She writes again.
My beloved wife, SWMBO, has some thoughts on her mind.
I turn it over to her.
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I just read a long article about book banning in schools and small town libraries around the country. (USA)
It scares me to consider that that might come to my town. But it could. I live in a very conservative area of the country.
When I was very young, my grandmother took me to the local library, where her cousin Nellie ruled. She showed me around the whole place, then to the children's books. When I left that wonderful place that day I was the possessor of a brand new library card with my name on it and four books. Four books I could keep and read for two whole weeks! I was rich!
My life has been enriched beyond measure by libraries wherever I have lived. The idea that a few radical operatives could start deciding what I can and cannot read makes me afraid for my country.
I hope it does scare you too!
Excellent call to action. Libraries are temples of knowledge, learning and creativity. They need to be protected from the small minded dogs of political dogma, and weasels of narrow mindedness. Freedom of thought is is under attack. Thinkers need to become a bastion.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDeleteI recently watched the Judy Blume documentary which is all about book banning.
ReplyDeleteIt's distressing to me to think that certain books can be banned . I can't remember the title of Harper Lee's book that gets banned. It's one of my favorite stories. I wonder if the Cay is banned?
ReplyDeleteTo Kill a Mockingbird.
Deletevery well said Brody! Couldn't agree with you more, especially now that we have 4 grandkids in or entering primary school
ReplyDeleteIt terrifies me too! I had the freedom to read whatever I wanted and it made me the reader I am today.
ReplyDeleteIt scares me very very much and I live halfway around the world from you. I greatly fear for your country with all the wrongs that are happening there. So many children who will never know the joy if reading, the escape into other worlds via the written word, the unconscious learning that happens with each and every story. I learned to read when I was three and haven't ever stopped enjoying it, though I read only fiction. All four of my children read also and now the youngest grandgirls and the great grandson are being read to daily. I will continue to wish and hope that things get turned around for the better before too much longer for all of you there.
ReplyDeleteI was going to write that the world has gone crazy, but certainly a portion of America has.
ReplyDeleteThe Nazis burnt books in Berlin on the eve of World War Two. Ignorant people fear the language of freedom. Most members of America's current book-banning cult have probably not read the books they protest about.
ReplyDeleteI always loved libraries too! Now I rarely go into one, but I borrow books using their app all the time. And banning books is just not right. At all.
ReplyDeleteI always loved going to the library as a kid and having a fix of books to read. Now I use the Little Libraries and recycle all my books and pick up new ones to read.
ReplyDeleteYes, it scares me too. Our country is going a little crazier everyday. Your library card story reminds me of when my little sister got her library card. In order to get a card back then you had to know how to write your name. She practiced and practiced so she could get a card like her big sister and brothers. When it was a success we all cheered, and she got her first book.
ReplyDeleteLibraries are heaven! Banning books is just not on...and like YP says, they probably haven't read the books they want to ban
ReplyDeleteWell spoke. I am scared out of my wits about this and everyone in the United States should feel the same way. The biggest problem is that is not true. We cannot let the crazies take over!! Trump being indicted over and over seems only to help him raise money! This is an attack on the First Amendment. I though the conservative faction in our country supported the constitution.
ReplyDeleteA dear friend lives in a liberal small town in AZ, and their community library displays a list of "banned" books and encourages everyone in the community to read these books. The reaction of the community has been overwhelmingly positive! I'm fortunate to live in an open-minded, liberal community in the East, and our county library system is NOT bowing to pressures to remove books from the shelves.
ReplyDeleteLibraries need positive, local support no matter where one calls home.
I'm lucky to have a wonderful library in the city I live and I use it a lot. My grandsons who just moved to my city just got their first library cards and had to come over to show me! So great!
ReplyDeleteI agree…. the library was a magical place for me as a kid and still is so wonderful. Book banning and book burning are so horrendous…. Fahrenheit 451 was a true gift to me to read way back in my youth…. such an important message now seemingly forgotten.
ReplyDeletePipeTobacco
It scares me to pieces, SWMBO. Even more frightening to me is the fact that the Austin school district shut down 28 school libraries. Totally.
ReplyDeleteThis does not bode well for our nation.