Book covers for Burned, Crank, Fallout, Glass, Smoke, Tilt, Triangles, Tricks

Happy Birthday, Ellen Hopkins!

Author Ellen Hopkins celebrates her birthday today. A staunch fighter against censorship, and with more individual titles challenged than any other author in 2020, Ellen Hopkins is no stranger to challenges or bans to her books. Hopkins uses a unique, lyrical format to tell stories that reach us in our souls despite their uncomfortable topics that continue to be banned as recently as March of 2022.

Multiple utility cable spools sit on a snow covered hill with forest covered hills behind them

New Infrastructure Bill Seeks to Bridge Digital Divide

In November of 2021, President Biden signed a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill into law. A significant portion of the bill is allocated for upgrading access to broadband speed internet nationwide. This unprecedented amount of funding is set to be the largest investment into telecommunications by the public in the history of the country: what does it mean and what will it do?

Two 8-track tapes stacked atop each other, the one on top read: Days of Future Passed.

Then and now: Banning Like it’s 1981

The last year, especially the last few months, has seen a dramatic increase in book challenges nationwide. This is alarming, as it should be; however, the timing of such an organized push repeats history with the same frequency as social challenges and advancements. The current wave of attempted censorship is a modern remake of a 1980s special that should have been left in the past.