Culture war in the stacks: Librarians marshal against rising book bans
NEW ORLEANS — Cheers erupted as Jamie Gregory strode onstage to receive an award, the “Oscar for librarians,” as it is known to the hundreds of library workers who gathered at a convention center here recently to discuss the future of their beleaguered profession.
Gregory is a school librarian in South Carolina, where she faces a backlash for opposing censorship campaigns. In her acceptance speech at the American Library Association’s winter conference, she recalled a character in the movie “Field of Dreams” who speaks out against book banning at a meeting where townspeople rant about “smut and pornography.”
“Sound familiar?” Gregory asked, drawing laughter.
“The book censors are resorting to various underhanded and illegal tactics to force their own narrow interpretation of the freedom to read on everyone else,” Gregory said. “They will eventually run out of tactics. But we will still be here.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/03/02/culture-war-stacks-librarians-marshal-against-rising-book-bans/
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Like so many others these days, our nation’s librarians are facing an onslaught right now. To all the DU librarians out there, I just want to say thanks for doing what you do.
