Tag: libraries

You Won’t BELIEVE How Much They’re Going to Charge for Admission to Obama’s Presidential Library

Obama’s hideous new presidential library is set to open in June and unsurprisingly, it’s not going to be cheap. What is surprising, is how much the tickets will actually cost to get in the door.

In addition to having to show an ID, tickets are a whopping $30 for adults. Thirty dollars per ticket!

Does that come with a meal or a few drinks?

We’ve heard that they’re paying some hefty salaries at the library but $30 per ticket seems a bit ridiculous.

The Wall Street Journal reports:

The Obama Presidential Center is finally here. Prepare to pay up.

Barack Obama’s new presidential center isn’t a cheap date, and neither is his adopted hometown.

When it opens June 19, it will set at least three modern-era records for a former White House occupant: time taken to be completed, project cost and the price to get inside.

At $30, adult admission to see the 44th president’s story is more than at any other U.S. presidential library, a Wall Street Journal review shows. That is 59% higher than the average for presidents from John F. Kennedy through George W. Bush.

The top admission for the Obama Presidential Center is in keeping with the record expense of the project in a city known for complex and costly urban development, steep taxes and premium cultural attractions.

Despite the price, Chicago is certain to become a Democratic mecca for those eager to reconnect with their party’s most popular living former president. The center is expected to attract approximately 700,000 visitors annually and be an economic engine for the city, while also potentially helping transform the surrounding lower-income neighborhood.

The crowds and fundraising success (the Obama Foundation has disclosed donors of $1,001 or more) contrast with the struggles of the next Democratic president after Obama.

Keep reading

Eric Trump Tells TGP Trump’s Library Costs “a Lot” and will “Put Obama’s Library TO SHAME” – “I’m Incredibly Excited About That”

Eric Trump, the second son of President Trump, told reporters on Monday that the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library is going to “put Obama’s library to shame.”

During the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Trump told The Gateway Pundit that the library is “gonna be the best” and will cost “a lot,” though he did not give a number.

“Here’s what I’ll tell you. There’s no one that builds buildings as well as we do, and it’s going to put Obama’s Library to shame. I’m incredibly excited about that,” Trump said when asked about other details of the building.

He declined to comment on whether the library would be a mixed-use development with a hotel on top. Instead, he said, “You guys just wait and see. It’s gonna be incredible.”

He added, “We’ll announce more.”

Keep reading

Obama’s Tower Of Doom Is Harder To Get Into Than America Itself

In yet another jaw-dropping display of elite hypocrisy, Barack Obama’s Chicago Presidential Center – long derided as the “Tower of Doom” – now requires proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residency just to enter a ticket giveaway for its grand opening ceremony on June 18, 2026.

While Democrats in Washington relentlessly push policies that treat America’s borders like an open invitation, the Obama Foundation has quietly imposed strict eligibility rules for its own high-profile event. 

The sweepstakes for two free tickets, complete with a potential $1,500 travel stipend for winners living 100 miles or more away, is explicitly limited to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents who are legal residents of the 50 states, D.C., or Puerto Rico and at least 18 years old.

Kayleigh McEnany cut straight to the point: “Why do we have stricter standards for the Obama library than for voting?”

Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) delivered the obvious answer: “Well, because Democrats would like to allow non-citizens to vote in American elections.”

Keep reading

Library Director Fired After Refusing To Remove Hundreds Of LGBT Books From Kids’ Section

When are these people going to learn to just leave the kids alone?

A Tennessee library board has voted 8-3 to remove its top librarian, Luanne James, after she refused to carry out an order to relocate hundreds of LGBT-themed books, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and feminist propaganda books from the children’s section of six Rutherford County branch libraries.

James was initially ordered to relocate books containing far-left ideology from the juvenile/children’s sections to the adult sections of libraries.  The board cited concerns that the books promoted “gender confusion,” contained LGBT themes/characters, sexual themes, feminist topics, DEI, social justice and related content.

The decision stemmed from a broader state review of thousands of materials prompted by a Tennessee Secretary of State letter and federal guidance on gender-related content. 

Actions within red states to transfer woke propaganda out of children’s spaces in school libraries and public libraries accelerated after viral complaints by parents who have read some of the horrific selections out loud at board meetings across the country.  Activist librarians have become a plague, disregarding the age and innocence of the children involved for the sake of a cult-like political ideology. 

Keep reading

School librarians told to remove art books with ‘historic paintings of nudes’ in latest censorship row

School librarians are being told to remove art books with ‘historic paintings of nudes’ in the latest censorship controversy revealed today.

The ‘insane’ trend was revealed by a delegate at the annual conference of the National Education Union (NEU), saying she had heard ‘many accounts’ of art books being cut.

It comes after a school librarian at Lowry Academy in Salford, Greater Manchester, revealed last week she had been forced to remove books deemed ‘inappropriate’ by management.

Bosses used artificial intelligence to earmark almost 200 books for removal, including George Orwell’s 1984 and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight.

The school later admitted it had removed ‘a small number of books’ but said it had put most of them back, into ‘age-appropriate categories’.

The Lowry Academy case prompted the NEU to pass an urgent motion yesterday to ‘fight censorship and defend librarians’.

The union said that although the woman in the original controversy is not part of the union, it wanted to protect its own librarian members from suffering a similar fate.

Proposing the motion, Kristabelle Williams, a member from Lewisham, said: ‘We cannot ignore the issues that this case has brought up.

‘We can take action as a union now to try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.’

She said the support of the union would give librarians the ‘confidence to not self-censor and resist the chilling effect that this case will cultivate’.

She added members fear there is now an ‘increased risk of external complaints’ and ‘hate campaigns’ about books in their libraries.

Also speaking during the debate was Laura Butterworth, a member from Tameside Greater Manchester, which is near Lowry Academy.

Keep reading

Woke San Francisco nonprofit boss charged with fraud made local library buy 1,500 copies of HER children’s book, netting her $100,000

A former California civil rights leader is accused of pocketing $100,000 by directing a library to buy thousands of her children’s books, amid allegations she siphoned funds meant for the black community. 

Sheryl Davis, former director of San Francisco’s Human Rights Commission, was arrested Monday on allegations of a ‘pervasive pattern of self-dealing,’ with prosecutors accusing her of misappropriating thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds. 

She allegedly used her partner’s nonprofit as a ‘slush fund’ for lavish personal spending, including travel, VIP party tickets and even her son’s tuition at UCLA. 

On Tuesday, an affidavit revealed that thousands of dollars were personally used toward promoting her children’s book through questionable deals and high-profile, celebrity-studded events, according to The New York Post.

The once-respected activist allegedly arranged the sale of 1,500 copies of ‘Free to Sing’ to the San Francisco Public Library, her book about a young black girl’s passion for singing despite criticism.

Davis raked in $100,000 in 2024 from book sales through her publisher, Book Baby, under the deal, according to an economic disclosure filing.

From 2021 to 2024, the nonprofit spent upwards of $30,000 on hotels and singer Goapele’s performances at two events, including $5,000 for a 2023 book launch party for Davis. 

The city’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) also spent at least $6,000 on the firm Varner PR, along with other expenses, to further promote sales. 

Keep reading

‘Where’s the Money?’: California Librarian Questioned on Missing $650,000 Linked to Dolly Parton Initiative

California’s top librarian is accused of failing to produce $650,000 in missing funds linked to a literacy program started by country music star Dolly Parton in east Tennessee in 1995.

State legislators recently pelted Greg Lucas, the leader of the California State Library, with questions about the funds during a budget hearing on education, the New York Post reported on Friday.

The issue is connected to a foundation started by Parton called Imagination Library, which delivers free books to children. The program was set to be statewide in California in 2023, according to WJHL.

The outlet noted Parton created her library in 1995 to provide free books in her home county in east Tennessee.

During the hearing, state Sen. Shannon Grove (R) told Lucas he did not have documentation to show where the money went.

She then asked point blank, “Where’s the money?”

Lucas was appointed to lead the state library in 2014 by former Gov. Jerry Brown, ABC 10 reported.

Keep reading

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