More on book bans and challenges: September 21, 2023

Here are three more stories about book bans and challenges.

• Levar Burton will lead Banned Books Week: The Reading Rainbow and Star Trek star will become the first actor to serve as the honorary chair of the event aimed at calling awareness to book bans and the freedom to read (BookRiot).

• Guidelines urge UK libraries not to avoid controversial books: The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals has issued a new document acknowledging that while the UK is seeing far fewer book challenges than the US, it's still important to remind libraries that they should resist, "as far as reasonably possible," requests to remove books (The Guardian).

• Education Department hires a book ban czar: The role that President Joe Biden announced this summer has finally been filled; Matt Nosanchuk will start his job overseeing the Education Department's response to content challenges by leading training sessions for schools and libraries on the legal issues surrounding book restrictions (The 74).