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Squalling About Books is Embarrassing for Politicians (And Everyone!)

people sitting in a bookstore, reading
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Good grief.

I am hearing an increasing number of reports, from our area and around the country, about people yanking books out of libraries – or threatening to do so. Most? all? seem to be based on no real examination of the content of the book, thought to collection standards, need an interest of the community, or anything real.

Not every book is right for every reader. You know this – you’ve seen all kinds of books that are not right for you. Fine. No problem.

But every reader has a book (and hopefully many more than that) that will be important, will give hope, will change perspectives, or will just be entertaining enough that it provides a happy space for them.

I’ve been a librarian for more than 20 years, and I’ve been an enthusiastic reader for many more decades than that. I absolutely know, both from professional and personal experience, that books can be wonderful, life-changing, and amazing. They can provide new ideas, new worlds to explore, new things to try. They can also be dull, boring, unreadable, and not worth your time. Oh well. Not every book is right for ever reader, and that’s okay.

And, before it sounds like I’m bashing politicians – I grew up in politics, and hanging around political people. It’s a really hard job, and I have respect for people who take that seriously and do it well.

But I’ll tell you a (shockingly obvious) secret: if you want to know which politicians are in over their heads, unable to do their jobs – look to see who is creating a big ruckus over something that is fundamentally…silly. If someone is screaming and yelling and legislating over something as inherently foolish as yanking books off the shelves of libraries that they seem to have not read but they have decided they want to squall over? That’s a person who is demonstrating they don’t know how to do the actual work of legislating. That’s someone who is not fixing roads – because that’s HARD. That’s someone who is not ensuring their organization/department/state is not running effectively – because that’s HARD. That’s a person not responding to the needs of the communities they are supposed be serving – because that’s HARD.

We’ve all seen the research on the Facebook algorithms. It’s easy to get people all riled up, get people angry, and they they support you and your (dumb/bad/mean/exclusionary) idea. It’s SO MUCH easier than figuring out how to fix potholes in the road, ensuring everyone has access to health care, and all the other things that matter.

So, yes. It’s okay to be embarrassed for these people.

The person I’m currently so embarrassed for is from Texas, and I’m also kind of appreciative of how hard he’s working to shame his state in front of the country. Slow clap for Rep Matt – who is demanding that schools across the state stop their work, and look to see whether they have any titles from a list of over 800 books. Why? Unclear. How did he get this list? Unknown. What is the point to his toddler-style squalling to get attention and avoid the work he should be doing? Well…that seems to be the point.

It will come as a surprise to absolutely no one that there did not seem to be any literary standards applied to the creation of this mysterious list. And it will likewise come as absolutely no shock at all, that the books he wants schools to confess to owning are books that libraries would be proud to have in a collection. Books by Black people. Books by Latin people. Books by LGBTQIA+ people. Books by people with all kinds of life experience. Award winning books. Best selling books. As if…these are bad things?

Eek!!! What if someone reads a book and GASP! has a new idea? Or a better perspective on another person’s life? Or a more inclusive attitude toward say…governing an entire state?

Good grief. You can see how Rep Matt is missing the entire idea of books, reading, and libraries. (Yes: still embarrassing for him.)

Sure, he’s getting some attention. And sure, there are a few people around who will be enthusiastic supporters of the idea of yanking books off the shelves of libraries. And there are few pathetic people around who rejoice in the idea of getting rid of books that promote people, tolerance, doing unto others, and such ideas. I’ve (mostly) moved past the knee-jerk reaction of getting angry about this, because really – what sad little lives these people have. How very tragic for them to have hide books from people who are different than they are, just so they can feel their place in the world is secure. That just awful, and having to live inside a mind that is so terrified all the time must be terrible.

Even more embarrassing for us all: Rep Matt is not alone here. We are currently having a LOT of big problems. That global pandemic that has killed nearly 5,000,000 people so far, for just one quick example? It’s a BIG problem. But solving real problems requires working with people, building solutions, and making the community you serve a better place. It’s SO MUCH EASIER to just have a tantrum. And too many politicians – and too may non-politicians – are choosing to have that tantrum.

Yes. It’s sad and pathetic. It’s embarrassing for them. It makes people just fundamentally look foolish. (These are the best case scenarios.) And really – it needs to just stop.

Do you know one of the best cures for this kind of narrow, shallow, limited thinking in life? It’s reading! Reading lots of books, from all kinds of people, all kinds of perspectives, all kinds of points in history, all kinds of imaged worlds!

And it’s not just me, and not just you, that are fans of books and reading! There is good evidence that reading can help you to build up your brain, to feel more empathy for people, to build vocabulary, to prevent age-related cognitive decline, reduce stress, help you to sleep, and more. These are summarized in this article from Healthline.

But wait, there’s more!

There are up to 1,000,000 new books published in the United States every year. You will not like all of them. They will not all be right for your library. But every single one of these books has a reader – and connecting books to their reader is a fundamental idea in libraries!

So yes, we can feel bad for poor Rep. Matt. He seems to not read, to not understand the value of books, and to just generally be small-minded and scared of everyone around him. It’s pathetic.

Hopefully people start sending copies of books – maybe even the specific 800+ books he does not seem to have read yet – to his office. Sure, he’ll squall and fuss. But maybe, late one night, he’ll be tempted to just open one. Maybe read a few pages. Maybe a new idea will make it past the fortress of his mind! Maybe he will develop a tiny bit of empathy for people not exactly like him in every respect!

Rep Matt – and everyone else who wants to yank books off the shelves of libraries and out the hands of patrons – I look forward to seeing your Goodreads pages blossom with new books and more reading! If you are looking for suggestions, check out our podcast – or heck, just reach out and I’ll be happy to find some great books you will enjoy! Join the readers of the world, and build a better life for yourself – maybe one that you can use to benefit your community.