The RINO in the Room

 

Diversity/Equity/Inclusion from the MLA

By Gretchen Garrity

 At last Saturday's Greene County GOP T.A.R.G.E.T. BBQ in Springfield, Secretary of State John R. "Jay" Ashcroft (candidate for Missouri governor) spoke about his efforts on behalf of taxpayers who are struggling with children having access to obscene and sexually explicit materials in the public libraries.

He shared that although a bill protecting children from such materials did not make it through the legislature, he was "...making sure your taxpayer dollars weren't being used for pornographic and obscene material in our libraries for kids. It didn't get through the legislature so I said, 'Okay, I had the authority, I put forth a rule. I said, 'If you're a public library and you want taxpayer funds from the state or the federal government you've got to put parents in charge, you've gotta rate books and you've gotta keep inappropriate material out of kids hands, because parents are given those kids by God to raise, not petty bureaucrats that think they're in charge."

While Sec. Ashcroft received applause for his statement, here in Christian County taxpayers are still fighting to get obscene materials out of the children's and teen sections of the library. A ratings system was voted down by Christian County Library Board of Trustees in June, and obscene books are still accessible by children. 

The taxpayer funding was never really withheld either, (see here). This is how the political machine in Jefferson City works. Politicians say one thing in public, but the status quo almost always prevails.

From the link:

"Noticeably missing from Sec. Ashcroft's letter was any mention of the Missouri Library Association (a chapter of the ALA), and the Missouri State Librarian's ties with it. Robin Westphal is the state librarian, and here she is quoted in a January 2023 article from American Libraries Magazine: "As a state librarian, Westphal connects the 160 libraries that are part of the Missouri Library Association (MLA) with needed resources."

The MLA protesting on the ALA website

 

According to the April 28, 2023 meeting notes of the  Secretary's Council on Library Development, "Vincent states that the state aid budget the House cut has been restored by the Senate. Vincent believes this money should stay. Vincent also reinstates [sic] that the new rule is at a local level and that it is up to the community and board to determine what goes in the libraries [sic] policies. She also wanted to mention that if the library has a room that is open to the public for event rental that there needs to be a sign posted with a rating. If the event is adult only, for children, members only, etc. it just needs to state that on the advertisement."

Trish Vincent is the Executive Deputy Secretary of State/Chief of Staff for Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft. Again, according to the meeting notes, the new rule is "at a local level, and that it is up to the community and board to decide what goes in the libraries[sic] policies."

The rule, apparently, has no teeth. But it did give Sec. Ashcroft an opportunity to score points with unsuspecting Republicans who trust without verifying.

Additionally, while Sec. Ashcroft has withdrawn funding from the American Library Association over its attempts to discriminate against Christian story hours at public libraries, there is the question of the Missouri Library Association, which is a chapter of the ALA. Do any state funds flow to the MLA? Does taxpayer money pay for memberships in the MLA? Is the secretary aware that the same kind of ALA socialist agenda is present in the MLA?

According to MLA President Otter Bowman, in her March 2023 newsletter column, "President Elect Kimberly Moeller and I attended the Secretary of State’s budget hearing that morning [Feb. 7], and we were relieved that Secretary Ashcroft continued to advocate for funding our libraries, even as he engaged in some heated discussion with committee members regarding his proposed rule. As of this writing, an updated version of his proposal is headed to the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules for their consideration."

Here is part of an email to members of the MLA (received through Missouri's Sunshine Law for the Christian County Library) from Amigos Library Services, one of a myriad of "charitable" groups that push socialist agendas into our public libraries. Amigos works closely with the MLA. This is the type of "training" that our library staff is exposed to on a frequent basis. This is why our libraries have become vectors for socialist indoctrination.

Click for clearer image

It is well documented that sexualizing children is part of the ALA/MLA socialist agenda. If Sec. Ashcroft is serious about stopping such indoctrination in Missouri's public libraries, surely he will also withdraw any state taxpayer money from being spent on membership with the MLA and our State Librarian Robin Westphal from supporting membership in the MLA.

From the March 2023 MLA newsletter

 

And it must be noted again that the MLA is having ALA President Emily Drabinski as its keynote speaker at their annual conference in early October. It has been publicly known since at least March 2023 that Drabinski would be the keynote speaker at the October conference. Here is the latest from Madam Drabinski courtesy of journalist Karlyn Borysenko:

Additionally, there is ample evidence of the socialist agenda in the MLA's bi-monthly newsletters. Classes and seminars with titles like "Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in cataloging & Technical Services," or "Developing Collections on Gender Relations and Feminism in the Twenty-First Century," and "Sustainability 101," are common themes being funneled to public library staff at taxpayer expense.

Challenge Results Trickling In

 

By Gretchen Garrity

The Christian County Library staff has responded to two recent book challenges. Although the challenge responses don't seem to be published on the library's website (as required) the outcome was expected except for a welcome concession regarding placement of displays.

 The first challenged book, "Thirteen Reasons Why," contains depictions of the sexualization of a minor, two rapes, sexual assaults, domestic violence, teen drug and alcohol abuse and suicide, and has been checked out 64 times since 2017. That is a potential of 64 kids who've been introduced to obscene and sexually violent scenarios.

Additionally, there is a popular Netflix series based on the book that may encourage minors whose parents won't allow them to watch the series to find the book at the library.

Further, the reasons given for retaining the book in the teen section of the library is that it is "well-reviewed," "popular," and appropriately located for a book geared toward 12-14 year-olds. 

The full response is below. Click on the image for clarity and size.

The second book challenge was for "Sissy: A Coming of Gender Story."

The book had been placed in a recent display in the Nixa library, in close proximity to the teen section. 

In a concession, the staff response said, "The display this book was on was next to the Adult Fiction collection, which is also near the teen area. The Nixa branch is limited in space, but we understand the concerns about materials being in close proximity to the teen area and confusion over the intended audience. We have reevaluated the location of that display shelf since it typically contains materials from the adult collection and have moved it further from the teen area."

Note the book display below in which "Sissy" was situated (you can see it peeking out from behind "The Bold World" on the middle shelf, also next to the book "Lawn Boy" and "Gender Queer." 

Other books in the display included "Normal People," "Fun Home," and "The Bluest Eye," among others. Several of those books are considered coming-of-age and would appeal to "young adults" and one, Gender Queer, is located in the teen section of the library.

 

Recent Nixa Library book display.

Activist book displays like the one above, are most likely the brainchild of groups like the American Library Association and its chapters like the Missouri Library Association. These groups, which actively seek to promote sexual and political agendas that are often contrary to local community values, filter down to local libraries through a well-organized narrative that pits parental rights and protecting children against "intellectual freedom" or  "freedom to read."

It's a false narrative. And taxpayer-funded local libraries should not belong to such organizations. A new and better alternative is the World Library Association, which is just getting started, and will serve as a commonsense alternative to radical associations like the ALA.

 And lastly, read WLA's Dan Kleinman's latest article about the plan for libraries to become vectors for socialism. It's straight from ALA President Emily Drabinski's mouth, thanks to undercover journalist Karlyn Borysenko.