The Power of One

If you want to get a parent or grandparent or taxpayer up to speed about the issues with the Christian County Library, this interview by David Rice is the perfect vehicle.

One Parent Created a Movement

Not only does it give a short history of how Christian County citizen Mary Hernandez de Carl became involved in the movement to bring sanity to the children and teen sections of the library, but how the battle is going. Many very important points are shared.

Our publicly-appointed officials at the library continue to dig in and provide inappropriate materials to children. The staff seem to be creatures of the American Library Association and its chapter the Missouri Library Association. There is a lot of money and power behind the agenda to demoralize our children and destabilize our culture.

One person stood up.

Again, the Christian County Library Board of Trustees meets tonight at the Nixa branch at 6 p.m. Also, the Facebook group mentioned at the end, Pray for Christian County, can be found HERE. Also, We the People of Christian County was instrumental in giving a citizen's a voice in the effort to clean up the library.

Spending Our Money

David Rice writes about the Christian County Library's penchant for spending our tax dollars. This time with MOBIUS, a consortium of libraries (mostly academic) that charges for sharing books and resources. I wrote about it here.

But Rice has information from the executive director of MOBIUS, Donna Bacon. From his article:

"When I was emailing Donna Bacon, she mentioned that the future goals for MOBIUS include bringing Missouri Evergreen libraries into MOBIUS--increasing the costs to the taxpayer duplicating services we dont really need for Missouri Public Libraries."

The tendency to centralize everything under one system is neither good for individual libraries or for the taxpayer. Rice shares the numbers.

Read the whole thing HERE. 

Incidentally, the CCL board of trustees meeting is tonight at the Nixa branch, at 6 p.m. If you would like to speak, you need to get there early and fill out a comment form. Agenda HERE. 

If you don't keep up with your public officials, they tend to spend all kinds of your money. As Rice states, the library is ramping up to ask for yet more money to do renovations.

SB727...

 Compromising has consequences.

Battery Storage Facility Bid Goes Up in Flames

 By Gretchen Garrity

The Christian County Commissioners voted 3-0 on Thursday, April 18, 2024 to reject an application to build a battery storage facility in Ozark (previous article HERE). Fierce opposition from residents located near the proposed facility, as well as other citizens, made the commissioners' decision popular.

The second floor courtroom was packed for most of the meeting, with citizens handing out flyers and information they had gathered. A team from the developer Black Mountain Energy Storage, based in Austin, TX traveled to the meeting to make another pitch to the commissioners. Also, a representative of Show Me Christian County, the development organization of the county spoke in favor of the project.

While the dialog was mostly cordial, citizens were quick to react and call out the Black Mountain team at times. Show Me Christian County President and CEO Kristen Haseltine spoke about a forecasted tax increase for local schools of up to $24 million, which caused Commissioner Brad Jackson to later counter that because the facility would be considered personal property and not real property, a future change in the law (getting rid of the personal property tax) could negate all of the tax windfall.

Kristen Haseltine

Haseltine said, "Whenever this project came about, almost a year ago, we were informed about it and so we started investigating and started looking at it...seeking professional input from, um, across the state. We have even gone to Eaglepicher...in Joplin. They actually produce lithium ion batteries. We have talked with, I think, a minimum of six different utility partners, Liberty included, as well as cooperatives. We've talked to regional, as well as statewide, different groups. So we feel like we have been in lots of conversations, done research...Honestly I'm gonna point out Todd [Wiesehan, Resource Management Director]. Todd has done an amazing job at creating a summary of this project and addressing some of the concerns, and provided all of the resources that he used during his research. Based upon a lot of that research and investigation and everything that we've done, and including--which I'm going to point out--Danny Gray [county assessor] the financial impact as well."

  Haseltine went on to share three main points that attracted Show Me Christian County to the project:
1) Construction jobs
2) Energy Supply
3) Financial impact

Haseltine admitted that the construction jobs (about 100) would be temporary. Additionally, the Black Mountain team admitted earlier in the meeting that there is no guarantee that county residents would see a rise in the local energy supply or a lowering of rates. And, as noted above, if the personal property tax is done away with, the taxes collected would not meet the projection that Black Mountain gave to the assessor.

Presiding Commissioner Lynn Morris kept control of the meeting while allowing everyone to speak. The commissioners had done their homework about the project, and Morris remarked that he had received a plethora of emails and phone calls from concerned citizens.

In an interesting development, the property owner, Stu Stenger of Natural Bridge, LLC, who also owns the land adjacent to the proposed facility, did not appear. Apparently, Stenger has plans to build a housing development on his adjacent property, and Haseltine inferred that if Stenger did not have a problem with the storage facility then citizens could feel at ease.

Later, a citizen who is a real estate appraiser got up to speak (at about the 1:44:00 timestamp) and explained how projects like the proposed battery storage facility could negatively affect property values. At the end, she said, "And I don't agree with that developer [Stenger]. He's gonna have a hard time selling a $500,000 or $600,000 house sitting next to a storage facility and a substation."

Haseltine arose in defense of Stenger, saying that his company had taken into consideration all the variables of locating a housing development near a utility. She also cited the housing shortage and stable local home prices as reasons for going forward with building housing near the battery storage facility.

Commissioner Morris commented about the absence of the developer, Stu Stenger, saying, "I'm a little disappointed. I continue to be that way, from time to time when people who should be at a meeting don't come to the meeting."

Commissioner Bradley Jackson spoke just before making a motion to deny the application for the project. "I don't like having people tell me, 'Think of all the property tax that will be generated for the schools.Think about the schools'. I do think about the schools. I think about them a lot. But the fact that there is a governor candidate that is running on the premise of eliminating the personal property tax, I can't take that into consideration as a revenue source. And I'm not going to be bought or have that threat of money hamper my ability to make a good decision. My citizens are worth more than money."

The motion was seconded by Commissioner Bilyeu, and the vote to deny the application was 3-0.

Video of the proceedings:

At the Crossroads of Niceness

 

By Gretchen Garrity

The Missouri Republican Party is having an internal battle to determine what it looks like in the future. Right now, the big money interests, traditionally conservative think tanks, and private organizations are fighting to maintain the status quo.

What is the status quo?

It's the domination of the big money interests and lobbyists over We the People. These groups have long been influencing our elected representatives in Jefferson City without much opposition. Even the good ones. Let me repeat that: Even the good ones.

Bills that may be unconstitutional from the start, that include loads of shoddy legislation and are added to with amendments that have little to do with the original bill, are common.

Special interests often write the bills. Party machines often strongly encourage representatives to vote one way or another.

These (and other) reasons are why a so-called Republican super majority gets very little done, and what does get done adds more government control and benefits the special interests and not We the People. It could be said that there is not a super majority of Republicans, but a lot of RINOs and Democrats serving as Republicans.

In recent years the Missouri grassroots movement has grown. Politically active citizens are engaging their representatives, circumventing the censorship of the legacy media, and getting the word out.

They read bills, they visit their representatives, they network, and they speak up. This is causing a ruckus, not only with the political machine, but on the ground level. A fundamental disagreement has arisen about how citizens should be conducting their free speech when it comes to their representatives.

One side favors the Ronald Reagan view:

Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of thy fellow Republican." pic.twitter.com/vaujK5bkAa

— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) July 12, 2017

What this "commandment" has done is allowed a form of political correctness to run rampant among the ranks. Republicans are urged to not criticize their representatives. Pressure is put on them to tone down their opinions, especially in a public forum. Presenting facts is fine, but citizens are not to be saucy. 

This is terribly dangerous. Just on the face of it, muzzling citizens from calling out their representatives does four immediate things:

• It gives representatives cover for when they vote against the people
• It allows representatives to ignore and shun constituents who dare to criticize
  
• It gives lobbyists a BIGGER voice and influence over our elected representatives
  
• It mutes the voice of the people

Never trust anyone, Democrat or Republican, who doesn't vigorously go after their own party when they're wrong.

Anyone on social media who sides with either party 100% of the time, can NEVER be trusted.

— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) April 16, 2024

It allows the political machine to continue strong-arming representatives to vote against the interests and wishes of their constituents.

Further, it encourages division and dissension among Republicans on the ground. Those with influence attempt to use it against others to shut down criticism. This just strengthens the political machine at the Capitol, encouraging more of the same.

Interestingly, lobbyists and representatives are also emboldened to do the very thing citizens are accused of--criticizing those who disagree. Exhibit A:

Regardless of your position on the issue the fact is NO individual or group has tried to scare members and constituents with fear and outright lies more than the posse hiding behind “MO Ed Watch” https://t.co/fZ8PHhd6kj

— Ben Baker (@BenBakerMO) April 16, 2024

I speak now to Christians. There is no 11th Commandment. Either we will have a free and open society in which those within a party can vigorously disagree and engage each other and our representatives on the issues of the day, or we will further lose the freedoms we hold so dear.

Citizens have the right to God-given free speech to call out wrong thinking and wrong acting within their own political party. No more hiding behind Party. It is and has been compromised.

Representatives should be held accountable for their votes, both at the ballot box and in the public arena. If they can't stand the heat, then they aren't fit for office and should step aside. If they prefer the company of lobbyists and moneyed interests, then they are not representing the People.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." (The 10th Amendment)

SB727 must be defeated

 CLICK FOR CLARITY.

Portrait of an Agenda

Portrait of a Graduate hell mouth

By Gretchen Garrity

The Hell Mouth that is our education system is fast swallowing the rights of parents and the well being of children in a swill of globalist agendas designed to usher in a compliant and submissive population of workers.

And local schools in Christian and Greene counties are implementing these agendas, including the Ozark and Nixa school districts, and Springfield Public Schools.

I will concentrate on one program, the Portrait of a Graduate, as an illustration of what is happening. However, there are dozens of such programs that have been inserted into schools through curriculum, teaching methods, counseling programs, even health programs.

Here is one explanation of Portrait of a Graduate (and you can find lots more at the link):

"Originating with the non-profit organization Battelle for Kids, and shaped by transformational education partners like KnowledgeWorks, POG programs have been adopted by states and districts nationwide, all using similar terminology geared towards a single vision:

• Collective goals for graduates
• Mindset requirements for student “success”
• Equitable practices embedded in schools

The Portrait of a Graduate framework is fundamentally incompatible with the classical liberal idea that “hopes, dreams, and aspirations” for a student solely belong to the student and his or her family, not controlled by a “community” or “collective vision” six degrees removed from the student."

The amount of private, non-governmental organizations that suck the lifeblood out of local public schools is mind-boggling. These groups work hand-in-glove with government agencies, like the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, to implement globalist agendas. These agendas are presented as new methods, new ways of educating children, even the transformation of the education system, and include a plethora of training, resources, legal aid, consulting, and so forth for teachers, administrators, and students.

For instance, here's Panorama Education, a website that helps schools implement Portrait of a Graduate. Data collection via surveys and other means is featured, according to Higher Ground, a website focused on exposing the systems that are transforming our institutions:

“Panorama Education’s website shows how they build their behavioral surveys and data collection around Portrait of a Graduate. (Panorama was founded by US AG Merrick Garland’s son-in-law—the reason that Garland went after parents that oppose Critical Race Theory at local school boards).” -- Higher Ground

These organizations are very clever in presenting to their public school customers a competency and confidence in their expertise. Materials and training are professionally produced and thorough. 

Your tax dollars are paying for it all.

As many others have asserted, there is a particular cooperation that has happened at the highest levels of business and government to implement an overarching program of gaining control of children in every aspect of their being. From intrusive data collection to mind-bending indoctrination of children into an authoritarian control grid, the globalist agenda has overwhelmed local schools.

EXPOSING PORTRAIT OF A GRADUATE

From: Ozark School District

“Portrait of a Graduate is being used to fundamentally transform the purpose of US education—shifting curriculum, assessment, school accountability and data collection away from academics and towards Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).”  -- Higher Ground

While your local school district touts the Portrait of a Graduate (hereafter referred to as POG) program as a positive and exciting learning avenue for students, it is in reality a Social Emotional Learning (SEL) system. It indoctrinates students to be flexible, teachable, resilient, collaborative, dependable, etc., to ideologies like Critical Theory, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and other Marxist-type ways of thinking and being.

Parents take the words at face value, not understanding that students are being taught a form of Groupthink. In the Ozark School District, POG has been implemented at all grade levels--K-12. According to the school district, "In 2020, we gathered members of our community and asked what character traits are important for an Ozark graduate. The discussion resulted in nine traits we have embedded within our curriculum to ensure our graduates are prepared for success."

The nine traits that the Ozark School District supposedly chose after gathering the community together, is almost exactly what the promulgators of this globalist program suggest on their websites, and is remarkably similar to most other school districts that implement POG. See the graphic above.

PUSHING POG ON THE SCHOOL BOARD LEVEL

Also in Ozark, the administration often has a Portrait of a Graduate recognitions program at the monthly school board meetings. A child from each grade level is chosen to appear and receive a certificate for their adherence to the trait of the month. A teacher or other adult describes to the board how that child has exemplified the trait during their school day, and why they deserve to be recognized.

It goes on for sometimes close to an hour. This is part of the schtick of POG, highlighting the children in a public setting. It reinforces the program not only for students, but parents and indeed the school board. Of course this type of recognition does not belong in the monthly business meeting of a school district. It is for show. And it works, unfortunately. It is one reason why the public portion of the board meetings can stretch three or more hours.

MOVING ON TO NIXA

The Nixa public school district has this to say about their Portrait of an Eagle:

"To ensure our portrait was not just a piece an unused document, we chose to go through a comprehensive process similar to our CSIP when developing our Portrait of an Eagle. We worked with Battelle for Kids, a national not-for-profit organization committed to collaborating with school systems and communities to realize the power and promise of 21st-century learning. In the fall of 2022, we assembled a design team consisting of a diverse group of community members, families, students, and educators. In all, our design team consisted of around 70-80 members, with one-third being students. Our design team was driven by our leadership team, which was made up of building and district leadership."

And guess what Nixa schools came up with: Critical Thinkers, Confident, Adaptable, Empathetic, Effective Communicators.

The organization that worked with the Nixa school district, Battelle Kids, is linked with KnowledgeWorks, a Bill Gates-funded organization that promotes SEL. (As an aside, be on the lookout for anything like "competencies," or "competency-based education." These go hand-in-hand with what Battelle Kids and the other NGOs are SEL-ling to us. Because the public school system is imploding via poor student outcomes, the focus has become "soft skills," "competencies," "attitudes," and "values.")

From: Nixa School District

 

 

 

 

HOW ABOUT THE SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS?

Here's what SPS has to say about their POG choice of attributes:

"Over the past few years, Springfield Public Schools officials asked a diverse group of stakeholders to come together to identify the community's goals for all students. The goal was to create the District's Portrait of a Graduate. The stakeholders included parents, teachers, students, business leaders, representatives from higher education, and area non-profits...The group identified six core attributes all students will need to be successful post-graduation. The attributes include academically empowered, engaged citizen, collaborator, communicator, creative, and critical thinker. Once the core attributes were identified, the process of building a platform in which students can showcase their work was started."

And just to show readers that POG is not only for students, the SPS also is anticipating a Portrait of an Educator. The indoctrination is deep and wide:

"Portrait of an Educator empowers teachers to demonstrate the skills necessary to support students becoming contributing community members. More information on Portrait of an Educator is coming soon." 

GLOBAL, NOT LOCAL

None of this is a local effort, other than to gather and guide along any area "stakeholders" as the agenda is implemented. According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social, Emotional, Learning (CASEL), "A recent scan of employer surveys and job listings confirmed that the most in-demand skills, such as teamwork and adaptability, are high-level social and emotional skills (Yoder et al., 2020)."  

Organizations like CASEL, which are integral to helping implement SEL in schools nationwide, spend a lot of time focusing on what employers want in a worker, rather than graduating students who are independent-minded and can read, write, and do math well. They are blowing smoke in the eyes of parents, and encouraging administrators and staff to collude with organizations like the World Economic Forum, and UNESCO. 

They pay lip service to "critical thinking," but the overall focus is on traits that allow groups like CASEL and the WEF to inject the SEL agenda.

 Like many other non-governmental organizations (NGOs), CASEL is active politically:

"The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) and Committee for Children applaud the FY2024 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies bill, which provides essential funding for K-12 education, including a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Initiative to support SEL and “whole child” approaches to education and other investments that support students’ academic, social, and emotional learning. CASEL, Committee for Children, and the Leading with SEL Coalition sent a letter to appropriators calling for investments in SEL. The SEL and Whole Child Initiative..."

The UN's educational arm, UNESCO is busy with SEL, too:

"At UNESCO MGIEP, we recognize the urgent need for Social Emotional Learning (SEL) to be mainstreamed into education systems to transform education and shape a future that is geared towards providing peace and human flourishing. SEL can be described as learning that allows all learners to identify and navigate emotions, practice mindful engagement and exhibit prosocial behaviour for human flourishing towards a peaceful and sustainable planet."

The confident, earnest, and concerned verbiage is typical of all these groups. Here UNESCO promotes SEL in order to implement social justice in Columbia of all places:

"Discriminatory mindsets are the root cause of human rights violations and injustices across boundaries. Inequality has long-lasting consequences for individuals and communities.Post-pandemic, mental health challenges, especially for vulnerable children, are crucial. Our education and health systems must address this need. To tackle these urgent problems, SEL for wellbeing and social justice must be taught in classrooms. Think Equal is a socio-emotional education programme for Early Childhood that promotes prosocial behaviors and reduces antisocial behaviors."

This is a global plan. It is not and never has been local. Our local school districts are either profoundly ignorant or willing participants in this grand scheme to bring authoritarian control to our local communities. Neither is preferable.

Here is DESE's "Portrait of a Gifted Learner." Sound familiar?

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Parents, grandparents and taxpayers must get involved, get educated about these programs, and petition their local school boards. Get your school board and school administration up-to-speed. Give them the information you have learned about. Don't let them tell you that POG is harmless. There are plenty of links here to get educated about SEL's POG. Attend your monthly school board meeting and speak about POG. Educate the board. Make them accountable through publicizing what is going on and asking them to drop SEL programs from their school curriculum.

You trust your children to be taught reading, writing, arithmetic, history, science and so on. To find out that they are being taught instead how to be dependable, adaptable, and empathetic so they can exhibit social skills that employers and authoritarians desire, is not what taxpayers and parents are paying for. 

It is, in fact, intolerable.

 

SB727 is a Massive Boondoggle

 A must-read article from Missouri First. Read HERE. A taste:

"Making matters worse, the subsidies are counterfeit “school choice” because strings are attached to those subsidies in the form of government oversight of what can actually no longer be considered “private schools.”

To put that in even clearer perspective, consider the fact that if you were to subsidize each “school choice” student the $6000 it would take to make private school an option for many families, that $25 million would only help 4166 students. And 4166 is less than ½ of one percent of the 870,000 K-12 students in the state.

That’s right, Senate Republicans traded one of the largest spending increases in Missouri history, and a tremendous increase in the power of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for a sack of wooden nickles." 

And this:

"But, but…. Something has to be done about the terrible government schools!

Yes, but let’s do it the right way.

• For the kids stuck in the failing government schools, give back control of local schools to the people who care most about those kids – their parents. Trust them.

  Wrest back the local control that was stolen by the 1992 Senate Bill 380 – the so-called “Outstanding Schools Act.”
  
  Relegate DESE to its original role, not the central planning behemoth it has become.
  

• Allow “portability” by preventing someone’s resident school district from locking them into that district. Parents should have the option of moving their children, along with the per-pupil state funding, to any other government school that will accept them. The receiving school should have complete discretion whether to accept or reject out-of-district students. Parents are responsible for transportation.

• And if you want to give home school and private school families some relief, let them keep what is theirs to start with. Any family with school age children who are not using the government schools should not have to pay school taxes."

   

Dirty Deeds...

  "167.012. 1. For purposes of state law, a "home school" is a school, whether incorporated or unincorporated, that:(1) Has as its primary purpose the provision of private or religious-based instruction..." (Page 85 of SB727)

The above section of SB727--a now monstrous bill* that adds MORE government control, doling out of taxpayer dollars, data collection, and more--seems to be an attempt to abrogate the Second Amendment rights of Americans who home educate their children. See Catherine Dreher's tweet below. Note the explanation that would allow the possibility for prosecution of parents who have a gun in their home. Also note that the section was added AFTER the public hearing, precluding the ability of the citizens to comment upon it.

Dirty deeds. 

The globalist hangers-on in our government and their lobbyist comrades want full government control over our children. And it looks like they will do whatever it takes to get it.

SB727 should be killed and left to rot. School choice, as expressed in SB727, is a Trojan Horse.

This section was added after the public hearing so home schoolers were unable to voice their concerns. We are voicing them now, and they are valid and justifiable concerns, yet we are met with hostility and contempt. We also comprise a large portion of the grassroots. pic.twitter.com/PJGC5NGvUk

— Catherine Dreher 🇺🇲🇩🇪🇬🇧🇧🇻 (@CDreher4Liberty) April 10, 2024

Further, there is now a legal opinion from attorneys. See tweet below. Click to enlarge the letter.

This is the FIRST actual LEGAL opinion I've seen from Attorneys regarding SB727 and the implications for homeschoolers having firearms in our homes. Everything else has been political or lobbyist opinions. #SB727 @MOFreedomCaucus #moleg pic.twitter.com/NMQ2RDeH4P

— Catherine Dreher 🇺🇲🇩🇪🇬🇧🇧🇻 (@CDreher4Liberty) April 11, 2024

*The original bill was 12 pages. It is now a whopping 167 pages.

Must. Kill. SB727

Watch this and then call your Missouri representatives and ask them to vote NO on SB 727. A bill that started out 12 pages is now 167 pages and includes extremely problematic language for home educators. It's possible that parents who teach their children at home will be in danger of having their Second Amendment rights taken away if they have a gun in their home school.

Additionally, the bill has been blown up out of all proportion to its original intent. WATCH:

A Conflict of Interest?

 By Gretchen Garrity

 At the March 26, 2024 Christian County Library Board of Trustees meeting, the board voted, as a matter of course, to renew the Conflict of Interest policy required by the Missouri Ethics Commission (MEC). (See March agenda under New Business.)

The policy states in part:

"Any employee who holds a voting interest in the Board or governing body of any other organization, association, non-for-profit, union, corporation, or government entity that conducts any business, financial or otherwise, with Christian County Library (including Recognized Library Support Organizations such as the Christian County Library Foundation and Friends of the Christian County Library) must disclose that relationship to their Supervisor and shall be disqualified from voting on or participating in any decision making, contract negotiation, or purchasing for or on behalf of Christian County Library related to that organization or entity. "

 

In a striking coincidence, a citizen, Aileena Keen, stood up to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting. In it, she exposes a possible conflict of interest on the part of the library's executive director, Renee Brumett, who is a current board member of MOBIUS, a library consortium that provides access to digital library materials, inter-library loans, and other resources. Watch the short video:

 

From Keen's question, it appears few, if any, members of the board were aware that Brumett is a member of the board of directors of MOBIUS. Library consortiums engage in resource sharing, thereby giving local library members a wider degree of access to materials like books and digital resources. Why would this be a conflict of interest? See the above library policy. MOBIUS is a library consortium of mainly academic libraries that the Missouri State Library is associated with. 

From: MOBIUS Consortium

 

Currently, only four Missouri public libraries, including the Christian County Library, are members of MOBIUS. The other libraries are St. Charles City-County Library, St. Louis County Library, and the Springfield-Green County Library. Additionally, Robin Westphal, the State Librarian, is an ex officio board member of MOBIUS.

In contrast, the Missouri Evergreen Consortium is "an independent association of Missouri Public Libraries. The Consortium is an outgrowth of efforts to improve resource sharing between Missouri’s public libraries." Evergreen is primarily concerned with public libraries. There are currently about 66 member libraries in Evergreen, with 11 applicant libraries pending.

From: Christian County Library

 The question has to be asked, "Does the Christian County Library's membership in MOBIUS, versus Evergreen, have anything to do with Brumett's board membership?" It may not, but the library board should have had knowledge of any potential conflicts.

Additionally, the Christian County Library received a grant from MOBIUS for $1,159.00 to send a staff member to the American Library Association's YALSA Symposium in 2023. 

Looking deeper into MOBIUS, other connections surface, such as with Overdrive. What is Overdrive? You can read about Overdrive HERE in a previous article. From that article, "As a company OverDrive is typically Woke, aligned with the ALA, and prominently promotes social justice issues on its blog and for book recommendations. The ALA’s “Right to Read” statement is promoted here and here; while Social Emotional Learning is promoted here."

Overdrive originated the Libby App which public libraries and their patrons can download to access digital materials. You can also read about it at the link, and not only can it be expensive for public libraries, but Libby allows children access to thousands of inappropriate digital materials and books.

If a parent desires only age-appropriate materials for their children on Libby, there is the eReading Room which curates materials designed for children and teens. However, it is not the parent who is able to make the final determination, but something Overdrive and libraries developed. Their understanding of age-appropriate may not be what parents feel is right for their child.

The connections with MOBIUS--including the ALA, the MLA (as an Institutional Member) and Overdrive--all point to the continued association with organizations that have progressive socialist agendas separate from our local community. Local control is not just for government schools. It's also for taxpayer-funded public libraries.

Why would our public library hold membership in a consortium of academic libraries and not one geared to public libraries? What are the respective costs associated with membership, as opposed to membership in Evergreen? When did our library join MOBIUS? What are the advantages, if any?