Libraries

The Quincy Public Library wants to bring back its bookmobile. The goal is to provide more access to books and improve literacy in the area.

The efforts to remove books from school libraries started with parents in local school districts and eventually led to state legislatures. After two years of controversy, one school librarian says her colleagues are leaving the profession because it has become too painful.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the goal is to send free books to all children, ages 0-5, across Illinois.

For the median homeowner in Collinsville, whose home is worth $182,000, there will be an estimated increase of $9.38 in property taxes next spring. In Fairmont City, where the median home is worth $100,000, there will be an increase of $4.95, according to district documents.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program is now statewide in Missouri. The program provides children with a free book in the mail each month until their fifth birthday. The goal is to nurture a love of reading and improve literacy.

St. Louis Public Library and St. Louis County Library catalogs boast 5 million items for library members across 37 branches in St. Louis city and county. Here’s how to sign up for a library card.

Each of the state’s 28 prisons will receive $15,000 for books, magazines and other supplies — the first time they’ve received public funding of any kind in six years.

The number of bans and restrictions in the U.S. rose 33% in the last school year, according the report from free speech group PEN America. Florida had more bans than any other state, followed by Texas and Missouri.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias told the U.S. Senate panel that public libraries have become “thunderdomes of controversy and strife” across the country.

A new statewide rule introduced by Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has librarians concerned for their ability to curate their collections in a way that serves the entire community.