Tuesday, September 23, 2003 :::
Rich Lowry is out for blood among librarians (although I am certain he would excuse me). He points out the leftism that has become rampant among librarians, especially the American Library Association (ALA).
"Librarians have recently let down their hair -- usually wrapped in a tight bun, of course -- to become some of the most vocal opponents of the Bush administration and the USA Patriot Act, prompting Attorney General John Ashcroft to take a public swipe at them. Librarians now constitute one of the country's main centers of thoughtless and unreconstructed leftism."
As someoone who is often surrounded by these leftist librarians, I must compare them to the media. It seems everyone they know thinks the way they do and their ideas remain unchallenged.
"Libraries have always been bulwarks of civilization. But today's versions are hardly the Library of Alexandria, unless that institution founded by Ptolemy II Soter in 283 B.C. was overrun by homeless looking for a comfortable place to sleep. As The Washington Post recently reported in a dire article on the effects of library budget cuts, "Librarians say the cuts are hurting homeless people who spend their days in the library.""
Ahh, the non-existant homeless. Resurrected for the Bush Administration. Why should anyone be concerned about library budget cuts affecting the homeless. Ask the people who actually pay the taxes that support the library if they care that the homeless have no where to go.
"The unwillingness to keep vagrants out of libraries goes to the fundamental inability of leftist librarians to distinguish between maintaining minimal public standards and creeping fascism. This is starkest in the pornography debate, with many librarians defending "the right" of patrons to download Internet porn in libraries, effectively making their computer terminals the "Larry Flynt Section.""
You may know that I defend the rights of libraries to not use filters. This is different than defending the right of patrons to view porn in the library. But many librarians adhere to the lefty policy that free speech covers the ability to view porn, but not to pray in public.
"A June meeting of the ALA provided an important clue of the organization's real priorities. It declined to pass a resolution -- even a tepid one -- supporting 14 jailed independent librarians in Cuba. These true martyrs to the free circulation of reading material held little interest for the ALA, since they are anti-Castro instead of anti-Ashcroft. Some ALA members even questioned whether the 14 are "true" librarians. Good point -- how can they be, unless their top priority is bashing the Bush administration?"
And these are the reasons I am no longer a member of this organization. Go back to your job and promote learning, instead of promoting disregard for the law and praise for dictators.
::: posted by Melissa at 9/23/2003 03:43:00 PM
