Summer At Your Library is coming to an end!

Every year, thousands of Fresno County kids and families participate in the summer reading challenge and attend programs at library branches across the County, and this year was no different. Whether you made it to a bunch of different programs or just picked up a craft activity, racked up reading points or just came into a branch to stay cool for a while, we appreciate your participation! Hopefully you learned some things and maybe earned some prizes! Make sure to finish up your reading logs and get them turned in by August 2!

There will be books, DVDs, and more, all at great prices (usually $1 or less), so make sure not to miss it! Please bring cash for this sale.

Worried about privatization? Us, too!

As we mentioned last month, the Fresno County Board of Supervisors have asked the CAO's office to look into the potential cost savings of privatizing the Fresno County Public Library. (For a refresher, Fresnoland's piece on the matter is excellent.) Already, everything the Library does (programs, themes, celebrations, displays) has to be approved by the Board of Supervisors (none of whom are library professionals), and if the Library is privatized, it will be managed by a for-profit corporation based in Maryland. Additionally, more than 50% of the Library's budget is already covered by Measure B at the moment, which leads many of us to question whether the Library is the best place to look for additional savings.

There are still many unknowns in this conversation. If the Library is privatized, what happens to Measure B? What happens to SJVLS, the consortium comprised of 10 different library systems across the Central Valley that allows us all to share collections and resources? What will happen to the librarians and other staff members we know and love? What will happen to their public service loan forgiveness, or their pensions, or their seniority? Who will be making decisions about collection development, and will they be doing it with the entirety of the community in mind?

If you're interested in joining our mailing list dedicated specifically to finding and sharing answers to these questions, as well as to organizing against this push for privatization, you can do so here! (This is a separate mailing list from the one you receive these monthly updates from, just a heads up! Emails may come through more frequently and may include calls to action and volunteer opportunities. We intend to host letter writing parties in the next few weeks and are open to attending any meetings or events you may be hosting soon to share what information we have. Feel free to send us information.)

Kings River Life Magazine article: "Friends of the Fresno County Public Library: Supporting and Defending our Local Public Libraries"

Thanks very much to Mallory Moad of Kings River Life for writing this excellent piece about us! We encourage you to check it out for more information about what the Friends do, including what we've been doing in response to the Board of Supervisors' recent challenges to the Library!

National proposed legislation you should know about: H.R. 7661 and S. 4925

House Bill 7661 and Senate Bill 4925 are both called the "Stop the Sexualization of Children Act," but what they really call for is the banning, removal, or limit to access of all programs, books, and activities that "include sexually oriented material," including any and all references to gender dysphoria or transgender people or characters, in schools receiving federal funding.

From the National Education Association: "H.R. 7661 is aimed at distracting and dividing Americans by restricting whose stories are allowed on bookshelves, and using threats to funding as an enforcement tool.

In effect, the legislation makes Congress the 'national school board,' taking decision-making away from local school boards, educators, and families. Its intentionally vague wording would cause confusion and misinterpretation that would harm the healthy communication channels that exist between educators—professionals with experience and expertise—and parents. The language could even impact how subjects such as health, science, and art are taught and discussed.

Ultimately, H.R. 7661 is not about protecting students, but giving politicians the power to exclude voices they do not like or with whom they disagree. The bill appears to target the LGBTQ+ community, and specifically, intersex, transgender, and nonbinary individuals, by setting a dangerous precedent: defining anything that involves 'gender dysphoria or transgenderism' as sexually oriented and banning those materials."

As we discussed in Fresno in 2023, parents and trained professionals should be helping children make appropriate reading decisions, and families should have the right to choose what's best for them. If you'd like to voice your concerns with these pieces of proposed legislation, EveryLibrary has made it easy to do so. Thank you for standing up for the right to read!