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By Gretchen Garrity
Making libraries safe for children again is not as simple as one
might think. There is a deeply entrenched far left political
agenda that has subverted our libraries. It is nationwide, it is
well-funded, and it has indoctrinated an army of librarians to
carry out its agenda.
The American Library
Association can be aptly described as Shelob,
the monster that has quietly and in the shadows made state libraries,
as well as school and public libraries part of a giant web that seeks
to ensnare all who come within range of its territory. And it constantly spins new webs further and further afield.
The ALA has a plethora of resources and tools at its disposal with which to offer libraries. Librarians are even trained how to oppose citizens who work to restrict sexually explicit materials geared toward children.
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| From: American Library Association |
It is not just obscene and age inappropriate books that are liberally shelved in libraries. It is Critical Theory, Queer Theory, Social Emotional Learning, Diversity Equity and Inclusion. Each of these agendas has one ultimate goal: to overturn the existing political and cultural norms of our nation.
The ALA has been extremely successful in its endeavors. Simply labeling a book will invite a lawsuit. Relocating a book will invite a lawsuit. The ALA and its many sister and spin-off organizations have even advanced the idea that once a book is shelved in a library it has certain rights to remain there. Yes, so-called First Amendment rights are being bestowed upon books.
A Federalist article just published explains the situation well. Mark Hemingway, author of "America's Librarians Became Militantly Political, And Now They Suffer The Consequences" says:
"This is once again, about kids. If ordinary people know anything at all about the ALA, it’s because of their annual list of the “Top 10 Most Challenged Books” and the corresponding celebration of “banned books week.” (Of course, when you get down to brass tacks, even the ALA concedes there’s no actual book banning in America – which is why they make a list of “challenged,” rather than banned books.) Every book on the list has explicit sexual content, with the list being heavy on LGBT themes, and every book on the list is specifically aimed at kids...Indeed, one thing that is characteristic of nearly all the censorship debates in recent years is the obvious unwillingness to discuss the specific nature of the work being questioned because it is almost always explicitly, graphically sexual, and devoid of defensible artistic context."
THE WEB IS STRONG
The ALA is so pervasive that a public library’s policy handbook is likely full of policies and bylaws that allow for administrative staff to have more control over the governing of the library than publicly elected or appointed boards. I have written about it HERE.
The current policy handbook in our library district has made it very difficult for the board to begin to cut through the ALA web in our own libraries. The board is currently working on updating the policy handbook, and their first bylaw subcommittee meeting can be viewed below. Staff did not attend, although they were invited to sit in, take notes, and offer suggestions:
The difficulty is
many of these policies have been in place since at least 2017. Staff has
become accustomed to the arrangement whereby the board is merely a
rubber-stamping figurehead. The proper government of the library—aside from the day-to-day operations that are
the purview of the library’s executive director—is invested in
the board of trustees.
Dan Kleinman, who writes the Safe Libraries blog and has founded the World Library Association, has just published an article that illustrates the difficulty library boards can have when their policies reflect an improper balance of power. He writes, “Why might a strong privacy policy be needed in your library? Librarians collude with American Library Association in Chicago, Illinois, to violate open government records. They even provide ALA with private information about their own citizens.”
Kleinman illustrates with an example in Louisiana where a librarian admitted to turning over library records to the ALA. He says, “And all this to hide that the people being doxxed are complaining about access by children to explicit material the whole world thinks is inappropriate for children, except ALA, its member librarians, and the members of the hundreds of local groups it creates, like St. Tammany Library Alliance.”
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| From: ALA |
It is a disturbing microcosm of what can happen when a radical organization is allowed to infiltrate and control libraries in our local communities. The St. Tammany Parish Library Board of Control ultimately passed a resolution that stopped their library from sending information to the ALA. Read Kleinman's article HERE.
It is important that library boards govern their libraries as constituted in state statute. A Chicago-based far left organization has no business governing any aspect of the Christian County Library. In a recent monthly meeting, the library board voted to disassociate from the ALA and its state chapter the MLA.
For their efforts to return the library to citizen governance via the publicly-appointed board, board members have been sued, doxxed, verbally attacked, misrepresented and defamed by local activists and an anonymous blogger. Cutting through the ALA web is sticky, unpleasant business.
Hemingway finished up his Federalist article thus:
"Whether public institutions, even those as humble as your local library, are subject to democratic accountability instead of controlled by unelected bureaucrats, is ultimately what so much of the sturm and drang of Trump’s second term has been about...but making local libraries more dependent, and therefore responsive, to local control seems like a step in the right direction – especially as a response to organizations such as the ALA overstepping into electioneering.
I know there are some very good librarians who are doing their best to be attuned and responsive to the values of their communities, and I hope they are appreciated. But many other librarians, along with their various professional associations, are trying to make themselves into some sort of clerisy with unquestioned authority to use the libraries we pay for to dictate their values to the rest of the community."
Local government is about local control. Taxpayer-funded administrative library staff serve the taxpayers and should reflect community values in the operation of the library. Citizens should drop a line of thanks to the Christian County Commissioners for having the courage to appoint a library board of citizens who reflect the values of Christian County and who are determined to protect children. You can reach them HERE.
