By imposing restrictions on funding for the already underfunded public schools, the government forces librarians to guess which books the party in power hates - or lose their jobs.
These are hardworking people who are already skilled at evaluating and curating a collection. They don't deserve this.
The other thing this bill is designed to undermine is the professional association of librarians.
The ALA isn't trying to put smut or "Marxism" in elementary schools. Most of the books banners like to read aloud aren't even in schools.
Librarians are trained to evaluate age-appropriateness.
We already have the right to challenge a book's placement in a school library... and that's a good thing.
This bill undermines that by forcing librarians to work according to the political needs of a current regime.
Don't even joke about banning books you just don't like. Bans take away rights.
You're right, that is not a friendly requirement.
Let me suggest this alternative: contact your Representative in Congress and tell them you oppose HR 7661, this bill:
www.congress.gov/119/bills/hr...
TIL that tawed hide isn't technically leather (because it's not tanned; it's treated with alum).
Anyway, we went to see this masterpiece - and it is truly a master-piece - in St Cloud, and I'm thrilled to hear that this Bible is now being bound.
saintjohnsbible.org/posts/2026/0...
I've been resisting actively since 2001, but for those just now joining us, there's no time like the present.
Anyone over the age of 45 in this country remembers a time when freedom of speech and personal privacy were cornerstones of our independence.
We signed away both with the passage of the "Patriot Act" and with our acceptance of billionaire media ownership.
My grandparents would be horrified.
That's a legitimate concern. Another approach (and I'm sure you already know, but for others' reference): Call or email your Representative and say that you oppose HR 7661.
Totally fair, if your Rep is (R), to say "Our grandfathers fought wars to stop exactly this."
www.house.gov/representati...
Thanks to @laurainalabama.bsky.social for locating a link to the bill.
bsky.app/profile/laur...
BEFORE YOU JUMP IN with 'protecting children' arguments:
No.
Removing local control of schools doesn't protect anyone.
Protecting children means helping them to attain literacy, to understand and set boundaries of their own, and to discern the quality of both information and fiction.
The Federal Book Ban bill uses funding threats to pressure schools to remove books.
Federal control over local policy - and federal control of reading, writing, and publishing - is unacceptable.
Sign the petition to stop it. action.everylibrary.org/hr_7661 via @everylibrary.bsky.social
I was almost disappointed when I realized this one looks unused! 😅
I'm imagining this now. It's probably a lot funnier to imagine than to experience!
The bookshop loves to create little synchronicities like that!
This one is relatively common, but just in case: www.thehauntedbookshop.com/pages/books/...
Books. Basically every question about what we're doing here can be answered with "books", or "puppets" 😄
Today's box includes (so far):
- A Haggadah published in 1942
- A book of poetry with a sticky note inside wishing the recipient peace "in these troubling times" - and a review slip dated in October 2001
- A gift edition of Mak Dizdar's "Kameni spavac" printed in 1999
... I'm at a loss for words
😂 thank you
Humans are often fooled by her snuggly attitude around us bipeds, but she's a terror to mice 🙀
Friend, I could tell you some stories. Books can absolutely be haunted like that!
Oh wow! Excellent shot!
It was a truly epic battle. I counted at least five males, and at least one lost some feathers!
Oh my, you did get a big one! We're in Iowa, where we used to have some pretty epic snowfall, but we seem to have switched off with you New Englanders the last several years now!
Red-winged blackbirds were a sure sign when I was in Cedar County, five miles from the nearest small town. I miss them 🖤
In the "big" city now, I don't know what the waxwings love so much about our shrubbery, but we've had a nest almost every year for the last 13 years!
Bees!!! Box elder bugs will turn up whenever and however they can, but bees are better organized, so I trust them to know when they're needed. Bet we'll have dandelions in a couple of weeks!
Whoa. Spring must be on its way at last - just heard an absolute calamity of cedar waxwings duking it out for nesting space in our shrubberies.
Esk isn't interested, but Sophie rolled from heavy sleep to chittering posture in two seconds flat 🙀
I need to post more pictures of them! We do have an IG @hauntedbookshopiowacity that holds a lot of cat content 😸
A long-haired tortoiseshell cat who knows her best angles rolls on her back and pulls her delicate lady paws up, preparing either to look gorgeous or to trap your hand if you touch her exposed white belly.
A shelf on a half-sized metal library cart holding poetry such as the Poems of the Masters, translated from the Chinese by Red Pine; works by Mark Doty, Susan Tichy, Jessica Hagedorn, Daryl Hine, Michael Hofmann, Kimiko Hahn, and many others.
Another shelf of poetry, this time including Amy Clampitt, Tom Clark, Jane Hirshfield, Michael Dennis Browne, Turner Cassity, Raymond Carver, Julia Hartwig, and even more Andrei Codrescu, who has turned up in almost every box we've opened so far
And one more shelf of poetry. That John Ashbery sold while my back was turned, but we still have the World Poetry series books by Gaston Fernandez and others, the Maya Angelou, Dannie Abse, Lauren Russell, Sherwin Bitsui, Rumi, Beth Ann Fennelly, and others
NEW ARRIVALS! All poetry today, but check our website for newly catalogued children's books.
Email infodesk@thehauntedbookshop.com or call 319-337-2996 to order. We ship! In-person shopping 11-6 Mon-Sat.
Dear George W.,
When we said that a "preemptive strike" was a bad precedent, this is what we meant.
Our prices never changed.
We bought a year's worth of gift, game, plush, and puzzle inventory in the first quarter of 2025.
Before the tariff increases.
When we buy again, it will be products carefully sourced for affordability.
Prices will continue to rise, of course, but we're keeping it real.
