39 Comments

The Fallows couple flew around the country to discover where libraries were the center of thought and action!

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Excellent!

I've sent your essay along to librarians I know. This is another example of a peculiarly American neofascist movement that threatens us all.

"See" ya next week. ~ PJB

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Sounds a lot like what Twitter does to people who post things the government doesn't like. Where's the essay on how Twitter (and their government overlords) should allow free speech?

That said, I'm not sure how getting rid of drag queen story hour is going to hurt children.

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Such truth! These facials are trying to ban huckleberry Finn! Catcher in the rye and other classics with their pure hatred for all things freedom loving.

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Hi Ruth excellent commentary. I have passed it along to my church colleague

Gary Charter. I believe he wants to become a paying member. LizGomes+

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Thanks for this essay, Ruth. As a librarian, I appreciate it very much. The attacks on librarians are getting worse. See this horrifying article from Oklahoma:

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4axwqw/oklahoma-threatens-librarians-dont-use-the-word-abortion

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Are caves good places to hide books? I heard that the temperature doesn't vary, but wouldn't it be damp? The Assinl

scrolls were kept sealed in clay jugs. What is a good way to save my little collection?

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Again, Ruth you have shed light on ANOTHER brick in the house of fascism.

Knowing what we are facing is half the battle.

Sadly, once you start with book bans, book burnings aren’t that far behind…

I took this from the Smithsonian Website

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-book-burning-printing-press-internet-archives-180964697/

The unifying factor between all types of purposeful book-burners in the 20th century, Knuth says, is that the perpetrators feel like victims, even if they’re the ones in power. Perhaps the most infamous book burnings were those staged by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, who regularly employed language framing themselves as the victims of Jews.

Similarly, when Mao Zedong took power in China and implemented the Cultural Revolution, any book that didn’t conform to party propaganda, like those promoting capitalism or other dangerous ideas, were destroyed. More recently, the Jaffna Public Library of Sri Lanka—home to nearly 100,000 rare books of Tamil history and literature—was burned by Sinhalese Buddhists. The Sinhalese felt their Buddhist beliefs were under threat by the Hinduism of Tamils, even though they outnumbered the Tamils.

Even when the knowledge itself isn’t prevented from reaching the public, the symbolic weight of burning books is heavy. “Books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them as to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are,” wrote John Milton, author of Paradise Lost, in his 1644 book Areopagitica. “Who kills a man kills a reasonable creature… but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself—” an idea that continues to be espoused in modern culture, like in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.

“A book is a loaded gun in the house next door,” one character warns another in Bradbury’s story, arguing for why they must be burned and their knowledge erased. “Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man?”

Or, as author Barbara Tuchman said in her 1980 address at the Library of Congress, “Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. Without books, the development of civilization would have been impossible.”

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'There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of Letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.'

- Andrew Carnegie, quotation inscribed into the entrance of my town (& childhood) library.

Andrew Carnegie financed the small library butting up to the ocean on rocky coast of the small seaside fishing and artist colony of Rockport, MA. A capitalist that loved libraries!

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Seems these nefarious types seek out to harm the outer-layers of the spider web. Institutions that we are not atune to guarding,,, schools, Libraries, football teams, young girls, young men, young loves, busy parents, village boards.. On guard, I say!

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Should add grateful thanks to booksellers of all stripes, like libraries make our world a better informed community of teaders and thinkers . Fascinating article in the New Yorker today about a bookseller in Oxford,MS who helped transform a town. Much like Shakespeare & Co in France.

Worth the read!

https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-south/the-bookseller-who-helped-transform-oxford-mississippi

Sent from my iPhone

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"We're all leaders, we have to lead." Jon Meacham, historian, author, MSNBC contributor.

(Interview on MSNBC 2020, 2021)

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Jul 20, 2022·edited Jul 21, 2022

Once a destructive charismatic hero comes to power in a nation, he polarizes his clan to hate all outside opinions and therefore all those that hold those opinions. It is the epitome of political bigotry. The truth of the modern world must be replaced by a distorted view of the past. Fascism is all about thought control and so the attack on libraries fits this scenario. Seventy four million voters have not been able to recognize the Trump/Bannon circus act for what it is; a destructive propaganda campaign for the control of their minds.

Trump is afflicted with the Dark Tetrad (Machiavellianism, narcissism, sadism and psychopathy). These are the kind of people who have led fascism in the past and use it as a platform to serve their grandiosity. Fascism is the politics of lunacy and manipulation.

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Libraries certainly are a pass to knowledge and subsequently, freedom. This fact alone makes them a perfect target for fascist super predatory fear. In a fascist regime, children will be indoctrinated, just a fact. Until then, the older kids need to know of two powerful resources: Internet Archive and European Library. Both are free, with millions of archives available, including newspapers and magazines. VPN’s are going to be essential as well as a concealment server. Don’t wait for a fascist regime, prepare……….. An acquaintance did a talk at the Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna, yesterday. It was entitled: Preparing for a Fascist America. Preparation, is key. He spoke of the difference between a National movement and a Fascist Regime. A National Movement is made up of many fascist aspects. A Regime, is compiling them under one banner. Presently, we experience the movement. As we fight, we must also prepare. We need to seek out any theme of “anti-corruption campaign, focusing on law and order. There, the fascists will be. Make noise, expose, tell facts. Library’s, as well as school boards, are perfect targets………….. I have over 30 wires I check daily. Not all are in English, nor are books or magazines. I personally find Google translate to be exceptional and cheaper than paying for a high priced app. I feel, while we can, we need to share solutions on this and other sites.

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Thank you Ruth for your clarity, sharing personal library experiences and connecting the dots with historical facts. Without this essay, we may have failed to realize this institution /pillar of democracy requires our watchful support, vigilance & active fostering. I love my library, my towns librarians and the experience of a library with all the books, ideas and perspectives in squashed square footage. Without the beloved library and books of your hometown you may have missed the opportunity to write, publish and share widely and to Lucid at this critical crossroad where we are so in need of guidance to understand history and patterns developing on the horizon. Gratitude for all books and authors freely writing.

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