Who would have thought that we would be in the 21st century and librarians are resigning due to fear for their physical safety.
Well, this is exactly what happened in Boundary County, Idaho where a librarian resigned due to threats from right-wing extremists due to pressure to ban LGBTQ+ books.
I’m sorry, but what exactly is the concern with these books? The themes? Last I checked, reading a book doesn’t make you a certain way. If that was the case, then I’d be a princess with a dragon as my best friend.
Reading violent books will not make you violent. Reading books with sex will not make you a whore. Reading books with gay characters will not make you gay. Reading a book with straight characters will not make you straight.
Kimber Glidden, the librarian, wrote in her resignation, “Nothing in my background could have prepared me for the political atmosphere of extremism, militant Christian fundamentalism, intimidation tactics and threatening behavior currently being employed in the community…”
Too many professions now are facing things that they should not have to face.
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Teachers shouldn’t need a gun to protect their students.
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Restaurant workers shouldn’t need to fight shoppers who are combative.
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Librarians shouldn’t be scared for the life because of the printed word.
Librarians across the country have been facing difficult times due to books that are perceived to be dangerous. Even when the numbers of people actually opposing these books are small. Minority groups who are loud are making the choices. Which seems to be a theme in America. A democracy – which is what this place is supposed to be – is not decided by who is the loudest. It is decided by the majority. Yet we live in a time when the loudest and most violent make the decision. I mean what the hell?
The group involved in this – the Boundary County Library Board Recall, whose want to to “protect children from explicit materials and grooming” – are crossing so many lines here.
Books in schools are age appropriate. They will not be reading Mills and Boone books with raunchy sex when they’re in second grade. Any books that have gay characters will not be depicting explicit sex. But allowing children to explore who they are, learn that being in a box is not expected and not the norm, and expose them to life.
Life is not square. Life is not black and white.
The damage that removing books from children will do will be endless.
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They will have no desire to read.
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They will not question.
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They will be narrow minded – learn what they are taught and accept that for what it is.
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They will have no imagination.
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They are are not “status quo” as their parents seem to expect, they will be loss.
Progress over generations is being undone by small groups of scared people. And that is what they are – scared. They don’t want their children to be exposed to other ideas and perspectives. They don’t want their children to question anything. They want their children to be like their parents, have the same view, and not be open to other perspectives. Which is such a dangerous path.
And when you start imposing your will on others, you get into even more dangerous territory. This goes beyond politics and political opinions (although that is certainly part of it). This has to do with the future, our future, the future of children and the world.
Happy Reading!
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Each parent has every right to ask a teacher not to assign a book to their child. They have every right to make that decision for their own child. Not for other children and other families.