and physical ailments. With that in mind, four Kentucky libraries are launching programs to keep families together, well resourced and educated, aided with $200,000 in grant money from the national nonprofit Youth Villages. Libraries in Jackson, Johnson, Marshall and Spencer counties received around $45,000 each for a variety of programs to help parents meet their children’s needs.”

Kentucky Lantern, Aug. 4
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Neda Ulaby writes: “Summer for thousands of people in Ann Arbor, Michigan, means scavenging for hidden codes around the city and voraciously reading books to collect points. It’s part of an enormously popular game that’s been a triumph for the public library that runs it. ‘This summer, we have 16,000 active players and more than half of them are adults,’ says library director Eli Neiburger. Not bad for a library that serves about 150,000 people. It’s such a local sensation, one couple even got married while playing what’s known in town as ‘The Summer Game.’” (See also American Libraries’ report on the early days of the Summer Game from 2011.)

NPR, Aug. 4; MLive, July 5; American Libraries feature, Nov./Dec. 2011
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Attendees expressed their views on a range of topics—and each in their unique way—at the ALA 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition, held June 26–30 in Philadelphia. Enjoy some of our favorite photos from the gathering, including reading challenged books in the Big Chair, fantastic fashions, collaborative zine-making, and creative button production.

American Libraries, July/Aug.
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“A June 2025 statewide poll reveals Michigan voters increasingly oppose book bans and strongly support their local public libraries. The new poll follows a similar statewide survey on library issues conducted in March 2023, both commissioned by the Michigan Library Association. Results confirm a growing statewide resistance to censorship efforts targeting library collections and a significant increase in strong support for public libraries since 2023. Key findings show that 79 percent approve of Michigan libraries’ work (up from 71 percent in 2023), and 75 percent trust librarians’ collection decisions.”

Michigan Library Association, July 18
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Violet Fox writes: “I don’t know the right metaphor to make you understand how this much debt physically feels. Many of those working in academic libraries are working towards paying off their student debt through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Over the past year, the repayment plan I’m on, SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education) plan, was blocked by a US appeals court.” Moving to a different repayment plan would nearly triple the monthly payment, Fox writes and federal developments may threaten PSLF eligibility altogether.”

ACRLog, July 24
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Bill Zeeble writes: “Texas’s Senate Bill 13 says districts can create a school library council that would be responsible for recommending which books can enter a school library and which need to be removed. Signed into law after the recent regular session, it goes into effect September 1. If a district doesn’t opt to form a council, parents can petition trustees to create one. It would take 10 percent of a district’s enrolled students—or 50 parents total, whichever is fewer—to force creation of a council.” Districts in Coppell, Grand Prairie, and Nacogdoches are among those forming school library councils already.

KERA-FM (Dallas), July 28; KUT-FM (Austin, Texas), June 5; KLTV-TV (Tyler, Texas), July 28
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“The 37th annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards ceremony was held July 25 during San Diego Comic-Con. Named for the pioneering comics creator and graphic novelist Will Eisner, the awards were given out in 32 categories for works published in 2024. Topping the winners is Lunar New Year Love Story by Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham (First Second/Macmillan), which took home the trophies for Best Graphic Album–New, Best Publication for Teens, and Best Writer for Yang.”

San Diego Comic-Con, July 25

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