Andrew Albanese

1 week ago | wordsandmoney.com | Andrew Albanese

As much of the library world focuses on the legal battles over the Trump Administration's efforts to dismantle the IMLS and to gut the Library of Congress, legislative efforts to seek fair digital terms for libraries have begun to reemerge in a handful of statehouses. In this week's Words & Money newsletter, we report that New Jersey has now introduced a library ebook bill of its own, a day after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed his state's new library ebook bill into law.

1 week ago | wordsandmoney.com | Andrew Albanese

A week after Connecticut passed the nation's first library ebook bill since 2022, New Jersey has now introduced a similar measure. Bill S4520 was introduced by New Jersey Democrat Andrew Zwicker on May 29. The bill would prohibit public libraries from entering into licenses for “electronic literary materials” that include what the bill characterizes as overly restrictive provisions.

1 week ago | wordsandmoney.com | Andrew Albanese

The battle over the freedom to read has leveled up after last week's news that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, widely considered to be the most conservative court in the nation, ruled that there is no First Amendment right to receive information in public libraries. In a statement this week, library political action committee EveryLibrary captured just how consequential this ruling is.

1 week ago | wordsandmoney.com | Andrew Albanese

In a May 27 filing, attorneys for 21 states suing to stop the Trump Administration from destroying the Institute for Museum and Library Services urged a federal judge not to suspend a May 13 preliminary injunction that ordered IMLS employees back to work and the fulfillment of some previously awarded grants. The move for a stay comes as lawyers for the Trump administration are appealing Judge John G.

2 weeks ago | wordsandmoney.com | Andrew Albanese

3 min Apologies for the late delivery on a very busy Friday ahead of the Memorial Day weekend. It's been quite a news day. In this week's Words & Money weeklynewsletter, we lead off with breaking news from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which has delivered a potentially major blow to the freedom to read.