News You May Have Missed: Recent media coverage of news related to libraries, museums and archives

Don't Say “Banned Book”

Hawaii does a work-around as libraries throughout the state rebrand using the term “Freedom to Read” instead of the familiar “Banned Books” during 2025 Banned Book Week.

On Oct. 8 Civil Beat, a Honolulu based website described “new guidelines issued by the Hawaiʻi State Public Library System ahead of the 41st annual event prohibit the use of the words “censorship” and “banned,” as well as the phrase “banned books week,” in displays at 51 public libraries across the state.

Also banned are certain props and imagery, such as caution tape and fake flames, and the use of any slogans or materials from the ALA, the professional organization that has sponsored the yearly Banned Books Week campaign since its 1982 origins.

State Librarian Stacey Aldrich said in a statement Tuesday that the language used in the Freedom to Read campaign aims to be inclusive of all library patrons.

https://www.civilbeat.org/2025/10/hawaii-state-library-bans-displays-for-banned-books-week/

Leonardo Codex Digitized: An informative illustrated article from Open Culture

Da Vinci’s Codex Atlanticus (ca.1478-1519) is the focus of a recent online article from the website Open Culture. According to the piece,The Codex Atlanticus “consists of 1119 papers, most of them drawn or written on both sides.” Its name has “nothing to do with the Atlantic Ocean, or with some esoteric, mysterious content hidden in its pages.”

The 12-volume collection acquired its title because the drawings and writings were bound with the same size paper that was used for making atlases. Gathered in the 16th century by sculptor Pompeo Leoni, the papers descended from Leonardo’s close student Giovan Francesco Melzi, who was entrusted with them after his teacher’s death.

The Codex contains not only engineering diagrams, anatomy studies, and artistic sketches, but also fables written by Leonardo, inspired by Florentine literature. And it features Leonardo’s famed “CV”” a letter he wrote to the Duke of Milan describing in nine points his qualifications for the post of military engineer. In point four, he writes, “I still have very convenient bombing methods that are easy to transport; they launch stones and similar such in a tempest full of smoke to frighten the enemy, causing great damage and confusion.”

https://www.openculture.com/2025/10/digitization-of-leonardo-da-vincis-codex-atlanticus.html

Book Theft: Between 2022 and 2023, as many as 170 rare and valuable editions of Russian classics were stolen from libraries across Europe.

“Were the thieves merely low-level opportunists, or were bigger forces at work?”

This article appeared in the Guardian on Oct. 7 headlined “The Pushkin Job.” It gave details of a theft in Warsaw, Poland stating (more than 70) “books of Russian literature had been stolen in the weeks, or even months, leading up to the final swoop. The thieves had managed to avoid detection by replacing the books they had stolen with what one newspaper described as “high-quality facsimiles” of the originals. They did not have to worry about causing a scene when they left the building. Most books in the Warsaw library have been fitted with a magnetic strip that raises an alarm at the exit unless deactivated. But older books went without this, as an expert had advised that the glue on the magnetic strip could damage the paper.

“....The Warsaw book heist was not an isolated incident but one of the final stops on an unprecedented grand tour of bibliophilic crime, which snaked its way from north-east to south-west Europe between spring 2022 and winter 2023. As many as 170 rare Russian books, valued at more than £2.5m, vanished from the shelves of the National Library of Latvia in Riga, two university libraries in Estonia, Vilnius University Library in Lithuania, the National Library of Finland in Helsinki, the National Library of the Czech Republic in Prague, Bibliothèque Diderot in Lyon, the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the University Library of Languages and Civilisations in Paris, the Bibliothèque de Genève in Switzerland, the State Library in Berlin and the Bavarian State Library in Munich.

“In terms of scale and sophistication, we have never dealt with anything like this before,” said Laura Bellen of Estonia’s southern district court, one of the first public prosecutors to investigate these thefts. “Libraries just aren’t used to thinking of themselves as targets for major crime.”

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/07/the-pushkin-job-unmasking-the-thieves-behind-an-international-rare-books-heist?CMP=share_btn_url

Trump's Impact on Museums and Censorship

“Here's how the Trump administration is drastically reshaping the arts landscape,” wrote Artnet on Oct. 6.

“ Trump’s Smithsonian review sparks backlash as museums face content audits, exhibition changes, and accusations of political censorship ahead of America’s 250th anniversary.

“U.S. withdrawal from UNESCO raises alarm for global heritage protection as Trump pursues “America First” cultural agenda.

“Lawsuits mount as the Department of Government Efficiency enforces sweeping changes across federal arts agencies.

TIMELINE: The article included a detailed timeline of events that have impacted the world of museums, libraries and archives:

“These moves aren’t just symbolic—they’re transforming the infrastructure of American culture. Experts say we are entering uncharted territory. “There is no precedent for the moment we are in,” said Marilyn Jackson, president of the American Alliance of Museums.

“As Trump’s second term unfolds, we’re tracking the policies, flashpoints, and protests that are reshaping the arts landscape. Here’s what you need to know so far:” (In reverse chronological order)

October 6: National Gallery of Art Closes Indefinitely Amid Government Shutdown

October 2: Eisenhower Museum Director Forced Out Following Clash Over Trump Gift for King Charles

October 1: Smithsonian to Temporarily Remain Open Amid Government Shutdown

September 19: Art Organizations Prevail in Legal Battle Over NEA Grants

September 16: Trump Orders Information on Slavery Removed From National Parks

September 3: Smithsonian Asserts Authority Over Programming

August 28: Smithsonian Latino Exhibition Quietly Shutters Until Spring 2026

August 28: Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III Has Lunch with Trump

August 28: Trump Revives Classical Architecture Mandate for Federal Buildings

August 24: Artist Amy Sherald Speaks Out About Smithsonian Censorship

August 21: Amy Sherald’s ‘Trans Forming Liberty’ and Fauci Portrait Named in White House List of Offending Artworks

August 19: Trump Extends ‘Woke’ Criticism to Museums Beyond the Smithsonian

August 12: Smithsonian Museums Face Large-Scale White House Review Ahead of America’s 250th Anniversary

August 8: Smithsonian Softens Description of Trump’s Impeachments at American History Museum

August 4: Smithsonian to Revise Exhibit After Quietly Removing Trump Impeachment Placard

The article also describes other incidents going back to the Spring of 2025. Each headline has an accompanying short text on specifics.

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/trump-arts-impact-2639197

Wyoming Librarianian Fired in Book Banning Dispute gets $700,000 Settlement

(New York Times, Oct. 9 - Gift article no paywall)

“A library director in Wyoming who was fired two years ago because she refused to remove books with sexual content and L.G.B.T.Q. themes from a library’s children and young adult sections was awarded $700,000 in a settlement on Wednesday (Oct. 8, 2025)

Terri Lesley, the former director of the Campbell County Public Library in Gillette, Wyo., filed a federal lawsuit in April for defamation and the violation of her civil rights against the county, its board of commissioners, the library board and individual members of both government boards.

“….A county official said that when Ms. Lesley brought suit, a claim was filed with Campbell County’s insurance company. While the county did not comment on the settlement, a lawyer for the insurance company said that the county had settled “early,” before an expensive federal trial. “Nobody won or lost,” the lawyer said in an emailed statement. The lawyer emphasized that there was no admission of fault and that this was the “least inconvenient manner” to end the suit.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/us/wyoming-library-settlement-book-bans-terri-lesley.html?unlocked_article_code=1.sU8.iyBX.fZCeKbzRRkfW&smid=url-share https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/us/wyoming-library-settlement-book-bans-terri-lesley.html

Library staff among those laid off in Center for Disease Control (CDC) shutdown

NPR reported massive cuts in the Center for Disease Control on Oct. 14. Individual posts on social media, both Facebook and Reddit, commented that these cuts included all present CDC library staff.

https://www.npr.org/2025/10/14/nx-s1-5574469/cdc-shutdown-federal-layoffs