and i almost missed it

What with all the "what I'm reading" posts, and pleas for the Salinas, California library, and wmtc's own resident librarian, you'd think I would have pointed out National Library Week. I thought it was April 18-24 - and had a post all ready to go. But no, that was 2004. In fact, the 2005 National Library Week just passed. Duh.

Libraries are so great. Think about it. You walk in, show your little card, and walk out with books or music or movies. Read, listen, watch, bring them back, get some more. What a concept!

Now that we can get so much information online in our own homes, it's easy to forget the mountains of reference materials and archives - all the history and knowledge - all the potential power - those buildings house. To read more about how cool libraries and librarians are, visit G.

The ALA is a leader in the fight against the undemocratic and unpatriotic so-called Patriot Act, fighting to keep the FBI out of our libraries.

The organization also opposes censorship in all its many guises, and supports the free flow of information and ideas, regardless of who those ideas might offend. Their site has some cool links to lists of banned and challenged books. They sponsor an annual Banned Book Week, when people are encouraged to read a banned book.

In parts of the US these days, teachers are afraid to use textbooks that mention evolution. Publishers routinely reject books for young people - no matter how good or how useful they might be - that so much as mention sex, pregnancy or abortion. We must fight against censorship, be it state-sponsored or the insidious de facto censorship of the marketplace.

Comments

  1. Anonymous16 April 2005 at 12:15

    Thanks for the vote of confidence on libraries - you're absolutely right on all accounts. We're doing our best, and all we can do is hope that people are paying attention. Looks like they are.

    I do encourage everyone reading this to check out the ALA site - some cool stuff there under the Issues and Advocacy page.

    Wish CLA (our beloved Canadian equivalent) was less passive in their approach, but given their comparitively smaller size and reach, I'll give them credit for doing what they are doing to tackle censorship and privacy issues, even if their voice could/should be louder than it is (yes, those issues are pressing here also, even if the situation is not *yet* as dire).

    Typical Canadian flaw in CLA - they are too nice to simply say exactly what they would like to say. But I, as always, am more than happy to bitch about libraries in their place. Cheers.

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