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Missouri is one of a growing number of places where government funding is being deployed as the newest weapon in the fight over books. Beginning May 30, a new state rule could deny state funding to libraries over books deemed inappropriate for young readers — although it's not clear how it will be enforced.
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The Senate’s proposed budget is $4.2 billion more than what the Missouri House passed weeks ago. Like in the House, most of the debate in the Senate was spent over an amendment that would have inserted language against diversity, equity and inclusion.
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A Missouri rule outlaws school libraries from offering books with "explicit sexual material," and threatens librarians with jail time and hefty fines. Meanwhile, the House voted to strip all state funding for libraries. But some librarians are fighting back.
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The Missouri House had voted to prohibit spending for “staffing, vendors, consultants, or programs associated with diversity, equity and inclusion.” But Senate Appropriations Chair Lincoln Hough said after speaking with departments, businesses and vendors, he recommended removing that language.
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The Johnson County Library Board voted unanimously to discontinue charging 30 cents for each day an item is overdue. The library will also forgive overdue fines already on the books, saying that embarrassment has been discouraging people from ever returning items or using the library.
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The Missouri legislative session is more than halfway done, and many different bills affecting schools are making their way through the capitol.
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Missouri library leaders say a plan by state legislators to strip funding for public libraries across the state would weaken rural libraries, and likely violates the state constitution.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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Historical fiction? Romance? Memoir? Mystery? No matter the genre, there's a book club in Kansas City that is right for you.
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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.