The Liberry is for English Only!

[Prudence]

I'm not sure what's the most alarming - the assumption that all taxpayers want to read exlusively English language books, the assumption that anyone who speaks Spanish (even if it's in addition to English) might be illegal, or the notion that being bilingual is some sort of cultural shame and those who can communicate in multiple languages should be shunned, lest they infect the chiiiiiildren with their otherness.

News report (transcript below video window - some errors in transcript).

[Capt Jack]

geez...its not like they're asking for signed copies of Mein Kampf or the like. so you keep a couple copies of People magazine around in español. is that really so bad?

once upon a time (many moons ago) I used to think isolationist thinking was a good idea. now, it just seems pathetic and insulting.

sad. truly

xen-o-pho-bi-a  [zee-nuh-foh-bee-uh] –noun
an unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange.

its also a plague that seems to be spreading rapidly.

[Alex]

Having been unfortunate enough to sit in at several public library board meetings (though never as a person with any responsibility) it doesn't surprise me at all to hear that a really stupid topic was brought to the board by a small group.

I remember back in 1991 a group of about 20 people showed up at our local library board meeting to discuss automation and assured the board that they'd get the county government to pull funding unless we abandoned plans to use barcodes because barcodes were a tool of the devil. Since generally hardly anybody came to the public meetings it felt like the whole world was against us.

The library won't change its policies and if the county government actually altered funding I would expect them to suddenly find themselves without any MLS holders working in their library system.

So I view the story as more of a "wow, people can be really stupid" story than a "free speech and reading is at risk."

While I find a "Hispanic Heritage display" to be stupid (not because it is hispanic, I find all displays of ethnic or national pride to be fundamentally stupid) I am appalled that they cancelled it because of pressure.

[Not Afraid]

Barcodes are a tool of the Devil.

That's priceless.

[Capt Jack]

Originally Posted by Not Afraid

Barcodes are a tool of the Devil.

is it ok that I dont get that at all? o,0

[Gemini Cricket]

Someone in Georgia is trying to ban Harry Potter, too. She says it promotes Wicca to kids.

[Alex]

There are (or at least were) strains of thought in certain fundamentalist circles that Satan will attempt to mark everybody with the number of the beast.

Given modern times, this lead to modern interpretations. They weren't so much objecting to the barcodes on the books but the barcodes on the library cards they'd have to carry (it didn't help that library cards were a new concept in our library system, until automation we didn't have them). They viewed this as the first step towards putting the barcode on them.

Apparently Satan was a technology freak and had embraced the efficiency of barcode scanners.

[Prudence]

This was entirely intended as a "people are stupid" story. According to the story, the library has no intention of changing their collection development or hiring policies (it wasn't totally clear what was included under the "no change" umbrealla). I just think the fact that this guy is a social studies teacher that throws this one over the top.

[Moonliner]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

Someone in Georgia is trying to ban Harry Potter, too. She says it promotes Wicca to kids.

You know, I can think of another book. One that actually portrays supernatural events as real, glorifies violence against ones family and espouses damnation to anyone not accepting it's viewpoint.

Perhaps we should work to ban THAT book.

[Stan4dSteph]

Do people raise a big stink about the Phillip Pullman series?