Librarians’ Fear For Safety Grows.
“Sam Lee, a leader of the Connecticut Library Association, heads to work these days torn between hope and fear.
She’s encouraged because legislators in her state proposed a bill this year making it harder for school boards to ban library books. But she’s fearful because Connecticut, like America, is seeing a sustained surge in book challenges — and she wonders if objectors will see the legislation as a reason to file more complaints.
“I would like to be optimistic,” Lee said. “But having been in my position for the last few years … I don’t know, it really feels like it’s been forever. And I am worried the book banners are just going to be emboldened.”
The bill in Connecticut, pending before an education committee, is one of a raft of measures advancing nationwide that seek to do things like prohibit book bans or forbid the harassment of school and public librarians — the first such wave in the country, said John Chrastka, director of library advocacy group EveryLibrary. Legislators in 22 mostly blue states have proposed 57 such bills so far this year, and two have become law, according to a Washington Post analysis of state legislative databases and an EveryLibrary legislative tracker.”
Freedom through restriction is the new mantra for many on the right who want limits places on many aspects of American life. The freedom of speech with little government interference used to be a hallmark of the classical liberalism and the ability to function in society. The gay and trans panic of the last few years has drastically altered that landscape with new restrictive laws enacted with the pretext of protecting children. On another note -in the age of the internet why are we banning hard cover books? How are the book bans effective in achieving the misguided goals of these free speech enemies?
