libraries

The budget is less than Gov. Mike Parson’s initial proposal, and eliminates funding for a pre-K program and for public libraries. Democrats and Republicans repeatedly clashed over language that bans staffing for any programs or vendors "associated with diversity, equity and inclusion."

In addition to proposing cuts to the lawmakers' priorities, Missouri House Budget Chairman Cody Smith, a Republican from Carthage, wants to cut all aid to libraries in retaliation for a lawsuit challenging a new state law.

A new Missouri law made it a crime to provide minors with sexually explicit visual material, leading librarians across the state to remove anything from their collections that they thought could be considered criminal.

Historical fiction? Romance? Memoir? Mystery? No matter the genre, there's a book club in Kansas City that is right for you.

The public comment period is ending for proposed rules from Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, which threaten to take away state funding from libraries unless they restrict "non-age-appropriate materials" from minors. Ashcroft says the rules are meant to empower parents, but library administrators call it a slippery slope.

Jay Ashcroft argues his proposed restrictions on "non-age-appropriate materials" in libraries will give parents more power over what their kids consume. Library administrators say the rule would force them to take on a “big brother status,” and threaten equal access to information for all children.

Voters supported a tax increase in 2016 with the promise that the library would open a new branch — but now the library board is questioning how to finance the project.

Public comment is closing soon on a proposal from the Missouri Secretary of State, who wants to crack down on which materials children can access in public libraries. But former library administrators are speaking out against what they see as government overreach.

The proposal by Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft would threaten the funding of libraries over "non-age-appropriate materials" for minors. But former library administrators say the rules are "redundant and unnecessary."

The St. Marys City Commission had considered not renewing the Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library’s lease because it refused to accept a clause asking for the removal of all LGBTQ and socially "divisive" books from shelves.

Jay Ashcroft’s proposed rules would deny state support to libraries that don’t adopt policies allowing patrons to challenge book selections for minors.

The Pottawatomie Wabaunsee Regional Library’s lease is under threat because the library refused to comply with a request from the St. Marys City Commission to remove all LGBTQ, sexual, racial or otherwise “socially divisive” content from its shelves.