An Open Letter to Nixa SABR

Dear Nixa SABR Students,

It has been brought to my attention that your group has commented on the recent appointment of Mary Hernandez de Carl to the Christian County Library Board of Trustees. See screenshots below:

From: Nixa SABR Facebook

While I understand you might be concerned about censorship and book banning, you can be assured that no books have been banned or censored. How can I be so sure of that? Well, let me link to a well-researched article written by Professor Rita Koganzon. Professor Koganzon earned a PhD in Government from Harvard and is currently an associate professor at the University of North Carolina.

In an interview with the Jack Miller Center, Koganzon gives a brief explanation of her article, "There Is No Such Thing as a Banned Book: Censorship, Authority, and the School Book Controversies of the 1970s."  

Koganzon says:

"In the article, I argue that the “right to read” (like most students’ rights, as it happens) is a mirage and a strategic invention by educators who wanted to evade parental and community oversight for their curricular choices – in this case, the books they selected for school curricula and school libraries. Appeals to the “right to read” have made our subsequent book removal and censorship debates impossible to resolve because they allow one side – mostly the side that wants to shelve controversial books that parents and boards disapprove of – to hide behind “student rights” instead of making the positive case for their selections and being accountable to the ordinary governance structure of schools for them.

These ordinary forms of democratic school governance – oversight by elected boards – have come to be maligned as censorship and “book banning,” which only empowers unelected and unrepresentative educators to govern local schools."

It should not be surprising to high school students such as yourselves, that you do not yet enjoy full rights of citizens who have attained majority age. For instance, you cannot drink alcohol in a restaurant, or buy cigarettes. You cannot legally access pornographic materials, and so on. These restrictions are reasonably imposed not only for your own good, but for the good of society.

The moral and emotional degradation of children is a scandal. Minor children are rightfully under the protection of their parents, and most parents abide by societal restrictions for them until such time as they are able to reasonably assume the rights of adulthood.

I recommend reading all of Professor Koganzon's article, which you can find HERE. Her article is 26 pages in length, but she makes a very persuasive argument against the political agenda of groups like the American Library Association, while properly defining "book banning" and "censorship." 

The article is scholarly in nature and well-referenced, so I hope you will read it with open minds and hearts, seeking to understand.

Regarding the Nixa SABR comments about the appointment of Mary Hernandez de Carl, I believe you are mistaken in several points. 

First, our county commission is composed of officials elected to represent the will of the voters. As our representatives, they are tasked with making sure our county library is governed in such a manner as carries out the will of the voters who elected them. Over the past two years, citizens have approached the commission with their concerns over the many age-inappropriate books in our county library system. 

Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris held several town hall meetings in which citizens overwhelmingly requested a change at the library. In accordance with the will of the citizens, the commissioners appointed individuals whose perspective was in concert with the majority of the voting public.

That Sheila Michaels was not elected as Western Commissioner (she was a recent candidate), or appointed as a library trustee has more to do with the will of citizens than with a curriculum vitae. Qualifications of educational experience are not the only qualifications that tax-paying citizens seek when choosing candidates.

Hernandez de Carl is also well educated and more than qualified to serve as a trustee for the library district. Governing a Library District includes much more than librarian skills. Business management, people management, facilities management, financial management are all aspects of a growing library system. Those who have been appointed in the last year, including Hernandez de Carl bring decades of business experience among other qualifications. 

Additionally, Hernandez de Carl's dedication to the library and children has been amply proven over the last two years. That SABR would attack her with inflammatory words like "notoriously," and suggest she advocated widely for book removals or restrictions is a mischaracterization, and there are news articles that attest to dozens of parents fighting to properly curate books for the Nixa School Library. Hernandez de Carl spoke one time to the Nixa School Board.

Like most of the individuals fighting for parents' rights and the safety of children, Hernandez de Carl sought to compromise with the library staff and board. That the staff and former board refused to budge is the reason there is now a new board, but for one (Trustee Janis Hagen). It became clear there was a political agenda that took precedence over parents' rights and children's emotional and mental safety.

Perhaps you do not know yet, but kudos, awards, certificates, and publicity are often handed out as a way of legitimizing persons and ideas. While Michaels may have received several awards, these are meaningless to an electorate who is seeking to protect the rights of parents and the safety of children. Hernandez de Carl's advocacy of both made her a natural choice for a county commission that is responsive to the will of citizens.

From: Nixa SABR Facebook

 

Additionally, you may want to revisit taking a reporter's words as gospel, especially regarding Commissioner Morris' statement about flipping a coin. There is video HERE (the appointment part begins at the 1:00:00 mark) to which I hope you will give a listen. Morris was simply expressing that it was a difficult decision between his choice of Michaels and Hernandez de Carl. It was a bit of hyperbole, and most likely intended to acknowledge the competency of both candidates.

What should we notice here? Sheila Michaels did not receive one vote for the appointment. Commissioner Hosea Bilyeu's choice was candidate Ruth Maynard, not Michaels.

SABR is mistaken to make Hernandez de Carl's appointment an attack on Michaels, when it was Ruth Maynard who received one of three votes. Commissioner Morris addressed Michaels because she was present at the commission meeting when Hernandez de Carl was chosen by two of the three commissioners. He spoke well of her and indicated his decision was between her and Hernandez de Carl. Even if Morris had chosen Michaels, the vote would have had to be retaken as there would not have been a majority of any candidate.

Additionally, the reporter mischaracterized the words of Commissioner Morris, and you--the students of Nixa SABR--took as gospel her words without fact-checking. His kindness was used against him. Context matters. Perhaps this is the moment for SABR students to understand the nature of our media. Unfortunately, the press is mostly a propaganda endeavor, and often fails to represent a fair and balanced perspective.

In closing, I hope the students who comprise Nixa SABR will examine how and why they posted such sentiments on Facebook. If it came from emotion or from friendly relationships, it should be self-scrutinized for bias. You all are certainly entitled to publish your opinions--thank goodness for free speech--but informed opinions garner more respect.

Kind regards,

Gretchen Garrity

The Cultural Revolution is Dying

 

Can be found HERE in the CCL

 By Gretchen Garrity

One of the first actions of the Trump Administration was to properly identify and define the two sexes -- male and female. A executive order from the White House has directed: "Agencies shall remove all statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications, or other internal and external messages that promote or otherwise inculcate gender ideology, and shall cease issuing such statements, policies, regulations, forms, communications or other messages.  Agency forms that require an individual’s sex shall list male or female, and shall not request gender identity.  Agencies shall take all necessary steps, as permitted by law, to end the Federal funding of gender ideology."

Found HERE in the CCL

The executive order clearly defines the biological and common sense reality of creation, and guts any pretense of gender ideology:

"(f)  “Gender ideology” replaces the biological category of sex with an ever-shifting concept of self-assessed gender identity, permitting the false claim that males can identify as and thus become women and vice versa, and requiring all institutions of society to regard this false claim as true.  Gender ideology includes the idea that there is a vast spectrum of genders that are disconnected from one’s sex.  Gender ideology is internally inconsistent, in that it diminishes sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the wrong sexed body.

(g)  “Gender identity” reflects a fully internal and subjective sense of self, disconnected from biological reality and sex and existing on an infinite continuum, that does not provide a meaningful basis for identification and cannot be recognized as a replacement for sex."

Read the complete executive order HERE. It is a glorious return to reality. The nightmare of gender ideology has taken a mortal blow. The repercussions will be wide-ranging. Some of the federal documents that have been rescinded include:

"(i)    “The White House Toolkit on Transgender Equality”;

(ii)   the Department of Education’s guidance documents including:

(A)  “2024 Title IX Regulations: Pointers for Implementation” (July 2024);

(B)  “U.S. Department of Education Toolkit: Creating Inclusive and Nondiscriminatory School Environments for LGBTQI+ Students”;

(C)  “U.S. Department of Education Supporting LGBTQI+ Youth and Families in School” (June 21, 2023);

(D)  “Departamento de Educación de EE.UU.  Apoyar a los jóvenes y familias LGBTQI+ en la escuela” (June 21, 2023);

(E)  “Supporting Intersex Students: A Resource for Students, Families, and Educators” (October 2021);

(F)  “Supporting Transgender Youth in School” (June 2021);

(G)  “Letter to Educators on Title IX’s 49th Anniversary” (June 23, 2021);

(H)  “Confronting Anti-LGBTQI+ Harassment in Schools: A Resource for Students and Families” (June 2021);

(I)  “Enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 With Respect to Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in Light of Bostock v. Clayton County” (June 22, 2021);

(J)  “Education in a Pandemic: The Disparate Impacts of COVID-19 on America’s Students” (June 9, 2021); and

(K)  “Back-to-School Message for Transgender Students from the U.S. Depts of Justice, Education, and HHS” (Aug. 17, 2021);"

Found HERE in the CCL

 Parents who have children in the public schools in Christian County should require confirmation from their school boards that these gender policies and documents are being abandoned immediately. If the schools were smart, they would also take stock of the books in their libraries that push the false teachings of gender ideology.

The Christian County Library has dozens of books that push gender ideology on children as young as toddlers. Some of them are referenced HERE and HERE. The library board should revisit the library's collections policies regarding the process by which books are chosen for a juvenile audience.

According to the CCL's Policy Manual, p. 8, "The Library's material selection committee is comprised of staff from both the Collection Services and Youth Services departments and is responsible for the selection of materials using guidelines set by the Director of Collection Services and the Director of Youth Services. Other staff and patrons can make suggestions for purchase. The committee consults various sources and uses the following criteria when making selections:

• Reviews from professional journals, popular magazines, and other media.
• Expressed or anticipated patron demand.
• Timeliness or permanence of the material.
• Quality, accuracy, or authenticity of materials.
• Inclusion of materials in a special bibliography or index.
• Scope and depth of our present collection or the availability of materials at other libraries in the area.
• Reputation or authority of the author or publisher.
• Format and price of material as well as space available to house it.

No single criterion is used to justify a purchase; materials selectors consider all the criteria in reaching a decision. The Director of Collection Services and the Director of Youth Services make all final acquisition decisions."

Something has gone wrong. Taxpaying citizens are left out of the decision process except to be able to suggest materials. That there are hundreds of age-inappropriate books geared toward minors has been THE ongoing issue in the CCL for two years now.

Perhaps the Director of Collections Services and the Director of Youth Services will be more open to revisiting the bullet point of "quality, accuracy, and authenticity" of the materials being chosen for children regarding gender ideology.

There are other selection criteria that rely on the logical fallacy of an appeal to authority. There is nothing that refers to community standards as a criteria for book selections. The federal government has properly defined that one's biological sex is immutable, and that "Gender ideology is internally inconsistent, in that it diminishes sex as an identifiable or useful category but nevertheless maintains that it is possible for a person to be born in the wrong sexed body."

It is an opportune moment for the CCL to review its children's collection and determine the quality, the accuracy, and the authenticity of its gender ideology materials. 

Brian Rohlman discusses the Ozark School District Vacancy: To Appoint or Elect?

 The Ozark School District is determined to appoint Guy Calloway's replacement, rather than allow voters to choose in the April 2025 municipal election. Their attorney has one interpretation. But is it the right one?

Mugwump Media Debut

 

Open Meeting for Library Board Today!

 By Gretchen Garrity

The Fake News is busy building their narrative. You can read the latest HERE. First, the Springfield News-Leader reporter Marta Mieze labels the Christian County Commissioners as conservative, instead of concerned about age-inappropriate library materials--as are many citizens. The commissioners heard from their constituents and acted appropriately.

Second, a motion was made to investigate labeling of LGBTQ materials by Trustee Janis Hagen and it was voted on affirmatively by former Trustee Allyson Tuckness. That has yet to see any movement, and it has been several months. Here is the meeting in question--August 27, 2024:

Third, Mieze makes the same mistake that many make regarding the ILL (Inter Library Loan ) systems in question. Since MOBIUS, the expensive system now in place in the Christian County Library has more materials, it is assumed they are better than the Evergreen system. MOBIUS is primarily an academic library consortium, while Evergreen in a public library consortum. Big difference. Mieze might want to ask why most public libraries in Missouri use Evergreen.

Mieze finally does a decent job of writing about the search for a new executive director by quoting state statute: "While the same chapter of state law decrees that the board 'shall appoint a qualified librarian' to be the chief executive, what constitutes 'qualified librarian' is left undefined."

ON ANOTHER NOTE

Remember reporter Susan Wade, who recently stepped down from reporting for the Springfield Daily Citizen? You know, that media source that is dedicated to "unbiased coverage of the local news that affects each of us." Traditionally, reporters would not reveal their political bent and would try to stick to the facts regardless of their political affiliations. Well, it was really good of Susan to step down, because this is how she really feels (and no doubt felt) as she covered the Library for her media outlet:

If only there was a FAKE news boycott.

Is that what the lawsuit is about? Censorship?

EVEN MORE

Wait until you hear about the "nonpartisan" League of Women Voter members who've been attending library meetings. In a recent letter to the editor of the Springfield Business Journal (of all places), Emily Fessler and Liz Wertz -- co-presidents of the League of Women Voters of Southwest Missouri, opine on the importance of libraries to the community. As is usual with progressive-oriented individuals and organizations, the ladies assert their support for "access by all persons to public library services as a major source of knowledge and information necessary for informed, active participation in a democratic society."

 

This is the exact type of deceptive agenda the American Library Association (ALA) supports. No one on the current board of trustees is suggesting that the library should not be accessible to all. But, like commonsense people everywhere, not all materials should be accessible to all -- meaning there are some age-inappropriate and sexually explicit books that minors should be protected from. This has always been the crux of the matter.  But organizations and individuals like those detailed in this post want you to believe that citizens are out to ban and censor books.

 

Further, the co-presidents write, "We are seeing a growing effort to hinder libraries' ability to provide key and needed resources to our communities. This includes sowing distrust in public libraries as institutions and the American Library Association, a professional organization that has guided libraries for over 140 years. Worse still are the personal attacks on both board members and library personnel via social media or public comments."

 

How disingenuous of the ladies! If they truly cared about the community they would also want to protect the community's children from sexually explicit and age-inappropriate materials. But their decidedly leftist politics takes precedence, apparently. And their appeal to authority and accusations are logically incongruent with their apparent desire that libraries and tax-paying patrons support one another.

For more on recent events in the library, go HERE and HERE and HERE.