Tag: libraries

Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Overturn Texas “Book Bans,” Library May Remove LGBTQ Books

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by a group of Texas county residents challenging their local library’s removal of LGBTQ and other controversial books from its bookshelves.

Yesterday, the Court denied the groups’ petition to review the case, letting stand the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ earlier dismissal of their free speech claims against the so-called “book bans.”

We covered the case, Little v. Llano County, here:

Federal Appeals Court Tosses “Book Ban” Challenge, Library May Remove Books Based on Content

To recap briefly, the conflict between county residents and library officials began in 2021, when, responding to public complaints, the Llano County library removed 17 controversial books from its shelves, including these children’s books: Freakboy; Freddy the Farting Snowman; and Being Jazz: My Life As a Transgender Teen.  A group of patrons then sued, alleging the library had illegally banned the books.

At first, the case was going the plaintiffs’ way. In 2023, the federal district court sided with the patrons, ruling the library violated their right to receive information under the Free Speech Clause and ordering the books to be put back on the shelves. Last year, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit Court agreed.

On appeal, however, a full panel of the Fifth Circuit ruled 10-7 that there is “no such right” under the First Amendment: “It is one thing to tell the government it cannot stop you from receiving a book,” Judge Stuart Duncan, a Trump appointee, wrote on behalf of the panel.  “The First Amendment protects your right to do that.” “It is another thing for you to tell the government which books it must keep in the library. The First Amendment does not give you the right to demand that.”

The court also held that the library’s book selections are government speech, similar to a city museum’s selection of which paintings to feature in an exhibit—and therefore not subject to a Free Speech challenge.

The library patrons then petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene and reverse the appellate court’s decision “immunizing” viewpoint discrimination in violation of their First Amendment rights.

Now, in denying their bid to review the case, the Court leaves in place the rule in the Fifth Circuit, that the First Amendment can’t be invoked to challenge a library’s decision “about which books to buy, which books to keep, or which books to remove.”

Keep reading

‘No Way’: Joe Biden Can’t Find Donors For His Presidential Library

Joe Biden has set his sights on establishing a presidential library, but he’s confronting a familiar obstacle: no one seems willing to foot the bill.

According to NBC News, the former president is trying to fundraise for the construction of the Joe Biden Presidential Library, but donors are simply not interested.

Their report stated:

Former President Joe Biden is running into a problem in his nascent effort to raise money for a presidential library: Donors are checked out.

Most of the more than half a dozen people who were once major Biden donors or bundlers who spoke with NBC News said they harbored no ill will toward Biden himself but either wouldn’t give to the library or would give only a token amount. A number of them requested anonymity to speak frankly.

They cited a range of factors, from not wanting to make themselves a target of the White House to holding their financial firepower for the party’s future. Some cited personal interactions with Biden’s inner circle as being so distasteful they believed it would be a barrier to ever raising significant funds for the 46th president of the United States.

Biden also faces residual anger from the party over his decision to seek a second term despite health issues.

Since Franklin D. Roosevelt, every U.S. president has opened a library to showcase their time in office.

These libraries hold official records, personal papers, and exhibits designed to shape how future generations view each presidency.

The catch is that presidents have to raise the money themselves.

Construction is privately funded, usually through donations from wealthy backers and corporate allies, before the library is handed over to the National Archives to run.

Successful fundraising has become a key test of how much influence and goodwill a president retains after leaving office.

Given that Biden is suffering from prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, the 46th president now faces a race against time to secure the funding for such a project. C

Couple that with his disastrous political legacy, and the likelihood of seeing a presidential library completed in his lifetime looks increasingly remote.

Keep reading

Eyewatering financial records of Barack Obama’s ‘eyesore’ library

Barack Obama‘s foundation center’s staggering $850 million cost has been fueled by soaring operational budgets and huge salaries for executives, a new financial report has revealed. 

Construction of the former president’s namesake center campus has already surpassed the total budget set out when Obama first proposed the building before he left the White House. 

Situated in the South Side of Chicago in Jackson Park, the towering grey monolith-like property will serve as the headquarters of the Obama Foundation and will house a museum, library and education center dedicated to his eight years as president. 

It was initially estimated to cost $300 million, before the budget was revised to $500 million in 2017, and then again to $700 million in 2021. 

In an annual financial disclosure form released last week, the foundation reported spending an extra $90 million to prepare exhibits and $40 million in operating costs for the first year alone. 

Executives at the center raked in a total of $6.1 million and are among the best paid of all cultural centers in the nation, with CEO Valerie Jarrett paid $740,000 last year. 

OPC Executive Vice President Robbin Cohen earned $610,195 and Tina Chen, the organization’s chief legal and people officer, earned about $425,000. 

Although the cost of all artworks is not clear, the museum recently installed an 83-foot painted glass window by artist Julie Mehretu to its exterior to beautify the grey building’s exterior. 

Despite the soaring costs of the site, fundraising to Obama’s foundation has stayed high and surpassed $1 billion thanks to a $195 million cash injection last year, the foundation said in its recent financial report. 

Keep reading

Man burns 100 library books; residents donate 1,000 more to local libraries

In Beachwood, the community is rallying together after a man reportedly burned 100 books from the local library — and filmed himself doing it.

For Kate Anderson Foley, books are more than just words on a page.

“These are our words, these are our lived experiences,” said Foley.

As the author of a children’s book about a young girl named Ida finding her voice in a world filled with hate, Foley has experienced that power firsthand.

“She comes to the realization there are many people like her, like us, that are gathered here to be able to say, let’s stand up and speak out,” said Foley.

What angers her most is when those pages are destroyed.

“It’s hurtful, no doubt about it,” said Foley.

On Monday, members of an Interfaith Group Against Hate (IGAH) gathered outside Fairmount Presbyterian Church to stand united against hate. This comes after reports that a man checked out 100 books related to race, religion, and LGBTQ+ topics from the Cuyahoga County Public Library in Beachwood — then burned them in a video posted to social media.

On April 22, the man checked out 50 books from the library relating to those topics and posted a photo of a car trunk full of books with a caption relating to “cleansing” the libraries, Beachwood Police said.

The books in the trunk of the car in the photo appeared to match the topics of books checked out by the man and had Cuyahoga County Public Library stickers on them.

The library was tipped off to the photo, and when he returned to pick up 50 more books, he said his son was a part of the LGBTQ+ community and he was trying to learn more, police said.

When a video of the man burning the books surfaced on social media, the library was tipped off once again. In the video, the books appeared to match the theme and titles of the books listed above. The video shows one book with a Cuyahoga County Public Library sticker on it, and matches one of the specific books checked out by the man.

“It was a man’s voice and image and foreboding tones describing the need to cleanse the community of the library of the books that he was setting a fire,” said Robert Nosanchuk, the Senior Rabbi at Congregation Mishkan Or.

Keep reading

President Trump Abruptly Fires Obama-Appointed Librarian of Congress Who Pushed ‘Sexual Identity’ on Children

President Trump abruptly fired the Democrat Librarian of Congress on Thursday.

Carla Hayden, an Obama appointee who pushed sexual identity on children was informed on Thursday that President Trump had fired her.

AP reported:

President Donald Trump abruptly fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden on Thursday as the White House continues to purge the federal government of those perceived to oppose the president and his agenda.

Hayden was notified in an email late Thursday from the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press. Confirmed by the Senate to the job in 2016, Hayden was the first woman and the first African American to be librarian of Congress.

“Carla,” the email began. “On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as the Librarian of Congress is terminated effective immediately. Thank you for your service.” A spokesperson for the Library of Congress confirmed that the White House told Hayden she was dismissed.

Last week conservative watchdog group The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) called on President Donald Trump to remove Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and U.S. Copyright Office Director Shira Perlmutter, accusing the duo of operating as ideological operatives for the radical Left.

“The President and his team have done an admirable and long-needed job cleaning out deep state liberals from the federal government,” AAF told Daily Mail.

“It is time they show Carla Hayden and Shira Perlmutter the door and return an America First agenda to the nation’s intellectual property regulation,” he added.

AAF wrote, “America’s “Librarian,” Carla Hayden: Obama appointee, Biden-Harris crony, Top Clinton donor. And she’s been using the Library of Congress to push “sexual identity” on children. HAYDEN’S GOT TO GO!”

Keep reading

Why Is the American Library Association Whitewashing the History of Ukrainian Nazis?

America’s largest library association, which annually hands out prestigious literary prizes such as the John Newbery Medal for children’s literature, the Caldecott Medal for picture books for children, the Stonewall Award for LBGTQ+ books for young readers, and the Coretta Scott King award for African American authors and illustrators, has recently honored two authors with a track record of whitewashing Nazi collaborators.

This January, the American Library Association (ALA) published a list of Best Historical Materials for 2023, which includes Enemy Archives: Soviet Counterinsurgency Operations and the Ukrainian Nationalist Movement—Selections from the Secret Police Archives.

This compendium of Soviet documents was edited by Volodymyr Viatrovych and Lubomyr Luciuk. Viatrovych, who is currently a deputy in the Ukrainian parliament, is notorious for drafting laws glorifying Ukrainian Nazi collaborators and Holocaust perpetrators. He’s been condemned by Jewish organizations as well as the governments of Poland and Israel. Luciuk, a professor in Canada’s elite military college, has defended a Third Reich division accused of war crimes.

The ALA’s influence reaches beyond awards: The world’s largest library association plays a key role in lobbying Congress for federal funding, and runs Booklist magazine, which covers soon-to-be published titles; receiving a Booklist review is an important step on the road to successful publication.

Keep reading

Author of the 1619 Project charged public library $40k for a  speech, causing it to go over-budget

Nikole Hannah-Jones, a former New York Times journalist, was paid $40,000 for a 45-minute speech at a high school in Arlington, Va., which is just a few miles from Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she is a tenured professor.

Her speech was part of a three-hour program held by the Arlington Public Library, and it provided her an opportunity to promote her new book, “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story,” according to The Daily Wire.

The fee paid to Hannah-Jones created some tension between the Friends of the Library, which raises money to fund events such as this, and the library itself. It caused the library to exceed its budget by $7,500. She also added a clause to the agreement that there would be no recording of her speech, with a $100,000 penalty if that were to be violated.

Keep reading

Arkansas Library Says Book Teaching Masturbation To Ages 7-12 Will Stay On Children’s Shelves

A book marketed to children ages 7 to 12 that teaches kids to masturbate and affirms gender dysphoria was recently backed by a committee of public librarians in Arkansas after a local parent challenged its place on the shelves.

“Sex Is a Funny Word,” by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth, includes images of a child touching herself in the bathtub and affirmation of gender dysphoria, all aimed at prepubescent kids. A children’s library reviewer described the book in 2016 as a “trans-inclusive sex education book.”

The book, which won top awards from gay activist organizations, “follows a cast of four 8-10 year old kids, including gender queer Zai, as they learn about and explore that strange and funny word — sex.” “Having a penis isn’t what makes you a boy. Having a vulva isn’t what makes you a girl. The truth is much more interesting than that!” the book tells kids.

After a patron’s complaint about the book last month, the Rogers Public Library assembled a committee of six of its librarians, says a letter to the patron dated Aug. 29 from Rogers Library Director Hannah Norris Milligan, obtained this week by The Federalist. The majority of this librarian committee decided to keep this book in the children’s section of the library, where children of any age can find it on the shelves.

The obtained public documents show that Norris Milligan participated on the library’s six-member review committee for the book, recommending that it stay on the library’s shelves “[f]or families that wish to discuss these sensitive topics with their children using a diverse and inclusive resource.”

Keep reading

American Library Association Promotes ‘Secret’ LGBT Messaging

Librarians should “sneak” pro-LGBT messages into conservative communities, according to a post on the American Library Association’s (ALA) website.

“Do you work for a library in a small, rural, conservative community? Are you a frontline staff member there, with no managerial or administrative authority? Do you wish you could do more to make your library more inclusive to the LGBTQIA++ community, but meet with resistance?” the post about LGBT book month reads. “I hope it’s not just me!”

The post’s writer, Tess Goldwasser, goes on to advise librarians without administrative authority on how to put pro-LGBT messaging into libraries.

Goldwater, a Maryland librarian, originally was named as the author of the post, but the ALA removed her name in 2019.

The ALA is the world’s largest library association. It has more than 58,000 members, including librarians, library workers, library trustees, and others.

If local leaders don’t promote LGBT material, librarians should tell kids about it anyway, Goldwasser wrote.

“So you’re not doing Drag Queen Storytime [yet], but you’re probably doing Regular Old Storytime, right? Try to “sneak” inclusive messages into your current programs,” she wrote.

If a book doesn’t include LGBT characters, a librarian could add them, Goldwasser suggested. A librarian reading to children could replace “Mama Bear” and “Papa Bear” with “Papa Bear” and “Papa Bear.” If a character’s gender isn’t mentioned, librarians should “change it up.”

“Chances are kids and families won’t even notice, but for that same-sex family or gender-nonconforming child who does, it will really mean a lot to them to know their librarian has their back,” wrote Goldwasser.

Keep reading