In The News

The Queue: Library News for the Week Ending May 22, 2026

Among the week's headlines: Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter appears before the Senate; Illinois librarians take to the airwaves in support of their library ebook bill; a lawsuit over Utah's book ban law gets its first hearing; and ALA reveals its 2026 intellectual freedom award winners.

A Year After Her Attempted Firing, Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter Shows She Is Still in Charge

Katherine Klosek at the Association of Research Libraries has a good report on Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter's May 12 Copyright Office oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property.

The hearing comes a year after the Trump administration attempted to fire Perlmutter, who sued (and won) to keep her job, and the hearing touched on a wide array of issues, including AI, digital piracy, and the future of the Copyright Office.

As we shared last week, Congress is said to be considering a bill that could make the Copyright Office independent, with the Register becoming a presidential appointee. But when asked by Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono about the potential move, Perlmutter told lawmakers that the Copyright Office was a good fit within its current home at the Library of Congress. “We have a very close relationship with the Library of Congress, and part of that is the fact that it’s a natural home for copyright, given the overlap in our missions. Our mission is to promote creativity and incentivize the creation of more creative works, and the library’s mission is to preserve culture and knowledge. So, its a very good fit.”

Congressional intelligence service Legis1 also has a report on Perlmutter’s testimony, noting that it "unfolded against an extraordinary backdrop" given Trump's attempted firing of Perlmutter and the thorny issues presented by AI, several of which were discussed at the hearing.

The Legis1 report closed with this bottom line: “With the Trump administration aligned with AI industry interests, the courts still sorting through a hundred-plus copyright cases, and a bipartisan Senate coalition pushing creator protections, the Copyright Office sits at the center of one of the most consequential IP battles in a generation, and its director just testified to prove she's still there.”

Perlmutter’s full prepared testimony and a video of the hearing is available here.

Drive Time: Illinois Librarians Take to the Radio to Discuss Ebook Legislation

Illinois librarians are doing the work to win support for their library ebook bill, H.B. 5236 (which has picked up a couple more co-sponsors in the Illinois Senate this week) including this appearance on Illinois Public Media. You can read the transcript and listen to the show, but among the things that stood out to me was this bombastic statement sent in to the show by the Association of American Publishers that has little connection to what's actually in the bill.

"House Bill 5236 strips authors of their rights. It limits their ability to make a living and dictates what authors and creators can and cannot do with their own work. When a new movie is released, the government does not force it to be immediately made available for free on a public streaming platform without just compensation for its creators. But that is what this bill would do to authors and the entire ecosystem involved in turning ideas into the stories that readers love. The bill's profound disregard of author rights will grant the government an alarming power to decide which books are accessible to Illinois readers and jeopardizes library access to digital books."

Connecticut Librarian Ellen Paul Accepts Democratic Nomination in Bid for State Legislature

Earlier this year we reported that Connecticut Library Consortium Executive Director Ellen Paul has announced a bid for the Connecticut House of Representatives. Now, news this week via Patch.com that Paul has officially accepted the unanimous endorsement of the Democratic Party, and has launched her campaign in the 55th District state House of Representatives race. Paul is a savvy leader with strong library values, and we wish her luck as she begins her political career. She'll be a great representative.

Lawsuit Challenging Utah's Book Banning Law Gets First Hearing

Local affiliate Fox 13 reports that a lawsuit challenging Utah's law on "sensitive materials" in school libraries got its first hearing in federal court this week, which was largely procedural. "Today’s hearing was preliminary, but important. The Court took the student plaintiffs’ privacy seriously, and the State agreed these children need protection. Now we’re eager to move this case forward because Utah is unconstitutionally stripping books from public school library shelves at an alarming and accelerating rate," Ian McLaughlin, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told reporters.

The lawsuit, filed by a group of students as well as the estates of acclaimed authors Kurt Vonnegut and Maya Angelou, and Elana K. Arnold and Ellen Hopkins, challenges the state's recently enacted law that bans books from schools statewide if three public school districts (or two districts and five charter schools) deem the book objectionable. As of this writing, 34 books have been removed statewide.

House Passes Anti-Trans Censorship Bill, H.B. 2616

Via the ACLU, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives can't seem to get much done, but this week it managed to pass H.R. 2616, the objectively terrible "Don’t Say Trans" bill. The vote was 217-198. The bill now moves to the Senate where it has been assigned to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, chaired by outgoing Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who was recently targeted by Trump and lost his primary.

As the ACLU noted in their statement, the bill would prohibit schools that receive federal funding from teaching “concepts related to gender ideology,” and would even compel educators to out transgender students to their families, even though they may not feel safe coming out. "The GOP thinks they can legislate transgender people out of existence with this inhumane Don’t Say Trans bill, but all they’re doing is making life worse for a small minority of already vulnerable children,” said Rep. Mark Takano, Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, in a statement. Takano’s full remarks from the House floor are available here.

Tennessee County's Banning of Alex Haley's Roots Leads to Questions, Calls for Reversal

The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that the Knox County School Board's decision to remove Alex Haley's Roots from schools has sparked a backlash, though it isn't clear if anything can be done. The book is one of more than 100 books pulled from school libraries statewide after Tennessee passed a law barring inappropriate books from school libraries. Assistant Superintendent Keith Wilson told reporters that Roots was banned because of a single passage that depicts the rape of a female slave.

"District officials told the school board members their hands are tied because of a 2024 update to the state's Age-Appropriate Materials Act. Prior to 2024, books could be considered in their totality for historical and artistic value. Now, Assistant Superintendent Keith Wilson told the board, the law eliminates that nuance," the report notes.

Texas Librarian Wins Settlement in Discrimination Lawsuit

Houston Public Media reports that Montgomery County (Texas) has agreed to pay former county librarian Rhea Young to settle claims that she was fired from the Montgomery County library system in January 2025 "in retaliation for refusing to segregate and limit access to books containing LGBTQ+ themes or ideas." Young will receive "$475,000 as part of the settlement, of which $206,797 will be used for attorney's fees, according to a copy of the settlement shared with Houston Public Media." Young told reporters she is glad the lawsuit is over, but remained doubtful it will change things in the county. "They're still doing exactly what they were doing when I was there," Young told the outlet. "They are 100% censoring what's in the public library."

Arkansas County to Vote on Massive Funding Cut

Tess Vrbin at the Arkansas Advocate reports that Saline County, Arkansas voters will decide in November whether to cut a third of its library operating budget. "The county’s all-Republican legislative body voted by a 10-2 vote Monday to put the measure on the ballot, two years after County Judge Matt Brumley, also a Republican, rejected a similar citizen-led effort on technicalities," Vrbin reports. "The effort to slash the funding is the latest in an ongoing fight over libraries that’s included moves at the state and local level to restrict access to certain materials."

Jenna Bush Hager Rants About Book Banners

Via the TODAY Show, Jenna Bush Hager, the TODAY co-host and creator of the Read With Jenna book club, passionately defended the freedom to read on the May 20 episode of the “Las Culturistas” podcast.

"In a recurring segment on the show called I Don’t Think So, Honey, guests are encouraged to give a short rant about a topic they are passionate about. Jenna chose the skyrocketing amount of attempts to have books banned and removed from school and public libraries," the report notes. “Leave it up to the librarians,” she said on the podcast. “I want my kid to read. Want to know why? Books start conversations. Know what we’re not having enough of in this country? Conversations!”

How to Write a Good Letter of Support for Your Library

Over at Book Riot, Kelly Jensen leads off her weekly censorship news column by highlighting some strong letters of support for libraries, and sharing what makes them effective. You may want to bookmark this one.

"Libraries can and should be advocating on their own behalf. Libraries are not neutral, and it is not partisan to be unabashedly pro-library," she writes. "But so, too, should the groups intimately tied to libraries. Library boards and Friends groups serve different purposes, but both work in the service of the library and its constituency. Yet they aren’t showing up, and in many ways, it’s hard not to see that this is because they, too, too often believe their role is one of neutrality. But neutrality is precisely why libraries are finding themselves in the positions that they’re in–neutrality is inaction. It’s the status quo. It’s sitting back, rather than stepping forward."

New York Mayor Reiterates Support for Libraries

Last week we shared news that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani had moved to restore potential cuts to the city's library system and reiterated his broader support for libraries, which was part of his campaign. This week, via NYC.gov, the mayor announced that he has officially baselined $31.7 million for New York City's three public library systems (Queens Public Library, Brooklyn Public Library, and the New York Public Library) bringing total library funding to nearly $530 million, up from $491.4 million in the Preliminary Budget. "Library funding represents just under 0.5% of the City's $124.5 billion budget," the release notes adding that Mamdani remains committed to reaching the 0.5% benchmark he promised during the campaign.

"For too long, library funding has been treated like a political bargaining chip and fought over every single year," Mamdani said, in a release. "That cycle ends with this budget. Libraries are where New Yorkers study, look for work, learn to read, cool off during heatwaves and build community. By baselining this funding, we are giving every branch in every borough the stability to plan ahead, hire staff and serve New Yorkers without wondering if the money will disappear next spring."

And Finally This Week...

Congratulations to the winners of the ALA's Intellectual Freedom Round Table's intellectual freedom awards!

The Gerald Hodges Intellectual Freedom Chapter Relations Award goes to the Public Library Directors Association of Alabama (PLDAA), which was revived in 2024 after more than a decade to provide resources to libraries facing book challenges.

The John Phillip Immroth Memorial Award, which honors notable contributions to intellectual freedom and demonstrations of personal courage in defense of freedom of expression, goes to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, the longtime Director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF).

The Eli M. Oboler Memorial Award goes to Paul T. Jaeger, professor in the University of Maryland College of Information Studies, for his article The Immortality of Hatred and Revenge: The Interconnections of Censorship, Disinformation, and Cultural Erasure in the Book Bans Targeting Marginalized Populations,” which traces the global history of censorship.

The recipients will be recognized at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago during the IFRT Chair's Program, set for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, 2026 (McCormick Place, W 194 B).