Schools nationwide are quietly removing (non challenged) books from their libraries

[Demovictory9]

LANCASTER, Pa. - Samantha Hull was on vacation when she got the call about the missing books.

Eight titles had melted away seemingly overnight, a panicked school aide told Hull, from the shelves of an elementary school in one of the 22 districts Hull oversees as co-chair of a group representing school librarians in Pennsylvania's Lancaster and Lebanon counties. The books included titles such as "In My Mosque," which instructs children about Islam; "A Place Inside of Me," which explores a Black student's reckoning with a police shooting; and "When Aidan Became a Brother," whose main character is a transgender boy.

Hull, 33, couldn't understand it: None of those books had been formally challenged by parents, even though she knew that activists across the country were targeting books featuring discussions of race, gender and LGBTQ identities for removal. The growing national furor had already arrived in Hull's corner of Pennsylvania: Parents at a high school in Lancaster County, she said, had requested the elimination of "Gender Queer," a memoir about being nonbinary, and "Lawn Boy," a young-adult novel that includes a description of a sexual encounter between two boys.


Slowly - over months of meetings, investigations and secret conversations with fearful librarians across her counties - she came to understand the disturbing reality. Administrators, afraid of attracting controversy, were quietly removing books from library shelves before they could be challenged.

https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Schools-nationwide-are-quietly-removing-books-17020176.php

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I remember when librarians were the first line of defense against book burning.

[obamanut2012]

4. Librarians aren't doing it

"Administrators, afraid of attracting controversy, were quietly removing books from library shelves..."

[TreasonousBastard]

9. True, but it's librarians who fight that sort of thing. Besides...

what the hell are "administrators" doing running things they shouldn't be running? They exist to make sure bills are paid, janitors are hired and paid correctly, broken windows are repaired...

They are NOT around to make professional decisions that librarians and other professionals should be making.

It's like hospital accountants and politicians making medical decisions.

[obamanut2012]

10. They ahve zero control what the Principal, etc. does

I have friends who are school librarians -- most have no control over stuff like this.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. I understand principals with extended powers, but the final answer should be with...

the librarians. The school nurse has her position, the biology department has its position, etc. Principals too often respond to school boards and public outcry when they should tell the public to just shut up.

Perhaps I am dreaming, but it's a dream I kinds like.

[Crunchy Frog]

2. Slowly and quietly, we're turning into Putin's Russia. Most people won't even notice.

[KPN]

3. Yup.

[Irish_Dem]

5. Yes we are turning into a fascist, autocratic society.

Putin and the GOP have identical goals.

[Magoo48]

6. Sadly, just another example of democracy in decline.

Or, to put a sharp metaphor on it: the fucking diseased, malignant tail is beating the dog to death, while the dog offers little defense.

[Maeve]

7. Tell 'Em the Truth from Reefer Madness: the Musical

It's time for parents to take a stand
For the preservation of our sweet land

All:
Till the things that scare us are burned or banned
Or smashed to smithereens!
And once the reefer has been destroyed
We'll start on Darwin and Sigmund Freud
And sex depicted on celluloid
And communists and queens
When danger's near, exploit their fear
The end will justify the means!

[Oneironaut]

8. We're turning into a spineless country, perpetually afraid to offend or challenge beliefs.

Heaven forbid someone be offended! Let’s remove any and all books that may cause controversy or thought lest we may be sued! Libraries ought to be a sterile place with only the most inoffensive of books left on the shelves.

It’s not enough that I don’t want to read a book. Because I don’t like a book, nobody should be able to read it either! /s

[lindysalsagal]

11. School admins are cowards. Period.

These school boards are elected every couple of years, and so it's a political theater. Don't kid yourself.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. I am starting to wonder about all elections-- candidates seem to be all looking for the lowest...

common denominator.

Excellence and values mean less each year.