Library's Banned Books Week a Homosexual Smokescreen

Like I've been saying....

Curtsy to Dan Kleinman of Safelibraries.org.

Banned Books Week is Gay Promotion? Author Admits ALA Faked 2010 Top 10 Challenged Book List

A recording I made of an author essentially admitting that the American Library Association's [ALA] Top 10 challenged list is faked and used to promote a political agenda has become the subject of an exclusive, top billed report on WorldNetDaily:

• "Is Library Association's 'Banned Book Week' Really 'Gay' Promotion?; Critic Calls Event a 'Hoax Perpetrated on the American Public Since 1982,'" by Dave Tombers,WorldNetDaily, 25 September 2011.

.....

The ALA faked #9 and awarded school librarian Dee Venuto for LGBT-related reasons, a librarian who admitted in a New Jersey Education Association publication that she cannot bring herself to read racy material for children so she lets her students read it for her.

Might the ALA have faked #1, And Tango Makes Three, also about the same "big deal"? Well, it was challenged only four times yet it is supposedly #1. We are talking about an organization that used plagiarism to promote Banned Books Week, after all.

....

If the ALA has to artificially push LGBT material higher on the list, obviously there is no crisis about the "big deal." Evenprogressive critics of the ALA decry the ALA's use of BBW as "propaganda."

Can anyone ever trust the ALA for anything ever again? Really, I mean it. Faked lists. Plagiarism. Political agenda. Propaganda. So much more I'm leaving out for brevity. Is there no limit to the ALA's dishonesty?

See more on National Hogwash Week here:

• Banned Books Week Hoax Articles

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

Deep Throat in the Public Library -

Curtsy: Dan Kleinman, Safelibraries

Deep Throat in the Public Library

Deep Throat in the public library?  Will Manley brings us the case of a book that quietly disappeared after a patron complained: "Dear Monday from the Unwinders Tavern – Any Advice for Deep Throat?," by Will Manley, Will Unwound, 6 February 2011, #355.

The issue is whether the facts as presented represent a case of "institutional censorship."  The question Will Manley asks his many readers is, "What should Deep Throat do?"

There is a bigger question.  Why is there a need for a library to feel the need to remove a book quietly in the first place?  Is the removal of the book a problem, or is the knee jerk reaction of the American Library Association [ALA] the problem that causes librarians to fear its reaction?

ALA mischaracterizes every single book challenge
in 2009.  Instead of "deciding for others," perhaps
460 patrons are properly seeking application of
existing book selection policies and practices.

Think about it.  Every single personin 2009 who challenged a book in a public library was vilified by the ALA.  All 460 of them.  No exceptions.  Zero.  All 460 were derided as "censors."  See my report on this here:  "The Parent Trap:  ALA Uses Banned Books Week to Ridicule Patrons Complying with ALA Materials Reconsideration Policies."

So that's how and why Banned Book Week is used by the ALA.  To ridicule patrons seeking to challenge books and cow them into silence.

Silence.  The opposite of free speech the ALA claims to promote.

MORE HERE

Greensboro City Attorney Gives Green Light to Block Internet Porn at Library

Imagine that!

City Council Wants Cheap Porn Block

Background

By unanimous vote on Monday, August 2, the Greensboro City 
Council directed the City Manager to come up with an economically 
viable and legal way to block access to pornography at the public 
libraries. 

At yesterday’s meeting of the Library Board of Trustees the Board 
voted unanimously to request Council’s approval of the library’s
 filtering option number two which states:

Implement a filter along with the existing computer 
management program to filter Internet access for all children 
and those adults who choose a filtered search.

__________________________________________________________________________

TO:                 Terry Wood, City Attorney

FROM:           James A. Dickens, Assistant City Attorney

                        SUBJECT:    When Providing Internet Access, 
Can Public Libraries Employ Software to 
Block Pornographic material that may be harmful to children? 

                                               

In sum, I conclude that the City may block obscene and 
pornographic images from internet websites in the public 
library, and the librarian is not legally required to allow 
adult patrons to view obscene or pornographic images in the 
public library.

Local Librarian Shows True Colors/Agenda for Youth

It's been a while, but sometimes old ground is worth revisiting.

Recall the West Bend Library porn in the Young Adult section issue.  Numerous times I had pointed out HERE and HERE and HERE that it appeared our Young Adult librarian at the West Bend Community Memorial Library seemed to have an agenda that targeted the youth of our community.  Now that time has passed and she has her ALA nanny, it appears she is becoming lax and allowing the world to see the truth.  


As a case in point, let's take a look at our Young Adult Librarian's Facebook page as it looks today -HERE.  (Be assured this link won't last long, but have no fear, I took screen shots for another day.)

Just a few favorites on our YA librarian's list:

I Support Wisconsin Gay Community
Obama Endorses "don't ask, don't tell" compromise in Congress
Being liberal (Ok, even though she listed this, I found it humorous and couldn't help including it...)
Gay Straight Alliance
Gay Marriage
Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (also Gay)
Marriage Equality
Day of Silence
Ellen Degeneres
Neal Patrick Harris


AUTHORS:
Chris Crutcher  (author of books such as Whale Talk - see example HERE)
Brent Hartinger (gay youth novelist who writes gay novels)

Our YOUNG ADULT LIBRARIAN also has a list of her favorite books she recommends, such as:

Alt Ed - See excerpts HERE.
Whale Talk - See excerpts HERE.
Rats Saw God - See excerpts HERE (scroll down to title).
Geography Club - See excerpts HERE.

...and other deplorable titles that expose and encourage the youth in our community to subject materials that are sexually explicit and/or inappropriate.


Draw your own conclusions.  The evidence is clear.


This is what the WEST BEND COMMUNITY MEMORIAL LIBRARY was asked to do for its youth and the community they serve:

1. Reclassification of Youth-Targeted Pornographic Books into the adult section of the library.  ANSWER:  NO.
2. Visual identification of explicit material with a parental advisory.  ANSWER:  NO.
3. Restrict Library-generated Online Sexual Content.  ANSWER:  NO.
4. Balanced Literature on Controversial Issues including homosexuality.  ANSWER:  NO.
5. Children's Internet Protection – require the libraries to implement technology protection to protect minors from internet porn on public computers in accordance with the Children’s Internet Protection Act.  ANSWER:  NO

What can you do?


1.  Write a letter to the West Bend Common Council expressing your concerns, requesting they look into the above issues.  Be sure to "cc" the Library Board!
2.  Check out the books on the YA list HERE or HERE.  Read them.  Note the vulgarities, profanity, explicit sex....  Ask for a "Request for Reconsideration" form.  Fill it out.  Have others do same.  Take them to the library and ask for reclassification of offensive and sexually explicit materials for minors.
3.  Call your local library director, Michael Tyree, and request changes in policy to reflect the above requests.
4.  Write a letter to your local library board to request changes in policy to reflect the above requests.

Love your community.  Hold your library accountable.  Your taxes pay for these materials.  The library staff is accountable to YOU.

Belling Defends West Bend Citizens

This hits the proverbial nail......

More civility? Oh, please

Angry citizens have a right to speak

    “A Plea For More Civil Dialogue.”

    That was the ominous headline last week in the Washington County Daily News but it really could have been in any southeast Wisconsin newspaper. Two-bit local political hacks whining away that the public – THE PUBLIC! – wasn’t being nice enough to them. “Woe is us,” they wailed. “The lack of civility is unhealthy,” moaned City Administrator Joe Melvin. The chief whiner, Joe Carlson, the president of West Bend’s apparently too-picked-on school board, complained that too many citizens were too angry. It all gives West Bend a bad name etc. Such baby talk isn’t limited to West Bend. You hear it in New Berlin from the mayor, Jack Chiovatero. Wauwatosa’s mayor, Jill Didier, even bored a recent lunch companion with her complaint that I was trying to ruin her life. In Menomonee Falls, the cabal led by former Village President Joe Greco is perpetually angry that mere taxpayers have the audacity to speak out.

    I have some advice for Carlson and his ilk. Resign. This is America, not Joe Stalin’s Russia or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s Iran. Speaking out, often loudly, isn’t an indecent abuse of decorum but the prerogative of an active citizenry. The louder the better, by the way. What the crybabies are upset about is they prefer to govern conservative communities in a moderate-to-liberal squishy way. When the public revolts, the leaders cry foul. A telling quote from West Bend Mayor Kristine Deiss: “The hardest thing has been fighting communication ... perception over reality.”

    In West Bend, it was Mayor Deiss who tried to reappoint Library Board members who infuriated the public by insisting on keeping gay smut in the children’s department. It’s the same community where aldermen are determined to stick a low-income housing slum the residents don’t want. This isn’t a problem of perception. The reality is the community’s leaders are doing things the public doesn’t like. In New Berlin, outraged citizens want Chiovatero’s scalp for trying to put a slum in the heart of the community. In Menomonee Falls, taxpayers went ballistic when library employees tried to censor kids’ art work at the parochial school art fair. Back in West Bend, Carlson’s school board keeps proposing school tax referendums the public doesn’t want.

    In each case, the citizenry is speaking out. Good. Carlson a few months ago berated a fellow school board member for daring to air differences in public. Horrors! Hey, Carlson, differences of opinion in government are supposed to be in the open. West Bend belongs to the residents of West Bend not Carlson and not Deiss. They are the employees but think of themselves as the bosses (or dictators). The taxpayer/owners have a right to see public business dealt with in the open.

    Yeah, sure, they’ll respond. But can’t we be, you know, more “civil?” While some people always go too far, the problem in most communities is too much civility, not too little. Most folks let the power structure tax and spend, preside over mediocre school systems, lard public payrolls with unneeded workers, dole out unconscionable benefits and act like their the leaders of Liberalville. The few communities where people object are the ones whose residents are care the most.

    America was founded loudly and angrily. Every positive development in this country – civil rights, the end to slavery, tax relief – has been a result of the populace raising hell. It’s what makes America great. The reason suburbanites are yelling now is that they fundamentally oppose the leftist drift of their hometowns. Their vocalism is a very good thing, whether the thin-skinned small town politicos like it or not.

  

West Bend Mayor Puts Opposition to City Council up for Library Board Appointment

On May 3rd, THIS MONDAY NIGHT, the Common Council will be asked to vote "yes" to Mayor Kris Diess' appointment of liberal Molly Zuehlke to the library board.  Please read the excerpts below from Ms. Zuehlke's own blog.  Is this the best that Mayor Diess can do?  Is this appropriate?  Or is it assurance that the library board will continue to stay filled up with the same-old/same-old?  We all know the answer to that one.  Contact your alderman.  Tell him to vote NO.  We already know that Deb Anderson will rubber-stamp this one:

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009

Just venting.

Last night the common council of west bend voted to not approve the mayor's appointments to the library board in direct compliance with few loud, opinionated and censorship minded individuals. They say it only takes about twelve contacts to the alderman in a city to sway them one way or another (and the Maziarka's have shown us maybe it is even less), so let's let them know that we are disappointed in those who voted with Maziarka's and the small minority who think it's the city's job to legislate morality.

Here is the article in the WB News.

Here is what the Maziarkas had to say about last night. (what are these people really asking for anyway? and keep in mind they choose not to follow through with any formal complaint, so what action is the library supposed to take?)

So contact your alderman (you can find them here) or for that matter all five who voted against these appointments, and let them know that we have voices too.

Thanks,

Molly Zuehlke

Ticked-off West Bend Citizen.

and this:

GRATEFUL
John and I feel like we live in a REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLY conservative area, and sometimes get a little disheartened about the atmosphere of judgment that surrounds us. But we were pleasantly surprised by the turnout at the the Democrats of Washington County Headquarters opening. Lots of people. A little diversity. And lots of, that's right I'm going to say it, hope. I think we've caught a little of it. The kids made a great little sign for their window that says "Kids for Obama" We're contemplating knocking on doors here, but I'm slightly nervous about literally getting a shot gun pulled on me. Anyway, I'm sure we'll get to it. Make ourselves useful. At least when the bigots win, we can say we tried. (Could I be more blunt? I know, you're used to it. It's Molly.)

Sexting banned at Hartford High School

Good, but here is the concern.  What exactly IS "sexually explicit"?  I mean, really.  Did the Hartford School District just CENSOR the students?  Uh oh.  Here come the FREE SPEECH ADVOCATES!  


(Pssst!  The list includes some of your favorite West Benders, like Dr. Paul Rice, Dr. Steve Engelbrecht, (what's with the eye docs, anyway?) - Kris Beaver (West Bend School Board!), Tom O'Meara III (former city alderman), Pastor Pam Marolla (Our Savior's Lutheran), Dr. Muth (General Clinic of WB), Mike Weston (former School Board member)......)

    Hartford Union High School may be the first district in the area to ban “sexting” — the use of cell phones and other devices to transmit sexually explicit photos. 

    The School Board bypassed a second reading and approved the proposal at its Monday night meeting, said Hartford Union High School Board President William Priegel. 

    “We realize this is only a start, this is new territory being charted by schools,” said Priegel. 

Book Reviews for Parents - Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family is now providing a limited number of book reviews made available to parents as a tool for assisting their kids in making good choices at the library.


Drop in and check it out HERE.


Other great resources are listed on the sidebar of this blog.

Censorship - a bunch of "Non Cense"

I read this interesting court case today about censorship called Ginzburg v. United States.  It supports what I have been saying all along about protecting children from inappropriate materials.  Someone who claims to be against censorship tried using this court case to support his viewpoint.  If one didn't do the research, he would almost be believable!  


Censorship-Free Libraries seems to be confused about the usage of this case to lend credibility to his cause.  Or is he?  

He posts this much of the case HERE:

"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime. Long ago those who wrote our First Amendment charted a different course. They believed a society can be truly strong only when it is truly free. In the realm of expression they put their faith, for better or for worse, in the enlightened choice of the people, free from the interference of a policeman's intrusive thumb or a judge's heavy hand. So it is that the Constitution protects coarse expression as well as refined, and vulgarity no less than elegance. A book worthless to me may convey something of value to my neighbor. In the free society to which our Constitution has committed us, it is for each to choose for himself."

US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

In his dissenting opinion, Ginzburg v. United States

383 US 463 (1965)

HTTP://CENSORFREELIB.BLOGSPOT.COM

Here is the interesting thing about this post on a blog that opposes "censorship."  (I oppose censorship, too, by the way!  When it comes to protecting children from inappropriate materials, we know that even the Supreme Court has lent it's support in acknowledging it to be "legitimate and even compelling" to do so.)


Non Censor (the blog owner) fails to provide the footnotes to the quote!  Why?  Because the footnote indicates and affirms that the quote does not support the opposition of censorship! 


Read the footnote for yourself:

[ Footnote 1 ] Different constitutional questions would arise in a case involving an assault upon individual privacy by publication in a manner so blatant or obtrusive as to make it difficult or impossible for an unwilling individual to avoid exposure to it. Cf. e. g., Breard v. Alexandria, 341 U.S. 622 ; Public Utilities Commission of the District of Columbia v. Pollak, 343 U.S. 451 ; Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479 . Still other considerations might come into play with respect to laws limited in their effect to those deemed insufficiently adult to make an informed choice. No such issues were tendered in this case.



Look at the last two sentences:  "Still other considerations might come into play with respect to laws limited in their effect to those deemed insufficiently adult to make an informed choice. No such issues were tendered in this case."

Non Censor makes the point again and again that keeping inappropriate material from children is censorship.  In this blog post he says nothing, but presents a quote.  The quote makes it appear, indirectly, that keeping inappropriate material from children is censorship and Non Censor is correct.  But he leaves out the footnote.  That footnote specifically exempts the case of "those deemed insufficiently adult to make an informed choice."  Non Censor deliberately left that part out.  If Non Censor were a real lawyer, this kind of thing might be called malpractice, and worse.

What a disgrace.  What a fraud.


Now let's turn the tables a little and take a look at the American Library Association's (ALA's) own Deborah Caldwell-Stone.


The tactics appear, well, similar if not identical.  Misleading, fraudulent, false misrepresentation.  Caldwell-Stone practiced her stratagem on the citizens, parents and taxpayers of WEST BEND, WISCONSIN.  We will not forget.


Here's a tidbit from Dan Kleinman at SafeLibraries.org discussing that issue:

"Lest anyone think it is always censorship to move or remove books in a public library, and if Caldwell-Stone's own comments aren't convincing enough in the context of moving books, consider what the former de factoALA leader said in the context of removing books: "On rare occasion, we have situations where a piece of material is not what it appears to be on the surface and the material is totally inappropriate for a school library. In that case, yes, it is appropriate to remove materials. If it doesn't fit your material selection policy, get it out of there." Get it out of there! If it doesn't fit your material selection policy, get it out of there! Censorship! The ALA believes in censorship!

So the ALA president wrote a totally misleading and propagandistic piece in an effort to fool the West Bend government into doing what the ALA wanted, not what the community wanted."


Kleinman goes on to state "You know what is really outrageous about this? The ALA continues to push its policies on local communities despite having lost on this very issue in the US Supreme Court in 2003. What once used to be a theory that might have been legitimate lost its legitimacy when the ALA lost on the issue six years ago. Yet the ALA continues to insist that anything goes.

In US v. ALA, the US Supreme Court said, "The interest in protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is legitimate, and even compelling, as all Members of the Court appear to agree."

Contrast that with the ALA and Deborah Caldwell-Stone. They say the exact opposite. They say protecting young library users from material inappropriate for minors is not legitimate and not compelling. They say it is actually censorship.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, though, does it?  Just take a look at how Caldwell-Stone's, and Non Censor's, activities mimic the battle cry of the former (now deceased) leader of the ALA, Judith Krug, who once stated ""Parents who would tell their children not to read Playboy'don't really care about their kids growing up and learning to think and explore.'"

Schlafly Denounced ALA's Banned Books Week - Calls it "Bullying"

Curtsy to Safelibraries:


Transcription of commentary:

A few weeks ago, the American Library Association announcedwith much fanfare that it was celebrating the ridiculous event called “Banned Books Week.” This announcement accused Americans of being “zealots and bigots who live in fear of discourse” and of being “screamers and book banners and book burners.” This Association arranged events and set up displays at libraries all over the country to pretend we have a problem with censorship.

The American Library Association puts out a list of books that it claims are being censored, which is a fraud because only government can engage in censorship and I assure you that our government is not censoring books. A so-called list of “banned books” was created by crying “censorship” anytime library patrons or parents of public school children complain about risque books being given to their children. The American Library Association claims that there were 186 cases of supposed censorship last year. But those were merely cases of ordinary people filing complaints with schools or libraries. Nearly all of these challenges to books took place at schools, and the rest of the complaints involved books available in the youth or children’s section of public libraries. These complaints had nothing to do with any book read by an[y] adult. These people accused of being “book banners” are just ordinary parents who want to limit their own children’s exposure to material they consider harmful or obscene.

Banned Books Week is not a celebration of free speech. It's a way for leftwing bureaucrats to bully ordinary citizens by stigmatizing those who complain with nasty names such as ‘bigots,’ ‘screamers,’ and ‘book burners’. The purpose is to intimidate parents from ever complaining about books that are given to their own children.


Listen to entire commentary HERE.

ALA ACLU CENSOR Miami School Board over Cuban Book - LOSES BATTLE IN SCHOOL LIBRARY

From the mouths of babes.


It appears the ACLU, with it's cohort ALA (American Library Association), were pounding on a Florida school in order to keep a book that the school board wanted removed from the school library, citing it "presented an inaccurate picture of life in Cuba." The original complaint was filed by a former political prisoner of Cuba.  Whether this information about the book itself is true or not, I can't say, but I find it ironic that the very same organizations that came into West Bend, demanded their version of FREE SPEECH, then CENSORED community standards, has taken their battle to Miami to do the same - AND LOST.  




School board members in Miami have won their battle to remove a children's book from the shelves of Miami-Dade school libraries because they said the book presented an inaccurate picture of life in Cuba.
...
The board majority said the book was inaccurate and contained several omissions about life in Cuba under Fidel Castro....
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida had appealed to the high court to overturn the 11th Circuit decision.
...
The action lets stand a 2-1 ruling by the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals that the school board's decision to remove the book was not censorship in violation of the First Amendment. Instead, the Atlanta-based appeals court said the school board was seeking to remove the book because it contained substantial factual inaccuracies.


He (ACLU Exec. Dir. Howard Simon) added, "If that is to become the new standard for censoring books from public library shelves, the ACLU may be immersed in censorship battles for years to come."


Bring it on!


I think Cuba would gladly welcome the ACLU and ALA.  Perhaps they should consider relocating.


Here is the ALA commentary:


Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, told American Libraries,“Naturally we are disappointed with this decision. The book ban is unconstitutional, and we will continue to support the ACLU’s efforts to return the books to the shelves of the Miami-Dade school libraries.” ALA’s Freedom to Read Foundation had filed an amicus curiae brief (PDF file) for the plaintiffs in ACLU of Florida v. Miami-Dade School Board, along with Reforma and other groups.

Source: "Appeals Court: Miami-Dade Book Ban Isn't Censorship," by ALA, American Libraries, 11 February 2009.

A Seasonal Reminder - It's Everywhere

With Halloween approaching, this video lent exegetic thoughts of Obama, liberalism, socialism, authoritarianism, certain national organizations and some local officials.  I could go on, but you get the idea.  Enjoy!

Focus on the Family digs heels in with Banned Books Week

Responding to Banned Books Week

 

by Stuart Shepard

A pro-family group is suggesting a creative way for families to act as "salt and light" in response to the American Library Association's (ALA) so-called Banned Books Week.

Focus on the Family is encouraging donations of books to neighborhood and school libraries: books that communicate a Christian and socially conservative perspective on hot-button issues such as homosexuality and abortion. The effort coincides with the ALA's annual twisting of the First Amendment, as it showcases books to which parents have objected — and which libraries have generally not pulled from shelves.

"Every year, the ALA and other liberal groups use this trumped-up event to intimidate and basically silence concerned parents," said Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus on the Family Action. "The truth is, parents have every right and responsibility to object to their kids receiving sexually explicit and pro-gay literature without their permission, especially in a school setting."

The ALA claims that Banned Books Week is all about celebrating "availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints."

Cushman said it's time for families to turn the tables and challenge the ALA to honor its own principles. 

"You can do this most effectively by simply going to your local public library, or a school library," she said, "and donating books that communicate your family's perspective on those issues."

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Learn more about balancing bias in your library.

Hudson Library shares common bond of sexually explicit materials for minors with West Bend Library

'Library' Article Hit Close to Home
By Meredith Berg

EDITOR, Wisconsin Christian News:

I was saddened to read the front page article last month, (WCN Volume 10, Issue 5), regarding the efforts of a few people in West Bend who had the courage to fight against the entrenched (and evil) American Library Association, which supports every kind of filth and vulgarity in our libraries. The story reminded me of the failure in my hometown of Hudson, several years ago, when we attempted to do the same thing, but failed.


........


However, we had to file a “complaint” ahead of time in order to get on their agenda, and it was during this time that the local ACLU spokesperson and several of his left-leaning friends also “showed up” at the meeting.


.......


But the average parent has no idea of the kind of sick, perverted material available to our young children in our public libraries! The American Library Association is NOT a government entity and they have no legal power to do what they do, much like the ACLU. However, they use their scare tactics, blaring “censorship” all over the newspapers and most people just back down and they win another one!


We feel your pain, Meredith. 

BOGUS BANNED BOOKS WEEK BITES

Curtsy to the Annoyed Librarian

Celebrate "Banned" Books Week!

September 30, 2009 On Monday I must have gotten as confused as the ALA. Here I was writing about Band Books, and the whole time I should have been writing about "Banned" Books, which is what the ALA prattles on about. "Banned" Books are those books that are widely available everywhere in the country that the ALA gets so excited about. Anyway, sorry for the confusion, on both our parts.

What's sad about the ALA "Banned" Books Week is the lengths they go to in order to make themselves more important than they actually are. It's nice that they care about books one week a year, because it gives us a respite from hearing how gaming is going to save libraries, but it's not like we're in any danger of censorship in any meaningful sense. As a comparison, think about the stupid suicide book in Australia. It seems that book was actually censored, and that kind of thing just doesn't happen in America. To defend the presence of some stupid kid's book in a classroom against some rube in Bumflap, GA is one thing, but to claim that by doing so you're fighting "censorship" for our freedom is just sad.


...........


Check out the odd "terms and definitions" from the ALA's own website. According to the ALA, censorship is, "A change in the access status of material, based on the content of the work and made by a governing authority or its representatives." It's obvious that this definition is designed to support theALA's skewed meaning of terms. This definition doesn't even account for the definition of censorship as "government's prior restraint on publication," which is a basic meaning of censorship that everyone but the ALA understands. "Change in the access status of material," in addition to sounding like it was written by a tone deaf committee, does not cover cases of the government refusing to allow a book's publication. In other words, it doesn't cover cases of actual censorship. A state censoring a book doesn't "change its access status." It keeps the "access status" exactly as it had always been.

It's only saving grace as a definition of censorship is that it does acknowledge that the agent of censorship must be "a governing authority or its representatives." But this is undercut as the absurd definition continues, "Such changes include exclusion, restriction, removal, or age/grade level changes." Grade level changes? Oh, goodness, apparently "governing authority" doesn't mean what most people would assume it means, i.e., the government. You know, those people who govern and who have authority. A school principal, for example, is only a "governing authority" in the most limited sense. A public library isn't a "governing authority" or its representative at all in any sense you could give to it. Yet if a book in a public library were challenged as inappropriate for the children's section and it was reclassified into the adult section, the ALA would have to say the book had been "censored." 




.................


The ALA's definition of censorship has no relationship whatsoever to what everyone else in the entire world understands by the word. It's incoherent and self-serving. That hasn't stopped plenty of librarians for going along for the ride. It's a little dispiriting, because there's no point in having intellectual freedom if there is no intellectual capacity.


And for your added reading pleasure, here is some SWEET COMMENTARY.

City of West Bend Librarian Salaries

I believe in sharing.

2009 Department Detail Information

LIBRARY ~ Expenditures

50100 SALARIES:

CITY:
Tyree        $70,845
Chase       $47,610
Koeller     $38,887
Lade         $45,688
Becker      $ 9,048
Clausing    $16,146
Driscoll     $10,296
Donley      $ 5,694
Hoeser      $13,276
Petty         $ 9,048
Schiller      $33,299
Davister    $20,700
Wayne      $ 7,956
TOTAL    $328,493


COUNTY:
Bauer             $47,609
Herdeman      $35,652
Matko            $41,771
Robbins          $47,026
Maher            $18,460
Yttri                $17,316
Griepentrog   $15,678
Gelhaar          $ 9,830
Jablonski        $ 4,525
Recht              $ 4,525
Klemm            $ 9,465
Ruetz              $ 4,525
Gundrum        $ 8,736
Schiller           $13,338
Davister         $20,700
Pages              $28,000
Cantrell          $29,502
Larson            $22,473
Woepse          $16,770
Other Bldg. Main  $11,223
TOTAL          $407,124

West Bend Library Director Tyree guest speaker for fundraiser for .......ACLU????

MY BAD.

City of West Bend
Code of Ethics

1.65 DECLARATION OF POLICY. The proper operation of democratic


government requires that public officials and employees be independent, impartial and


responsible to the people; that government decisions and policy be made in proper channels

of the government structure; that public office not be used for personal gain; and that the

public have confidence in the integrity of its government. In recognition of these goals,

there is hereby established a Code of Ethics for all City officials and employees, whether


elected or appointed, paid or unpaid, including members of boards, committees and

commissions of the City. The purpose of this code is to establish guidelines for ethical

standards of conduct for all such employees and officials by setting forth those acts or

actions that are incompatible with the best interests of the City and by directing disclosure

by such officials and employees of private financial or other interests in matters affecting the

City.

1.66 RESPONSIBILITY OF PUBLIC OFFICE. Public officials and employees are

agents of public purpose and hold office for the benefit of the public. They are bound to

uphold the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of this State and carry out

impartially the laws of the nation, State and the City and to observe in their official acts the


highest standards of morality and to discharge faithfully the duties of their office regardless


of personal considerations, recognizing that the public interest must be their prime concern.


Their conduct in both their official and private affairs should be above reproach so as to


foster respect for all government.
 
 
 

Library Director special guest of ACLU - taking his "victory" over the parents and patrons of West Bend to the streets

We would not expect any less.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin Foundation will be recognizing Banned Books Week through several events across the state. Nationally, Banned Books Week is an awareness campaign sponsored by the American Library Association which celebrates the freedom to read and the right to open, accessible libraries.


............


The ACLU of Wisconsin was also involved in supporting the librarians at the public library in West Bend, WI after books with gay and lesbian characters were challenged by local residents.


...........


ACLU of Wisconsin Foundation Banned Books Week Kick-off and Fundraiser
Tuesday, September 15, 7:00—8:30 p.m.
Goodman Community Center—149 Waubesa Street Madison, WI 53704

Featuring special guests Michael Tyree, Director, West Bend Community Memorial Library and Maria Hanrahan, West Bend community organizer. These brave book defenders will share their story of a book challenge this year in West Bend, WI. The professionalism of the library staff and the efforts of community activists were crucial in defending a diverse library collection that is free and accessible to all community patrons. A $25, tax-deductible donation is encouraged.


_________________________________________________________________


But wait!  Maria Hanrahan?  Isn't she the one who talks about parents and taxpayers in the West Bend community saying things like......


The acronym for West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries should be renamed to "West Bend Citizens Removing All Personal Priveleges from You (WB-CRAPPY)"
and
That she cannot find anything sexually explicit at all in the book "Deal With It."  -see June 3 comment (::::rolling eyes:::)
and
...there is nothing "reasonable" about the requests made by the parents/patrons of WBCFSL.


Yep.  One and the same.  
And she's representing YOU, West Bend!  


West Bend is on Madison's radar to be mocked and ridiculed while raising funds for a community center, all at the proud request of the ACLU.  Sounds like Comedy Central.  It certainly isn't the first time......  Guess Madison's liberal utopia doesn't have enough lefties on their team.


The good 'ole ACLU........reminds me of a prophetic message I saw on youtube...