Nancy 🎄Apr 2, 2023
Tony, Pretty Much

One of the most important reasons we have libraries is to ensure that there are no barriers to access knowledge. Not all families can afford books, nor can they access the internet (even if they can afford it).

This is an equity issue and a First Amendment issue. Censoring the bookshelves is a step to regimented thinking. Nobody should support it.

Llano County officials must offer library books they’d removed, judge says |
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/03/31/texas-llano-library-books/

Llano County officials must offer library books they’d removed, judge says

Local officials are appealing the order in a lawsuit that drew national attention. Seven library patrons say the book removals infringed their First Amendment rights.

The Texas Tribune
Apr 2, 2023 at 1:49pmWeb
Show threadStatmonkey 🙊Apr 2, 2023
@TonyStark
A ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark night.
Show threadTony, Pretty MuchApr 2, 2023
@statmonkey One, yes.
Show threadStatmonkey 🙊Apr 2, 2023
@TonyStark Gotta take them when and where we can find them my friend. Enjoy your Sunday!
Show threadTony, Pretty MuchApr 2, 2023
@statmonkey You, too!
Show threadStatmonkey 🙊Apr 2, 2023
@TonyStark Headed for a hike in a few minutes. Well, if I can get the dog to wake up. LoL
Show threadAdrienne LaCavaApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark It is a relief to know that at least one judge in Texas understands the BS and has the courage to halt it. 😮‍💨
Show threadRobertoApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark No nation that claims to cherish free speech should be trying to limit access to ideas for other people and their children. This type of thing even goes beyond culture wars. The effects of book bans will impact economies, jobs, and lots of what people call kitchen table issues. It’s all connected.
Show threadCarol the NurseApr 2, 2023

@TonyStark As for parents, If you don't want your child to read a certain book, you should be able to contact your child's school so that the librarian or teachers don't supply that book to your child. Although I wonder about the motivation here, that right exists.

But what on earth gives you the right to say that no parents' child should be able to read that book? Or any other person going to the library? No, you don’t have that right.

Show threadSharon Gibson MorganApr 2, 2023
@CarolDanvers @TonyStark The only time my mom disapproved of a book I was reading was over Richard Wright's *Native Son*. I was a h.s. freshman & she wondered how any school would assign that book. (She did *not* contact the school or any library.) She insisted that the main character raped his mother. I got to read it anyway and there was nothing in the story to indicate this. Well, years later, I discovered she had confused that title with Ralph Ellison's *Invisible Man*.
Show threadJR Buckley 🏳️‍🌈⚛️Apr 2, 2023
@SharonGibson3 @CarolDanvers @TonyStark
When I was 10 my mom took me to the county library to get my *very first* library card. When we were checking out the librarian told me I couldn't have one of the books I'd chosen because it wasn't from the children's section. My mom went total Karen about how the library shouldn't deny me anything on any shelf! They switched me to an adult card on the spot.
🤪
Show threadSharon Gibson MorganApr 2, 2023
@JRBuckley @CarolDanvers @TonyStark On the advice of a substitute teacher, I read *Mein Kamp*f; I was in 7th or 8th grade. I had wanted to know more about what I would learn was called the Holocaust and she recommended that title. I checked out the book at the neighborhood library w/o any trouble; my parents didn't blink an eye. There were terms that went over my head, e.g., Dadaism, but the key thing I learned was that A.H. hated Jews, and Black people like me as well.
Show threadkaupApr 2, 2023
@JRBuckley
May I reshare your text on Facebook? With or without attribution?
Show threadJR Buckley 🏳️‍🌈⚛️Apr 2, 2023
@kaup
I've already told this on Facebook, so go for it. 😁
Show threadDamnKimberleeApr 2, 2023
@CarolDanvers 🚨“parents rights” the Republicans are pushing are an effort to undermine our legitimate constitutional protections from Government (Republicans.) It’s a political sleight of hand to give corporations unchecked power over workers, communities and laws --usurping the constitution our forefathers built. It’s white collar corruption.
Show threadPatApr 2, 2023
@CarolDanvers @TonyStark Turning book(s) into Forbidden Fruit will set many kids eager to get their hands on the banned book. I suspect many parents' rights advocates are forgetting the resourcefulness of young folks to defy their elders by breaking the rules.
Show threadMirror AyakoApr 2, 2023
@CarolDanvers @TonyStark 💯👏🏻💯👏🏻💯👏🏻💯👏🏻💯👏🏻💯👏🏻💯👏🏻
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEApr 2, 2023
@CarolDanvers @TonyStark My parents said we could read any book in the house. But some were kept quite high up and we didn't discover them until we were older.
Show threadCarol the NurseApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark @TimWardCam I think it’s only good parenting to know your child is ready for appropriate for them and to talk to them about different subjects and let them ask honest questions. Sounds good to me. I’ll be honest and admit I dug up a few on the high shelves but I quit reading if I got uncomfortable.
Show threadTim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPEApr 2, 2023
@CarolDanvers @TonyStark At least one of our children found my copy of Fanny Hill.
Show threadCarol the NurseApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark @TimWardCam I found my mom’s copy of Delta of Venus. I’m fine.
Show threadAndrew Wooldridge 🌱Apr 2, 2023
@TonyStark watch as they will try to close the library now. Which was their real intention all along.
Show threadMJApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark Thanks, Tony. While I like knowing people can obtain materials elsewhere, this is definitely an equity issue, too. I grew up walking to a library for resources and escape into books and programs the library offered. Many people still have this same level of access, especially communities of color.
Show threadJersey SteveApr 2, 2023
@MJ @TonyStark
It is important. I get that many will say that the books can be acquired outside the library, but the truth is that not everyone can afford to purchase a book. The library is what makes it available for all and libraries also provide more than books.
Show threadWhiteLadySpeaksSpanishApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark i am now reading “Caste” one of the books banned in Texas. I may not be comfortable reading this book which is all the more reason I should.
Show threadWhiteLadySpeaksSpanishApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark its telling that the banners are just proving the book correct.
Show threadJim GoodallApr 2, 2023

@rebeccabguinn You'll never be a good Republican.

Congratulations!

Show threadWoke in PDX FellaApr 2, 2023
@rebeccabguinn @TonyStark My wife just read Caste which was assigned in her PhD program. She said it was extremely difficult to read, bordering on traumatizing.
Show threadAnne OminousApr 2, 2023

@rebeccabguinn @TonyStark good for you. so essential for white americans and i'd guess few will read it and absorb it.

You may know of Wilkerson's book The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration; it is also excellent. heartbreaking for sure, but so important.

Show threadWhiteLadySpeaksSpanishApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark libraries are a place to gather and meet. They are places to do homework, tutor, have access to not just books but computers that sometimes cannot be affordable at home. The access they give are not just to books but community, goes beyond books being banned their hours are being cut, their funding is being cut. Just like public school thier purpose helps make the playing field equal.
Show threadisotope239 🥸💻📚 🇺🇦Apr 2, 2023
@rebeccabguinn @TonyStark This: "their purpose helps make the playing field equal". Absolutely right.
Show threadPeter ButlerApr 2, 2023

@rebeccabguinn @TonyStark Absolutely. They are also a place to get warm when it’s cold and cool down when it’s hot.

I beat the drum perhaps too often on this issue, but libraries are the last indoor public spaces we have that are not commercial. They are essential for any community

Show threadTina Apr 2, 2023
@TonyStark When I was young, myself, my sister, and my cousin all would ride our bikes to the community pool. They would go to the pool, I, on the other hand, would walk the extra block to visit the local library. I was 10 years old when I learned about inter-library loans! I would sit in the stacks & pull books off the shelves & read, for hours. My first job at the age of 15 was a ‘page’ at the library. I put books away that had been returned. This attempt at book banning hurts me to the core.
Show threadTengrainApr 2, 2023

@TonyStark

💯

If the Republicans had their way, the only book at the library would be the Bible and possibly Mein Kampf.

Show threadAutisticMumTo3Apr 2, 2023
@TonyStark
Over here in the UK cuts in local govt funding has been closing libraries for over a decade but making internet access essential for poor people to get benefits. Both Tories and Republicans hate libraries.
Show threadYamainu 🏳️‍🌈Apr 2, 2023
@TonyStark Of course the U.S. never ratified the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), either. Along with Somalia and South Sudan 🙄
Show threadJohn Carlsen 🇺🇸🇳🇱🇪🇺Apr 2, 2023

@TonyStark

"The books included a book for teens that calls the Ku Klux Klan a terrorist group, Isabel Wilkerson’s 'Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents' and a comedic children’s book with three stories from Dawn McMillan’s 'I Need a New Butt!' series."

Apparently these Texas county officials are OK with the KKK but not talk about butts.

Show threadLindaNYC2VT Ⓥ 🌊🐖🐄🐓🦃🐬🐝🦋🦇Apr 2, 2023
@johnlogic Isabel Wilkerson’s book should be mandatory reading for all students.
Show threadDagnyApr 2, 2023
@johnlogic @TonyStark 💯
Show threadRhodeyApr 2, 2023
@johnlogic @TonyStark Perfect sum up of the wacky Puritanical mindset.
Show threadRich Stein (he/him)Apr 2, 2023

@TonyStark
Good news! Libraries are awesome. Did you know that for a limited time, individuals in the US, ages 13-21, can apply for a free Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) eCard, gaining access to BPL's eBook collection and learning databases. Great #opportunity! To apply, email:

[email protected]

Part of BPL's "Books Unbanned" initiative: https://www.bklynlibrary.org/books-unbanned

Please #share

#libraries #books #censorship #ebooks #GoodNews

Books Unbanned | Brooklyn Public Library

In April 2022, Brooklyn Public Library joined those fighting for the rights of teens nationwide to read what they like, discover themselves, and form their own opinions. Inspired by the American Library Association's Freedom to Read Statement, Books Unbanned is a response to an increasingly coordinated and effective effort to remove books from library shelves. 

Show threadDaigoro Toyama Apr 2, 2023
@TonyStark Reminds me how the public libraries are (and should be) open to everyone.
Show threadClare Harris 🍁Apr 2, 2023

@TonyStark

Great discussion here, Tony. Your insight and warning brought all these folks together on Mastodon.

That’s a public service too! 👊🏼

#libraries #books

Show threadTony, Pretty MuchApr 2, 2023
@drclareharris 💪
Show threadWilliam B. TurnerApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark. We had all we needed and lived in the most expensive neighborhood in town when I can remember going to the library with my mother to check out books. Very fond memories that I want to make available to every child.
Show threadPersisterApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark representation matters, and sometimes a public library is the only place you can find books about people like yourself. One of the most important roles of a public library is to affirm to anyone/everyone that they are not alone.
Show threadPandaChronicle ResistsApr 2, 2023
@TonyStark
My earliest good memories are of going to the library and taking out a pile of books each week. I am still a library user many decades on.
Show threadGraham WardApr 3, 2023
@TonyStark For children it's especially important discovering subjects that they might not cover in any depth, or at all in school. For me, architecture and natural history, just two of many subjects all outside work roles.