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https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/03/02/culture-war-stacks-librarians-marshal-against-rising-book-bans/>
"NEW ORLEANS — Cheers erupted as Jamie Gregory strode onstage to receive an
award, the “Oscar for librarians,” as it is known to the hundreds of library
workers who gathered at a convention center here recently to discuss the future
of their beleaguered profession.
Gregory is a school librarian in South Carolina, where she faces a backlash for
opposing censorship campaigns. In her acceptance speech at the American Library
Association’s winter conference, she recalled a character in the movie “Field
of Dreams” who speaks out against book banning at a meeting where townspeople
rant about “smut and pornography.”
“Sound familiar?” Gregory asked, drawing laughter.
“The book censors are resorting to various underhanded and illegal tactics to
force their own narrow interpretation of the freedom to read on everyone else,”
Gregory said. “They will eventually run out of tactics. But we will still be
here.”
Gregory’s speech landed as a badly needed pep talk for a workforce facing what
the American Library Association, or ALA, calls an unprecedented threat of
censorship, fueled by a blend of hard-right politics and Christian nationalism
that, in some areas, is backed by intimidation from local armed groups.
Librarians who reject book banning have been threatened, harassed, sued, fired
and labeled “groomers” and “pedophiles” on social media.
The conference in New Orleans was equal parts group therapy and war room, as
nearly 2,000 librarians from throughout the country strategized on how to
protect their patrons and themselves, and how to get the public to wake up to
the urgency of the threat."
Via Steven Vaughan-Nichols, who wrote "Death threats against librarians!? What
is this country coming to!"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
