Today I opened the American Libraries Association (ALA) “State Of American Libraries Report” to find that not only is the ALA rabidly defending sexually explicit texts, ALA President Patty Wong reminds readers that, “ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom encourages everyone to report any and all challenges to materials, online resources (including databases), programs, speakers, displays, reading lists, and author visits. No matter is too insignificant.”
Ms. Wong also posits that, “As book challengers try to ban materials they believe tell an unflattering version of our country’s history, they are restricting us from books that support equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
Interesting take.
Here are the 10 most challenged books from 2021 compiled from 729 challenges to over 1000 books – up from 156 in 2020 in graphic form as found in the annual report.
Here is a graphic compiled by the Office for Intellectual Freedom regarding the reasons why the 10 books were challenged.
What is the LARGEST reason for reporting a book challenge? The books were found to be SEXUALLY EXPLICIT.
Here are a few photos from the book Gender Queer:
To get the real flavor of Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye”, watch former state senator Josh Brecheen read a portion of the book on the floor of the Senate during the vote for the bill that repealed the Common Core State Standards from Oklahoma law in 2014 at minute mark 8:28. Poor Josh had to spell most of the passage and was even embarrassed to do that! That’s how sexually explicit The Bluest Eye is.
Now let’s not forget, Ms. Wong told us that book ‘banners’ are “restricting us from books that support equity, diversity, and inclusion”. So how is that Ms. Wong? Does equity = sexually explicit material? What about diversity? Does diversity = sexually explicit material? Wait, inclusion must. Inclusion must = sexually explicit material! Obviously, Ms. Wong is framing her horror about book challenges completely out of context. Odd for a librarian who should understand context, huh? So maybe it’s less about context and more about foisting an agenda of sexually explicit literature on our kids.
In an interesting note; ahead of the 10 most challenged book list, the ALA put out a press release to name the books and include a survey, commissioned by the ALA, to show that ‘Voters Oppose Book Bans‘ and have a “near-universal high regard for librarians and recognition of the important role that local public libraries and school libraries play in communities.”
A former published scientist, I love to laugh at ‘surveys’, because results fully depend upon 3 factors: 1. what population was polled for the survey (where in the country do they live, etc.) 2. the number of people polled for the survey (the larger the sample size the more predictive of the community as a whole) and 3. how the survey questions are asked (was pertinent information included or were the questions missing information).
The library survey included only 1000 people called ‘voters’, and 472 parents of children in public school, all who were a mix of Democrats, Republicans, Independents. Importantly – we’re not told if the sample was an EQUAL mix of each category, or where in the country the survey was taken. In addition, none of the questions asked about banning books contained the words “SEXUALLY EXPLICIT” just “objectionable” and “upsetting”. Unsurprisingly, most anyone then should consider this survey at best a fun exercise and at worst disingenuous to its core.
Parents, it’s high time you understood that the ALA and most libraries are COMPLETELY LEFT in their ideology and not at all interested in supporting a Christian notion of family.
Apparently they’re interested instead in a notion of inclusivity, diversity and inclusion that all seems to add up to the force-feeding of sexually explicit literature into our children through school and public libraries.
