Illinois has effectively banned banning books, passing a law that mandates local libraries follow the American Library Association's rules if they wish to receive state funding.
As per the bill, the $62 million of funding that goes to the state's libraries will only be eligible for said funding if they "adopt the American Library Association's Library Bill of Rights" or "develop a written statement prohibiting the practice of banning books or other materials within the library or library system." Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois's newly selected Secretary of State, first drafted the bill in response to the 67 book bans that were attempted in Illinois, as well as ban attempts in other states.
The first bill of its kind, reports Bookriot.
The response on the right is likely to be "then we will close the library or let it rot," but this is a twitter-brain internet warrior thought. Libraries, and financial support of libraries, are among the most popular uses of public money, even among conservatives, with 70% of Republican voters indicating that they are against the book bans and that they support local libraries.
