Last week, actor LeVar Burton interrupted his tweets about Star Trek memories and the promotion of a new episode he directed of NCIS: Hawaiʻi to offer a spirited critique of state lawmakers in Missouri. Best known as the host and executive producer of
My mother was an assistant librarian in our small county library in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They had to remove In the Night Kitchen from the stacks and place it as a request only item because of two complaints of nudity. As a teen, I found that ludicrous. My thouoght was if you don't like the subject, don't read it. I do agree that not every book is for everyone or every age. However, I was reading from the adult section of the library at age 11 as I found the juvenile section to be , well, juvenile for me. And my parents did not object. I find it odd that the party who is insisting that parents have more control over their children's education are attempting to block that control when it comes to libraries. And as you pointed out, libraries today are more than books. It is almost like some people in power want an uneducated and uninformed populace.
This has always been about a lot more than books and libraries. They tend to be just a ruse while the real goal is the same as the antagonists in “Fahrenheit 451” and Orwell’s novels such as “1984” and “Animal Farm.” They use the term indoctrination to hide their own attempted indoctrination of the general public toward a thinking that matches up exactly with theirs!
Independent thought is anathema to any authoritarian mindset, whether that mindset is political, social, economic or religious! People who think independently push back against the power that authorities hold and actually weaken it and provide more community input into the social order. That often diminishes the influence and power that some people need!
My mother was an assistant librarian in our small county library in the late 1960's and early 1970's. They had to remove In the Night Kitchen from the stacks and place it as a request only item because of two complaints of nudity. As a teen, I found that ludicrous. My thouoght was if you don't like the subject, don't read it. I do agree that not every book is for everyone or every age. However, I was reading from the adult section of the library at age 11 as I found the juvenile section to be , well, juvenile for me. And my parents did not object. I find it odd that the party who is insisting that parents have more control over their children's education are attempting to block that control when it comes to libraries. And as you pointed out, libraries today are more than books. It is almost like some people in power want an uneducated and uninformed populace.
This has always been about a lot more than books and libraries. They tend to be just a ruse while the real goal is the same as the antagonists in “Fahrenheit 451” and Orwell’s novels such as “1984” and “Animal Farm.” They use the term indoctrination to hide their own attempted indoctrination of the general public toward a thinking that matches up exactly with theirs!
Independent thought is anathema to any authoritarian mindset, whether that mindset is political, social, economic or religious! People who think independently push back against the power that authorities hold and actually weaken it and provide more community input into the social order. That often diminishes the influence and power that some people need!