Jen SorensenA bill in Louisiana, HB 777, would make it a crime for librarians to use public funds to join the American Librarian Association or attend an ALA conference, punishable with prison time and hard labor for up to two years.
For more info: https://bookriot.com/louisiana-hb-777/
Frances LarinaI guess, "Freedom of association" is next on their list?
Space Hobo@Frances_Larina @jensorensen I feel like the opposition needs to call it the "anti-American bill" or something.
soc@jensorensen
> ALA deserves criticism as an organization for many reasons,
> both from those within it and those outside it.
... and these reasons would be?
Orc@soc @jensorensen yeah, that was an interesting aside to drop into the penultimate paragraph of that article.
Jessamyn@jensorensen @orc @soc My take on this, as someone who just stepped down from an ALA Councilor position is that ALA has been poorly positioned to respond to a lot of these challenges (their office of intellectual freedom is under-resourced), they have no real "social/network" game to speak of and there is a lot of endless committee work when they should be out fighting a war.
They did not do a great job supporting/championing their president Emily Drabinski, a truly terrific woman...
@jensorensen @orc @soc They've had some leadership challenges (their Exec Director left during Banned Books Week for some reason that wasn't communicated). Their interim ED is lovely but it's a tough time to be her. They are losing membership. They seem to think that if you just say "Libraries change lives" enough, it will eventually work. And this may be true in the long run, but in the short run, they're struggling. I don't know this author, but I suspect it's something like that.
@jensorensen @orc @soc I am definitely on Team ALA and not Team These Assholes so I don't speak publicly about this too much because I think it's important sometimes to be clear these are nitpicks in the grand scheme of things.
But it's hard to support them entirely when they had a lot of chances to really support and back up their gay president when she was homophobically attacked in the press and... they did not. Not cool. We all saw that.
@jessamyn @jensorensen @soc It just seems weird to offhandedly toss a vague reference to Things The ALA Did Wrong as a throwaway line at the end of the article, because it's not really germaine to the fash trying to make ALA membership a criminal offense.
@orc @jensorensen Probably Americans both-sides-ing as usual? 🤔
Cameron Talley@jensorensen wouldnt this criminalize every library in the state? I’m assuming all the university ones at least are associated with the ALA
@cameron_talley I don't know for sure, but it seems any publicly funded university or community library would be vulnerable.
Marcel@jensorensen The article doesn't seem to support the headline. It also says "librarians would be sentenced to hard labor for daring to join their largest professional organization". The HB777 text they quote, however, 'only' bans the 'use of public funds' to do so. Still bad, of course, but let's stick to facts. So I'd love to know if librarians doing all this with their own money, are also 'criminalized'.
Margaret Moonshadow@kritischelezer @jensorensen Good question. Librarians themselves are renumerated with the public dollar. It's my bet that eventually, if not imminently, all control over their every action will be censured if such trends continue.
Gordon J Holtslander@jensorensen Is Alberta Canada’s Louisiana? Premier Smith offers legislation to limit federal “Liberal” bias in post-secondary research funding. Long standing peer reviewed funding councils not conservative enough? https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/danielle-smith-ideology-universities-alberta-analysis-1.7179680
ANALYSIS | Danielle Smith wants ideology 'balance' at universities. Alberta academics wonder what she's tilting at | CBC News
The premier wants to do... something about what she argues is a lack of conservatism in post-secondary thought. It might include creating Alberta's own research programs, something the UCP has done before.
@jensorensen For the non-Canadians and the tragically naive Canadians, Alberta’s premier( Canadian equivalent of governor) Danielle Smith interned at Fraser Institute the country’s most accomplished organ of misinformation and willful ignorance, <-the cohorts Smith relies upon. https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Fraser_Institute
KanaMauna@jensorensen Fighting to return to the 11th century must be a hell of a drug. Let’s come back in 20 years and see what is left of literacy and most industries in Louisiana.
John Overholt@jensorensen Might have to change my bio to “Notorious information dealer and fact smuggler.”
BenjaminHimeslooks like I just found another org to donate too.
I had to look up the bill (sigh, it’s real)
Confirm the ALA is what i thought it was (sigh, it’s better)
the_blackwell_ninja [EST]@jensorensen An ignorant populace is an exploitable populace. Just the way their GOP government likes it.
Peter Gray (per/per) 🚲🏞🎷🏠🌿@the_blackwell_ninja @jensorensen and the Tories in the UK.
rrb@the_blackwell_ninja @jensorensen People with degrees vote for the Democrats. I wonder why.
Greg@jensorensen First casualty of war is something something
Chris Hayes@jensorensen I was gonna say this must be an unwanted side-effect of a larger bill. But no, literally the whole bill is no longer than half a page, only mentions librarians joining the ALA, and assigns punishment more severe than punishment for assault in Louisiana.
Gorgeous na Shock!@jensorensen Ignorance is a sin but knowledge is a crime. 😌
Peter Brown@jensorensen I am against millionaires, billionaires and multibillionaires but on this particular occasion - come back Carnegie, all is forgiven 🏴
Jennifer@jensorensen what the hell
Lewis Edwards@jensorensen putting the "lose" in Louisiana.
stevendwoodruff@jensorensen Libraries, among the most dangerous places on earth.
Overdid Pants@jensorensen In the UK Mrs Goggins, the postmaster for postman pat would have been imprisoned. #savemrsgoggins #gogginsorwhat #librariansareheros
Robert Pickering@jensorensen
In a world filled with sad news, I found this particular sad.
In a world filled with sad news, I found this particular sad.
Sarah M@jensorensen Sad to see states being so anti-literacy but that is the cumulation of the oligarchy’s goal of dumbing down America.
However, this picture just makes librarians much cooler. I feel like I’d be apart of Reference Desk Annie’s gang.
SpaceLifeForm@jensorensen
Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the American Library Association?
Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the American Library Association?
@Stinson_108 @jensorensen Fahrenheit 459
alba@jensorensen ah the US. Land of the Free, indeed. Y'all are so fucked that if I were to look up the term, I'd find a map of your country next to the definition.
IanOB@jensorensen What happens if they spend their own money, or if some form of 3rd party coughs up on their behalf?
New Door Books@jensorensen
It gets crazier and crazier.
It gets crazier and crazier.
@jensorensen specific, identifiable human beings wrote that bill. More support it. None of them should ever feel safe anywhere again.
Kevin Karhan 
@jensorensen I hiope that is a joke...
Please tell me it's not real...
Peter RileyThanks @jensorensen
(I am a Self-confessed “reader at work”)
#Solidarity with #LibraryWorkers
https://bookriot.com/louisiana-hb-777/
Abby CroftonCancel all future ALA conferences scheduled in New Orleans
David Benfell, Ph.D. (he/him/his)@jensorensen Isn’t there something about freedom of association in the First Amendment?
Joe Heafner@jensorensen What will we do when they make it illegal to possess and read certain books? There haven’t been any consequences for them this far.
Helen LH@jensorensen
With all the book banning and potentially arresting librarians, it seems the Republicans are taking 'the pen is mightier than the sword' quite literally. Asserting that librarians are more dangerous than the NRA!
They obviously don't want people who can think, as they want subservient masses easy to control.
With all the book banning and potentially arresting librarians, it seems the Republicans are taking 'the pen is mightier than the sword' quite literally. Asserting that librarians are more dangerous than the NRA!
They obviously don't want people who can think, as they want subservient masses easy to control.
Hoi_Pollois🌻@jensorensen This isn't legal, is it?
@jensorensen what precisely does the Bill say?
@CharlesO This article contains the text of the bill https://bookriot.com/louisiana-hb-777/
@jensorensen For a minute, I thought you mentioned "hard labor" in jest---imprisonment for such "offenses" being already ridiculous and anti-democratic--but there it is listed as a possible punishment in conjunction with imprisonment. What a ridiculous pile of BS, speaking as a former librarian. Louisiana is absenting itself from the American experiment, along with a few of her sister states. Buh bye. (I'm in Florida and we are essentially dropping off into the sea.)