Libraries are always opposed to book banning. And the increasing number of pathetic little people who are so triumphant over their ability to have a tantrum in public over the mission of libraries to have books available to all people is just beyond sad.
It’s great to see libraries working with their community members to resist these few noisy little minds – to support what most people actually want: the freedom to read what we want, when we want it. Check out this article excerpt below, and you can read the whole article here.
“In the face of an alarming rise in book bans across the country, the San Francisco Public Library is taking matters into its own hands—by hosting its first-ever Freedom To Learn Summit led by the literary organization PEN America, which strives to protect free expression.
The March 25 summit, created specifically for high school students, includes thematic workshops and activities aimed to equip teens with skills to combat book-banning and educational censorship.
“Young people should have access to a broad array of materials,” said Naomi Jelks, racial equity manager at the SFPL. “Most of the books that are challenged deal with Black and LGBTQ+ life, and that’s no coincidence.”
Curriculum—and school environments—have become a battleground in the ongoing culture wars, most recently with Florida’s ban on an AP African American Studies course, which led to intense backlash.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been at the forefront of the censorship movement in the Sunshine State, championing 2022’s Stop W.O.K.E law, which forbids everything from the 1619 Project to the teaching of “critical race theory,” which is not actually taught in most K-12 schools but has become a code word for any teachings about racial injustice in the U.S.
Yet Florida is not the only state to increasingly rely on bans to muzzle freedom of speech. Eighteen states have passed laws restricting the teaching of race-related education, as the subject of critical race theory—an academic theory once limited mostly to university classrooms—became a flashpoint.”
Read the whole article here!