@georgetakei @annietime
State Libraries are incredibly important for public libraries as they provide legislative leadership at both the state and federal level, funneling money to both public and school libraries in their respective states. I am retired now after nearly 40 years in public libraries and am pretty horrified to read that someone like Michael Flynn is now calling librarians “Marxist thugs.” I think that’s very dangerous, the kind of language that incites violence. This is serious shit and I hope ALA’s friends and supporters will speak out.
#PublicLibraries #librarians #MarxistThugs #AmericanLibraryAssociation #EmilyDrabinski

"The last time that state chapters withdrew from the @alalibrary, according to the organization, was during the Jim Crow era after the national office said it would not host events in segregated states."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/american-library-association-president-marxist-lesbian-rcna98254

#ALA #libraries #EmilyDrabinski

More on the Montana State Library Commission's "hysterical homophobia" and "classic red-baiting" https://jacobin.com/2023/07/american-library-association-emily-drabinski-montana-state-library-right-wing-homophobia-anticommunism

Jacobin reports that "public commenters speaking out in favor of the motion were fixated on and driven by the bizarre, homophobic “groomer” hysteria that has taken over the American right in recent years"

#ALA #EmilyDrabinski #MyCarthyism #libraries #homophobia

I am really needing #EmilyDrabinski, of whom I'm a big fan btw, to make a stronger statement on this than that they're "definitely thinking about all of this."

Seems pretty thoughtless to me.

And during #pride month, jfc

From Budget Cuts to Book Bans — The Decades-Long Assault on Public Libraries

#PublicLibraries #LibraryUnions #LibraryWorkers #EmilyDrabinski #CitationsNeeded

🔗 https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/episode-179-from-budget-cuts-to-book-bans-the-decades-long-assault-on-public-libraries

Streaming now (and accessible to watch after the event concludes):

Essential to the Public: Libraries at the End of the World, featuring #EmilyDrabinski and moderated by #MariameKaba

#PublicLibraries #LibraryWorkers #ProtectLibraryWorkers #critlib

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcPEEy6bBfo

Essential to the Public: Libraries at the End of the World with #ALA President Elect #EmilyDrabinski
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcPEEy6bBfo

Libraries are under attack by organized extremists who use censorship as a bludgeon against one of the few public institutions still standing. From Florida to California, Michigan to New York, book ban attempts are swiftly followed by efforts to defund the library.

Sponsored by #ProjectNIA #BCRW and the Barnard Library

ASL + Live transcription provided