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California librarians were stunned when a last-minute budget change stripped K-12 schools of a trove of research materials, potentially leaving thousands of students without resources to do reports, projects or homework assignments.

Without notice to schools or librarians, the Legislature last week canceled $5.5 million that pays online fees for the Encyclopedia Britannica, New York Times, PBS videos such as Ken Burns documentaries, scientific journals and thousands of other online materials used by students and teachers. The cut goes into effect on July 1, 2027.

鈥淲e had no idea this was coming,鈥� said Greg Lucas, head of the California State Library, which helps oversee the program for California鈥檚 10,000 public schools. 鈥淭his will have a huge impact on California students.鈥�

The program, called , is an online database of research and curriculum materials that have been vetted by teachers and librarians. Compass is also available through public libraries, but the vast majority of users are at K-12 schools. Since the program launched in 2018, it鈥檚 received nearly 1 billion hits.

Students use Compass for classroom assignments as well as for recreation. Many of the materials are available in multiple languages. Among the more popular features are National Geographic Kids; Pebble Go Science, which includes hundreds of science activities for pre-kindergarten through second grade; and Alexander Street, which offers videos of cultural performances such as the Joffrey Ballet and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Compass is especially important at a time when fewer schools have libraries 鈥� and librarians 鈥� to help students with research. Although nearly 90% of schools have physical space on campus for books, magazines and other research materials, only about a quarter of those spaces are staffed by librarians. The rest are staffed by volunteers, classified employees or not at all. California ranks 49th nationwide in school librarian staffing, with nearly 10,000 students for each librarian, by the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Compass is available free to all schools in California. If schools were to subscribe individually to Compass materials, they鈥檇 spend more than $216 million annually, according to a . A typical medium-sized school district might pay $100,000 or more for the services, an expense lower-income districts are less likely to have money for.

Losing the service raises concerns about internet access

Without access to Compass materials, students would likely rely on free resources online. But those materials tend to contain advertisements or track user data, a violation of state student privacy laws. They also are less likely to be vetted for accuracy, a particular danger in the age of artificial intelligence.

鈥淟osing Compass is catastrophic for the state of California,鈥� said Kate MacMillan, library services coordinator for Napa Valley Unified. 鈥淭his service is a lifeline. I can鈥檛 believe the Legislature would let this happen.鈥�

Funding for Compass was in earlier versions of the budget the Legislature debated over the past few months. But the final version eliminated Compass funding after July 1, 2027. Instead, it directs $5 million of the funding toward the , and $60,000 for technical support of an online lesson-sharing platform called California Educators Together.

Legislators and staff members on the budget education committees contacted by CalMatters did not comment on why the money was cut.

Meanwhile, librarians are launching an aggressive campaign to save the program. They鈥檙e emailing Newsom and the Legislature, and trying to bring attention to the issue.

Connie Williams, a retired school librarian and former head of the California School Library Association, said that losing Compass will exacerbate disparities in the state鈥檚 education system. Lower-income schools will lose crucial learning resources, while higher-income schools will be able to pay the subscription costs themselves, without state assistance.

鈥淭he disparity will be overwhelmingly glaring,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e leaving students at the mercy of whatever is free on the internet.鈥�

It鈥檚 especially galling, she said, that this move comes as the state is promoting media and digital literacy in schools. In 2023 California enacted a law requiring schools to in all subjects, with a focus on teaching students to recognize fake news, determine if an information source is trustworthy and generally think critically about what they view and read online.

鈥淲e want students to think critically, put away their phones, know how to do research,鈥� Williams said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e grabbing away some of the best learning tools we have.鈥�

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The Iowa law prohibiting school libraries from having books containing sexually explicit material can go into effect, federal appeals court judges ruled Friday.

The three-person panel moved to lift the injunction blocking the law from enforcement Friday. Portions of the were previously blocked in January by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Locher. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that Locher鈥檚 decision was based on a 鈥渇lawed analysis of the law.鈥�

The law prohibits school libraries from including books with written and visual depictions of sex acts from, in addition to banning instruction and materials involving issues of 鈥済ender identity鈥� and 鈥渟exual orientation鈥� for students in kindergarten through sixth grade. These regulations will now be allowed to take effect as legal challenges continue.

The law is being challenged by multiple parties, including the, Iowa Safe Schools, as well as the publisher Penguin Random House and due to the law.

Iowa State Education Association President Joshua Brown said in a statement that the organization was 鈥渄isappointed鈥� by the appeals court decision.

鈥淏anning essential books in our schools is a burden for our educators, who will face punishment for not guessing which book fits into a supposed offensive category, and for our students, who are deprived of reading from great authors with valuable stories,鈥� Brown said in a statement. 鈥淚f Iowa鈥檚 elected leaders truly valued education professionals, they would leave important classroom decisions to the local school districts and the experts who work in them 鈥� not make what we teach our students a game of political football.鈥�

Critics of the measure say that the law will keep classic literature 鈥� like the books 鈥淏rave New World鈥� and 鈥淯lysses鈥� 鈥� from being available in school libraries, but that a majority of the books removed from school shelves are those focused on stories about race and LGBTQ+ issues, like 鈥淕ender Queer,鈥� 鈥淎ll Boys Aren鈥檛 Blue,鈥� and 鈥淭he Color Purple.鈥�

Educators have criticized the state for not clarifying the rules surrounding the law, as the Iowa Department of Education to provide more information on what materials are considered 鈥渁ge-appropriate鈥� under the law. The state department has said they plan to address allegations of noncompliance on a case-by-case basis.

But Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said the appeals court decision was a win for Iowa parents.

鈥淭oday, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit confirmed what we already knew 鈥� it should be parents who decide when and if sexually-explicit books are appropriate for their children,鈥� Reynolds said. 鈥淗ere in Iowa, we will continue to focus on excellence in education and partnerships with parents and educators.鈥�

The lawsuit found that the district court decision did not properly evaluate the law under existing precedent 鈥� referring specially to the 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision in , a lawsuit involving speech on social media platforms. However, the judges also rejected the state鈥檚 argument that school library materials constitute 鈥済overnment speech.鈥� They also found that a transgender student whose school district banned gender-sexuality alliance clubs due to concerns about the law has standing to sue.

The ACLU of Iowa, alongside Lambda Legal and the Jenner & Block law firm, plaintiffs in the lawsuit, issued a join statement saying that Iowa families and LGBTQ+ students were 鈥渄eeply frustrated and disappointed鈥� by the court鈥檚 decision, especially as the 2024-2025 school year approaches.

鈥淒enying LGBTQ+ youth the chance to see themselves represented in classrooms and books sends a harmful message of shame and stigma that should not exist in schools,鈥� the legal organizations said in the statement. 鈥淲e are, however, encouraged by the Eighth Circuit鈥檚 complete rejection of the State鈥檚 most dangerous arguments, and we look forward to renewing our request for relief from this law鈥檚 damaging and unconstitutional effects on LGBTQ+ students. 鈥� We will ask the district court to block the law again at the earliest opportunity.鈥�

The decision returns the case to district court for further action.

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