tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post6733484028501541521..comments2024-03-28T18:40:05.789-04:00Comments on Writers Who Kill: SPELL FOR BANNING A BOOK--a poem for dark timesJim Jacksonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-5840359371344465612022-09-05T23:58:28.582-04:002022-09-05T23:58:28.582-04:00Molly, I'm not surprised that you had to const...Molly, I'm not surprised that you had to constantly restock those Banned Book displays. Most people in America are really opposed to censorship and the banning of books, let alone the burning of books, but they don't think about the fact that there are always these right-wing extremists out there looking for an excuse to do this until it gets really bad and smacks them in the face. Like most of us, they would rather think that such idiocy does not exist in our current world.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-63395325986078925032022-09-05T23:55:41.709-04:002022-09-05T23:55:41.709-04:00Thank you, Kait. I actually hate the fact that it&...Thank you, Kait. I actually hate the fact that it's a timely topic once again.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-91983777676817948052022-09-05T23:54:28.051-04:002022-09-05T23:54:28.051-04:00KM, yes, it's not exactly the way people like ...KM, yes, it's not exactly the way people like us think about books and reading and education. But there are always people who are threatened by these things and by the opening of minds that books and ideas can create.Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-24689762480832052872022-09-05T13:44:15.186-04:002022-09-05T13:44:15.186-04:00Thanks for this, Linda.
In the 90s, when I ran a...Thanks for this, Linda. <br /><br />In the 90s, when I ran an independent bookstore in Tennessee, we started many good conversations with customers every year with our banned and challenged book displays. Our public library puts up a great display each year, too. In each case, bookstore and library, the displays have to be constantly restocked. Good! <br /><br />The reasons for the bans and challenges are eye-opening, mind-boggling, sad, reprehensible - the list of adjectives is limitless. The best adjective, though, is wrong. Banning books is wrong. <br /><br />Blood boiling, here, keyboard taking unasked for pounding. Thank you for writing about this, Linda.Molly MacRaehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07755143318141885327noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-62641988312592301332022-09-05T13:24:48.766-04:002022-09-05T13:24:48.766-04:00Timely, and frightening. Well said, Linda.Timely, and frightening. Well said, Linda.Kaithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07758348842858993203noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-58937945056334315632022-09-05T13:05:42.929-04:002022-09-05T13:05:42.929-04:00Hard to get my mind around the concept that preven...Hard to get my mind around the concept that preventing people from accessing ideas will somehow make the world a better place.KM Rockwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03973749764907859829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-62005325686977247332022-09-05T12:27:32.897-04:002022-09-05T12:27:32.897-04:00Exactly, Shari. What about the parents who want t...Exactly, Shari. What about the parents who want their children to read a wide variety of inclusive and thought-provoking books to help expand their minds and educate them about the world in which they live?Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-58122238510377598112022-09-05T12:24:37.633-04:002022-09-05T12:24:37.633-04:00Margaret, that's a great example of the fact t...Margaret, that's a great example of the fact that most of these people have not actually read the books that they want to ban. A lot of them aren’t very good readers. Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-43201159148020959512022-09-05T12:21:44.002-04:002022-09-05T12:21:44.002-04:00Jim, you are absolutely correct! I, too, remember ...Jim, you are absolutely correct! I, too, remember those days when the Catholic Church banned books for its members, and “banned in Boston” could famously create bestsellers.It's more extreme now with much more vitriol oh, and I certainly don't remember actual threats to burn books back in my childhood in the late 50s and early 60s. Linda Rodriguezhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11913741596693442469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-3744677970260019672022-09-05T10:31:46.641-04:002022-09-05T10:31:46.641-04:00Most libraries have a process for those who wish t...Most libraries have a process for those who wish to have a book removed from our collections. It generally involves meeting with a librarian to express concerns, and if that meeting doesn't help them understand the library's role in providing materials for everyone in the community, the complainant can fill out a form and meet with administration. We rarely had anyone progress beyond the meeting stage.<br />I suspect that very few of today's book banners have read the books they wish to ban. My take as a former librarian is, it's a parent's job to monitor their child's reading and social media, not anyone else's, not the town, not the school, not a librarian. Sheesh. Do your own work.Shari Randallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16425493627354028820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-55122223925338965042022-09-05T08:27:38.570-04:002022-09-05T08:27:38.570-04:00Last fall, two candidates for the school board wer...Last fall, two candidates for the school board were backed by a national PAC. They proposed cutting funds and parental control of the curriculum. After a hard-fought election, we voted them down.<br /><br />The best story I've read about censoring books: a young person running for local office told a woman who demanded banning books to read the two hundred books on her list and cite, by page and paragraph, all material she found offensive. Never heard from her again.<br /><br />Margaret S. Hamiltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07979191318652199350noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-993649290245605005.post-4276788964114375682022-09-05T07:39:48.691-04:002022-09-05T07:39:48.691-04:00I grew up during McCarthyism and Jim Crow. It is i...I grew up during McCarthyism and Jim Crow. It is important to note that censors are the minority. They win when their lies are accepted by a silent majority who does not look past the headlines that minority produces to learn the truth.Jim Jacksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15090252530437277145noreply@blogger.com