SquirrellyMama Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 🤪 Edited August 19, 2021 by SquirrellyMama 8 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Wow! Not in any way appropriate. Theological soundess should not be a criteria at a library. I would be very disturbed by that removal. 13 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSera Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 That's really odd! I thought initially that you meant you worked at a church library, or a library in a religious school. I agree with your last sentence. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathnerd Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 If the library is funded by taxpayer money and not church money, then they should change their POV. 8 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 22 hours ago, KSera said: Edited August 19, 2021 by SquirrellyMama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 22 hours ago, mathnerd said: If the library is funded by taxpayer money and not church money, then they should change their POV Edited August 19, 2021 by SquirrellyMama 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elfknitter.# Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Sounds like they need a basic class on collection maintenance and weeding. I'm going to assume there is not a collection development policy at this library? Info from ALA: https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit/weeding 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 21 hours ago, Elfknitter.# said: Sounds like they need a basic class on collection maintenance and weeding. I'm going to assume there is not a collection development policy at this library? Info from ALA: https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/selectionpolicytoolkit/weeding Edited August 19, 2021 by SquirrellyMama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 @SquirrellyMama, do you happen to remember the title? (Just curiosity from someone who is interested in Christian children's books and in angels!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 Is it possible someone returned it to the library with that note attached? I’m pretty conservative and that is not a book I would have chosen for our family, and it would bother me to know a public library was removing it from circulation for that reason - it’s inappropriate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 17 hours ago, TechWife said: Is it possible someone returned it to the library with that note attached? I’m pretty conservative and that is not a book I would have chosen for our family, and it would bother me to know a public library was removing it from circulation for that reason - it’s inappropriat . Edited August 19, 2021 by SquirrellyMama 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 18, 2021 Author Share Posted August 18, 2021 1 hour ago, MercyA said: @SquirrellyMama, do you happen to remember the title? (Just curiosity from someone who is interested in Christian children's books and in angels!) I don't remember unfortunately. The poem went something like, "Angels are with me throughout the day, when I sleep and when I play..." It had pictures of little cherubs following this kid around. Helping him out. Kelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted August 18, 2021 Share Posted August 18, 2021 (edited) 🙂 Edited August 22, 2021 by MercyA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 At a minimum, I would fill out this form for Challenges to Books that the American Library Association maintains: https://www.ala.org/tools/challengesupport/report 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormy weather Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 (edited) Wow, as a para-librarian I am almost speechless, almost. That is no reason for removing a book from a collection. What happens to freedom of information if the people responsible for collection development and maintenance remove all the books they do not agree with? If you do bring this up to them in the future, turn it around and ask them how they would like it if the shoe were on the other foot and those of us who were liberal, atheists(insert pretty much anything here) because we don't agree with the content 🤬 This goes against what libraries are all about🤯 Do you have access to the policies that are used for collection development and weeding? Edited August 19, 2021 by stormy weather Typo 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinball Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 19 hours ago, SquirrellyMama said: I work at a small public library. The director and Children's Librarian are both very conservative. To them I am a Christian, but voted for Biden so how Christian can I be. The other day when I came in there was a withdrawn board book with a note that said "Not Theologically Sound". It was a board book that showed angels following a small boy around and a poem talking about angels. I laughed because it seemed so silly, but the more I think about it I get more disturbed by it. Yes, I know it is a board book, but it really bothers me. I'm probably the most liberal person who works there and most true liberals would find me way too conservative 😁 Next time I see a note like that on a book I am going to bring up the thought that "Not Theologically Sound" has no purpose in a public library. Kelly Whose theology? LOL There certainly are theologies that teach that God created angels and that angels watch over humans. Are any books that don’t meet the librarian’s world view subject to being removed? What a dangerous precedent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Wow, that is really something... Does that mean they don't include books about Halloween, friendly witches, ghosts, elves, and a thousand other things? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 Literally illegal. Like, no American court would ever decide that was an acceptable reason. Also against the ALA's Library Bill of Rights. The ALA has a lot of resources for understanding the legalities around this. Freedom Forum has this summary of the case law around this:https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/libraries-first-amendment-overview/banned-books/ You could absolutely be a whistleblower about this. You can even be anonymous about it if you want. If you live somewhere with actual journalists, I would contact a local paper. If you don't, you can still put it anonymously on local groups. This is pretty messed up. If you want to try and appeal to your superiors, you can point out that they're opening the library up to a serious lawsuit. Put the fear of the ACLU's deep pockets in them. 1 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinball Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 I’d get a friend to go in and ask for help in finding all the resources the library has about guardian angels, fiction and nonfiction, adult and juvenile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 3 hours ago, pinball said: Whose theology? LOL There certainly are theologies that teach that God created angels and that angels watch over humans. Are any books that don’t meet the librarian’s world view subject to being removed? What a dangerous precedent. No, we have books on many subjects that they wouldn't consider "Theologically Sound", this is the first I've seen this happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 3 hours ago, J-rap said: Wow, that is really something... Does that mean they don't include books about Halloween, friendly witches, ghosts, elves, and a thousand other things? Like I said, we have books on so many subjects which is why I was so surprised that it happened Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 2 hours ago, Farrar said: Literally illegal. Like, no American court would ever decide that was an acceptable reason. Also against the ALA's Library Bill of Rights. The ALA has a lot of resources for understanding the legalities around this. Freedom Forum has this summary of the case law around this:https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/libraries-first-amendment-overview/banned-books/ You could absolutely be a whistleblower about this. You can even be anonymous about it if you want. If you live somewhere with actual journalists, I would contact a local paper. If you don't, you can still put it anonymously on local groups. This is pretty messed up. If you want to try and appeal to your superiors, you can point out that they're opening the library up to a serious lawsuit. Put the fear of the ACLU's deep pockets in them. Yeah, not going to do this. I never asked if there was another reason it was being taken out. The note was not in good taste but it might have been withdrawn for other reasons. We are withdrawing all sorts of books right now due to low check out numbers. And, no I couldn't be anonymous because only 3 of us saw that note. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 2 hours ago, pinball said: I’d get a friend to go in and ask for help in finding all the resources the library has about guardian angels, fiction and nonfiction, adult and juvenile. As small as our library is, that might have legitimately been the only book on guardian angels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 2 hours ago, Farrar said: Literally illegal. Like, no American court would ever decide that was an acceptable reason. Also against the ALA's Library Bill of Rights. The ALA has a lot of resources for understanding the legalities around this. Freedom Forum has this summary of the case law around this:https://www.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/libraries-first-amendment-overview/banned-books/ You could absolutely be a whistleblower about this. You can even be anonymous about it if you want. If you live somewhere with actual journalists, I would contact a local paper. If you don't, you can still put it anonymously on local groups. This is pretty messed up. If you want to try and appeal to your superiors, you can point out that they're opening the library up to a serious lawsuit. Put the fear of the ACLU's deep pockets in them. Honestly, I'm upset about this, too. And I kind of want to contact the library and/or the ALA myself. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 (edited) 12 minutes ago, Jenny in Florida said: Honestly, I'm upset about this, too. And I kind of want to contact the library and/or the ALA myself. Please don't, it is small town and I will be never get a job again. Even if I moved something like that would follow me. Edited August 19, 2021 by SquirrellyMama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted August 19, 2021 Share Posted August 19, 2021 6 minutes ago, SquirrellyMama said: Please don't, it is small town and I will be never get a job again. Even if I moved something like that would follow me. Well, I don't have the information I would need to track down your location, anyway. However, I do want to emphasize -- as a person who worked for my county library and continues to be a donor and booster -- that this action is absolutely antithetical to what libraries are supposed to be about. If the book was removed from a public institution on religious grounds, that is beyond distressing and should be addressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SquirrellyMama Posted August 19, 2021 Author Share Posted August 19, 2021 14 minutes ago, Jenny in Florida said: Well, I don't have the information I would need to track down your location, anyway. However, I do want to emphasize -- as a person who worked for my county library and continues to be a donor and booster -- that this action is absolutely antithetical to what libraries are supposed to be about. If the book was removed from a public institution on religious grounds, that is beyond distressing and should be addressed. I get it, I really do. Trust me, I do. I feel like I am the voice of some reason and will step it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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