Just stumbled across a case of censorship at my local library. [View all]

[AngryOldDem]

I was referencing in another post here David Corn’s “American Psychosis” (excellent read, BTW, about the fringe elements of the GOP, going back to the Antebellum era), which I checked out of my library as a “New” book not a month ago. I wanted to recheck the title, so I got on my library’s website and did a search.

The book is no longer on the shelf. It’s gone. Disappeared. Never existed. It’s no longer in the catalog.

I accessed the minutes of the latest meeting of the board of trustees, to see if there was any discussion about book removals. There wasn’t, but there were nine agenda items about putting more Christian materials on the shelves, along with making other Christian-based stuff more accessible. This is a public library.

The board of trustees has been taken over by some extreme Right elements, but that has only just happened. They are certainly not wasting any time in purging “harmful” material, evidently.

Trust me, I am now following this closely, and I plan to (innocently) ask for an explanation as to just why Corn’s book is no longer available the next time I stop in. Which is often. It makes me wonder what else has just suddenly “disappeared.”