Some weeks ago, we published an invitation on our Facebook page for any conservative public library employee to contact us. Surprisingly, we had several reach out with stories of what it’s like to be a conservative librarian in a woke system. Many of them were not willing to step forward, for fear of reprisals. That’s right, they’re afraid their “anti-censorship” government employer would fire them for speaking freely.
However, there are one or two who were willing to speak up in an anonymous capacity. In the first installment, we’re hearing from one librarian who has noticed that not only is the “anti-censorship” system censoring books, but that it’s been doing it for decades! The woke mob is right? Well, sort of. Here’s their story.
I am a conservative public librarian
I am a conservative (or simply politically marooned and critically thinking) public librarian in Louisiana. My entire profession seems to have gone to hell in a hand basket and it appears that I am among no other conservative leaning MLIS librarians within my public library system. And I shockingly appear to be the only librarian in my system that believes in health freedom. It is truly a befuddling time to be a conservative public librarian.
On the topic of censorship within libraries, I speak from the public library perspective. Ultimately, I am not for censorship of any kind. Although I must admit that much of our latest content disturbs me. I do accept and embrace it into our collections as it may not be right for me but may be right for others. What most truly disturbs me is that this content increasingly dominates our collections and we’ve increasingly ramped up censorship of conservative and health freedom content and content that does not support or is critical of current neo-liberal agendas.
Collections are not balanced
The old days of balanced public library collections which offer something for everyone and every opinion appears to have vanished. Right leaning content has become stamped with a label of unfit due to “misinformation” or has been “fact checked” or absurdly donned “hate-speech.” “Censorship” of conservative and health freedom topics has not arisen in such books being challenged in our collections. Instead their censorship is absolute in that such books have been denied entry into our collections. Such books are simply not purchased for our collections and thus never make it to our shelves. The tax paying public has been fully denied access to these materials. This to me is unacceptable and is potentially illegal.
Personally, what I want within our library systems is a return to balanced collections. If we are now getting a vast quantity of books on pronouns and gay and transgender everything, we need to balance that with books that may not support and may question such things. Ditto on content criticizing the right should be tempered with equal criticism of the left. If we must hold a drag queen story hour, we need also to be allowed to hold Christian or other religious story hours. Also, within our popular and new nonfiction content, we increasingly have only “Orange Man Bad” books. There’s nothing on Melania Trump but plenty on Kamala Harris; only slander of the political right, etc. I’ve even found new books in our collection on how free speech should not really be fully free speech because not having government and corporate controlled censorship is “dangerous”!
Request for Conservative content is being actively censored, blocked, eliminated, and ignored
I’ve tried relentlessly, through my own branch discretionary ordering and anonymously through our system’s public “Request a Title” option, to add new conservative centered and health freedom centered books to our collection. My continuous attempts have been entirely fruitless. None of the books I’ve requested, anonymously or as a highly qualified MLIS managerial librarian, have been honored.
I’ve gone to even further lengths, giving lists of these books to local friends and property tax payers who fund the public library system. These friends have submitted these lists of books to “Request a Title” to no avail. These books still remain absent from our shelves. In order to read these books myself, I have to either purchase them for my own home library or attempt to acquire them through Inter-Library Loan. Shockingly, some of these titles are not even available though national Inter-Library Loan portals, indicating that these titles are available in ZERO public libraries across the entire United States! Recently, I heard a podcast with prominent pandemic skeptic, Dr. Judy Mikovits, PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In it she detailed visiting several public libraries within the Fort Detrick area. None of them had any of her published, top-selling books!
Public libraries are no longer bastions of the free exchange of ideas
It is disgusting that we (librarians) are now only allowed to share one side of political and health related topics. As an example within the heath freedom genre, my library system has only vaccine positive books. Any book that is well researched and educatedly critical of vaccines, the CDC the FDA, and covid narrative, are 100% censored. My system refuses to order Naomi Wolf’s new book, C.J. Hopkins’ new collected pandemic essays, Edward Dowd’s new book, Peter Breggin’s new book, etc… not even J.B. Handley’s book about how he used a letter-board to teach his son how to communicate despite severe autism. God forbid we order Virus Mania or Dissolving Illusions!
Lastly, as a denouement, to the above rant, I’d like to address the ALA’s much touted “Banned Books Week”. In summary, the ALA’s flaunts their supposed staunch stance against censorship and their unwavering support of free speech and tolerance and embracing of all opinions and cultures. I feel it pertinent to point out the obvious and insulting hypocrisy of this entire conceptual celebration. As a case in point, during “Banned Books Week” had I chosen to display truly banned conservative and health freedom related books at my library, 1. I would have to buy these books with my own money and display them at the library from my personal home collection, and 2. I would likely lose my job for displaying “fact-checked,” “misinformation,” or… Gasp… “hate-speech”! The irony of this flabbergasting situation truly confounds me.
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Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.
Churchill’s rallying cry echoes today: “Give us the tools, and we will finish the job.” Here's how you can help hold the line for Louisiana’s conservative values.
One historical figure I frequently look to for inspiration is Winston Churchill. With little more than grit and determination, he rallied his countrymen to overcome overwhelming odds and save the world. He had a plan and a team, but on February 9th, 1941, he needed resources to further stimey the evil forces bearing down on England.
He closed his radio broadcast on that fateful day, saying, "Put your confidence in us. Give us your faith and your blessing, and, under Providence, all will be well. We shall not fail or falter; we shall not weaken or tire... Give us the tools, and we will finish the job."
Here we are some eighty years later, and evil again bears down upon us. To be sure, Donald Trump will do his part in Washington, DC. However, Louisiana and her local communities are our jobs - yours and mine. It's up to us to hold the line against the Left's encroachment in Louisiana. That's the work Citizens for a New Louisiana has already been doing for nearly eight years. We've shored up our gains in Lafayette, Livingston, and St. Tammany parishes. However, many more parishes are currently undefended! Will you help us to expand more Conservative bulwarks into other parishes?
Churchill knew that success was only possible with additional resources. That remains true today. We can only continue this critical work with support from friends like you. We don't just think Louisiana is worth saving; we're doing our part to accomplish it, one little bit at a time. Are you on board? Here's your chance to prove it. Partner with our movement or chip in monthly so this critical work continues.
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So who or what entity orders materials for public libraries in Louisiana?
It must be recognized that the American Library Association became silently dominated by radical leftists a generation ago. Lafayette public libraries are staffed by leftists who approve, even endorse, “gender” over chromosomal sexual identity, and often function as baby-sitting services for the “poor”.
The vast majority of our parish residents never visit a public library, though they are funded by taxes.
I serve as a public librarian in another state. Like you, I think a balanced collection is vital to the public interest. I found your account quite shocking. My immediate reaction was to check my own library’s catalog for the books that you mentioned by name. I was pleased to find all but one of them available in some format either within our collection or within the collection of a consortium of which we are a part – meaning, of course, that the book is available to our patrons at no charge. That doesn’t help your library, though, as these particular consortia are state specific. At least readers in other states can access the books that you named! I’d be curious to see your library’s collection development policies. Is there any way you could be included in your library’s collection development team as, perhaps, a subject matter expert? The idea that book requests are falling on deaf ears surprises me almost as much as the idea of a list of right leaning books being completely inaccessible to patrons. In my experience, libraries tend to be pretty responsive to patron requests. Given your account, I can see how ALA’s yearly ‘banned books week’ might seem like a lot of hot air. Meanwhile, in my community, we have the right leaning books you mentioned and are fending off reconsideration requests that are in line with ALA’s top banned books. I’m left feeling concerned and puzzled as to how experiences can differ so greatly between states!
At any rate, I thank you for sharing your experience. I came in wondering why on Earth some conservative groups are taking aim at libraries. You answered that question to an extent. It seems as though the library experience may be vastly different from place to place.