Members of the Harford County Council and Board of Education are overstepping their positions and improperly imposing their personal beliefs into our school libraries. Not only is this censorship but their actions are creating a hostile environment for HCPS students and staff. It is not the job of HCPS nor the County Council to restrict resources and books to students. Having access to a wide variety of books, resources and information is an individual freedom and right of the student and parent. Sign today! Lets show the BoE and the County Council that Harford Countians are against banning any books. We want a safe and inclusive learning environment for ALL of our students.

Student rights do not end at the school house door. The right to read is a fundamental constitutional right. Every book that is banned, removed or labeled erodes that right.

Confrontational mega-challenge campaigns divert library professionals divert library professionals and administration from the work of creating a vibrant, fresh collection. These campaigns are designed to use financial and human resources in order to call for defunding public libraries. Often the ultimate goal of these campaigns is to remove a community's public library completely. Censorship campaigns destroy the First Amendment rights of readers, create an anxious and uncertain atmosphere for the vast majority of library users, and ultimately damage communities.

By signing this petition, we stand together for the freedom of each individual and parent to make their own decisions for themselves and their families. Generations of Americans have fought to preserve our individual liberties and freedom to think for ourselves. For these reasons, we ask the Warren County Board of Supervisors to vote to fully fund the Library and preserve this precious gem in our County

The Mayor is entitled to his personal beliefs, but it is a violation of his duties to threaten the Library in an attempt to impose his personal beliefs on everyone. We trust our neighbors to decide for themselves what they and their families read. The signers of this petition stand together to defend our public library against those who attempt to force compliance via threats of defunding, and therefore threats to the library’s very existence. Our brave servicemembers have fought for generations to preserve our individual liberties and freedom to think for ourselves, safe from such activist government overreach. We ask our elected and appointed leaders at the County, City, and Library Board of Trustees to pledge their support for freedom, and the protection of library funding against illicit political threats.

The City of Murfreesboro recently passed an ordinance on decency. We want to ensure that this ordinance doesn't result in censorship, that library materials remain available for the community, and that library policies and their application are following state, local, and federal laws free of illicit pressure by politicians on library staff. We trust individuals to make their own reading choices for themselves and their families.

Since it was established in 1904 by the Woman's Culture Club, the Llano Library System has served numerous needs of all Llano County citizens. The current efforts to further gut the system has nearly destroyed it. Please join us to reach out to our County Commissioners in this petition. They owe us, the Taxpayers, transparency and ethical conduct in the future.

Huntington Beach City Council seeks to privatize the Huntington Beach Public library and restrict library purchases. You should be the one to decide what library information is available for you and your family. Sign our petition to show the Huntington Beach City Council that library patrons will not tolerate government overreach to privatize our library, select, review, restrict and ban library materials.

The library board must refocus its energy on ways for it to support current staff, respect their expertise, and allow the library to function as it was intended: as a free marketplace of ideas. Without significant intervention, developments which have been stalled for decades will remain unfinished. The library began planning the relocation of the Pelham Road branch over a decade ago. The library currently has no strategic plan in place. The last time library administrators attempted a strategic plan, it covered only basic operational and maintenance tasks. Even as Greenville grows, it seems current library leaders are content to let the system stagnate. Due to the unprecedented volume of employees who have left as a result of the actions of the Library Board, the library is struggling to hire new staff to fill the vacancies. The board’s single track focus has also impeded the library’s ability to fulfill its role as a vital community hub of learning and engagement, including its important role as a defender of free speech and expression. This has alienated marginalized communities in the area and negatively impacted patrons and the community at large.

COOLIES is one of the incredible award-winning books, just like The Diary of a Young Girl, Of Mice and Men, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Gender Queer, The Handmaid's Tale, The Color Purple, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, Beloved, The Bluest Eye, I Am Jazz, Lord of the Flies, and many more classic books that have sadly been put on the banned books list. We're standing up against book banning and promoting inclusion and empathy in our country. It's all about keeping our freedom to express ourselves through books and stories. When we read diverse literature, we learn about different people and cultures, which helps us understand and respect each other better. Embracing all kinds of books makes us more compassionate and informed, creating a brighter future for everyone. Let's make sure our voices are heard and that we have a world full of diverse stories to explore and learn from! Sign and share the petition today. Thank you for your support.

In a democratic society, even children have First Amendment rights to freely receive information, and the public library, as a form of government, and except in very limited circumstances, can not impair those rights. Only parents may limit a child's access to information. The HEPL Board of Trustees has written a new Collection Development Policy because some of the trustees and community members have deemed the books inappropriate for minors. The policy will result in approximately HALF of the teen books (and a lesser number of juvenile books) being relocated and intermixed with books in the general collection. This is expected to cost well over $110,000 and is fiscally irresponsible. Furthermore, the policy does not make sense if the Board’s intention is to “protect children,” because now children’s and teens’ books are being relocated from their respective collections to the area of the library where the intended audience is adults. One group of community members should not decide which books are appropriate for all families and therefore be able to influence what information is freely available at the public library. There will always be materials available that some patrons will find objectionable. If parents have concerns about the book selections made by their own children, it is their responsibility to supervise them and help them make choices that reflect their own values. Moving books is censorship and is a slippery slope to book banning. Sign this petition to let HEPL Board of Trustees know that you disagree with the new Collection Development Policy.

We know that Mansfield ISD is not like so many Tarrant County school districts we've been lumped in with. We are diverse in thought, in character, and in practice. Mansfield ISD residents and parents do not want one ideology to rule, but to practice what we preach about being a destination district committed to academic excellence. We don't want Mansfield ISD to devolve into a district known for putting a muzzle on our diversity, but to focus on the wonderful things that make Mansfield ISD great. We also recognize that trustees have many demands for their time and believe the district should rely on the high-educated, qualified librarians to make collection curation decisions that align with the policy goals the board sets forth. The proposed policy rubric takes a narrow value system and forces it upon our community, taking away parental rights.