Thread by MO Library Association
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- Apr 14, 2023
- #Politics #FreeSpeech
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Does anyone remember that rule that the MO Sec of State proposed in the fall? The one that promoted censorship and threatened funding of public libraries? Well it was approved this week.
A thread. 🧵
#FreedomToRead
A thread. 🧵
#FreedomToRead
If you're thinking "Didn't we protest this?" you are correct. More than 16,000 Missouri citizens weighed in, the overwhelming majority AGAINST the rule. www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/commenters-pan-ashcroft-s-rule-targeting-missouri-libra...
But since it's not a law, it wasn't open for a vote, and it was officially added to the Missouri Register this week despite our massive protests. It's on pg 27 of this pdf.
www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/AdRules/moreg/2023/v48n8April17/v48n8.pdf
www.sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/AdRules/moreg/2023/v48n8April17/v48n8.pdf
Let's look at the 4 main elements here.
Libraries already have collection development policies. It's standard for, you know, being a library. It sets guidelines for what types of things we buy, for what purposes, and for which audiences.
Libraries already have collection development policies. It's standard for, you know, being a library. It sets guidelines for what types of things we buy, for what purposes, and for which audiences.
You'll see a common thread here of the state telling libraries to do what they are already doing.
Telling libraries to choose books carefully is like telling a grocery store to sell fruit. They already do that. You don't get to act like you won the War on Nutrition by ordering people to do what they are already doing.
Now, you're not going to believe this... but libraries already don't buy child pornography. Besides it already being a law, libraries have these things called ethical standards that prevent us from doing that. 
Again, to be super clear, libraries don't buy obscene materials for kids. We sometimes buy books that some readers object to. That's fine. We never said everybody had to love every book we buy. What you find base, others find meaningful, and we serve them as well as you.
What does this even look like? So, every kid in a school of, say 600 students, has a separate profile that every librarian can access and act on? And when Kid #124 walks in, the librarian is supposed to run to a shelf and yank off the book she's not allowed to read? 
This is like telling the school cafeteria to lock the milk coolers when the lactose-free kid walks in. And then unlock them when they leave. Instead, the kids and parents know what's best for them and THEY make choices for THEMSELVES.
No library can monitor the guidelines for hundreds of individual students. Clearly the goal is to get us to remove any objected-to titles from the start. But that's not how responsibility works. If YOU want to monitor what YOUR kid reads, then YOU need to monitor it. Not us.
So libraries should provide a way for folks to challenge books and then report those challenges publicly.
Now, you're not going to believe this… we already do that too! Libraries have this thing about transparency and freely sharing information. It's sort of our WHOLE THING.
Now, you're not going to believe this… we already do that too! Libraries have this thing about transparency and freely sharing information. It's sort of our WHOLE THING.
While we're here, let's have a moment about tech-elitism. Posting info online is a great idea. However, not all of MO is plugged into the internet. Libraries in 20% of the state don't have high-speed internet, let alone websites.
abc17news.com/news/special-report/2022/08/11/more-than-1-million-missourians-lack-internet-but-the-is....
abc17news.com/news/special-report/2022/08/11/more-than-1-million-missourians-lack-internet-but-the-is....
Many libraries are so small (think staff-of-one) that they don't have websites to post policies on. (It's even harder to afford a website when the state defunds you.) And if they don't post certain documents on a site they can't afford… they get punished? That's not right.
At this point you have to wonder if anyone proposing or passing this rule knows anything about libraries. Did they research us at all? Did they not look into how libraries currently operate before telling librarians how to do their jobs?
Here at the end, let's mention one last thing: staffing. Librarians are already overworked and underpaid. Like, below school-teacher underpaid. How will libraries handle these added tasks ON TOP of the duties they already have?
How do they think libraries can hire more folks in this climate that is hostile to our entire profession? With hostile library boards and rules like this, do you really expect our field to grow? Not at all.
To wrap up, the MO govt decided to ignore its citizens' protest in order to pass rules to censor what libraries buy and share. The goal was never to protect kids bc libraries ALREADY DO THAT. It's more an attempt to get notice before election season with a "quiet" group.
Thinking librarians are passive or push-overs just shows how little they actually know about us. We are intellectual freedom fighters. We specialize in bringing order to disordered things. For every 1 'quiet' librarian, there are 10 loud ones.
And we aren't giving up on our communities or our ethics because of some ill-informed bullying.
Thanks for hanging in for this thread. We will have more info in coming days, including actions to take. Stay tuned. Stay smart. Look out for each other.
Thanks for hanging in for this thread. We will have more info in coming days, including actions to take. Stay tuned. Stay smart. Look out for each other.
