[Libs-Or] ALA president Patty Wong in the NYT: Your Librarian Wants to Challenge, Not Ban

[Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney]

ALA President Patty Wong is in the NYT today! Text is below in case you run into a paywall.

[dwsquare2]

Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney
LIBRARY DIRECTOR
Pronouns: She/Her/They/Their
__

City of Lincoln City  |  Driftwood Public Library
801 SW Hwy 101 Ste 201  |  Lincoln City, OR
P: 541.996-1251
E: kbrodbeck-kenney at lincolncity.org<mailto:kbrodbeck-kenney at lincolncity.org>  | W: driftwoodlib.org

From: Lorna Peterson <lorna.peterson2401 at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 7, 2022 4:47 AM
To: Library and Information Science Information and Discussion List <JESSE at lists.wayne.edu>; BCALA Listserv <bcala-listserv at bcala.org>
Subject: [BCALA] ALA president Patty Wong in the NYT: Your Librarian Wants to Challenge, Not Ban


CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown senders.
American Library Association President Patty Wong has this letter in the Monday March 7, 2022 New York Times, page A16: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/opinion/letters/libraries-book-banning.html   Thanks Patty! lp


To the Editor:

As a young child, I didn’t see myself or my community reflected in my history books or in stories I read. It was as if I didn’t exist. Imagine if every book in the library collection was one where you did not see yourself.

I was grateful for the dedication of my local school and public librarians, who developed collections where I learned more about my own history and that of others. I developed empathy, understanding and a greater appreciation for the freedom to choose my learning through reading.

In “The Battle for the Soul of the Library<https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/24/opinion/battle-library-neutrality.html?searchResultPosition=2>” (Opinion guest essay, Sunday Review, Feb. 27), Stanley Kurtz claims that library titles and materials support political agendas. This could not be further from the truth.

Libraries represent values that are core to democracy. Trained and certified librarians and library workers provide services and collections that inform, engage, illuminate and help people of all ages learn more about the world around them.

Libraries across the country are addressing the effects of historical inequality and systemic racism on library users, especially people of color and those who belong to historically marginalized and minority communities. Library professionals are dedicated to developing collections that allow every person to see themselves in library resources and provide a means to build understanding among all users.

The American Library Association is committed to free access to information and fair treatment of all people. We call on library colleagues at all levels and the public to promote the freedom to read and work toward addressing complex topics that affect policies, practices or behaviors.

The A.L.A. is proud to engage in ongoing and difficult conversations as we work to strengthen librarianship and improve service for all.

Patty Wong
Santa Clara, Calif.
The writer is president of the American Library Association
--
You are receiving this message because you are a member of [BCALA] LISTSERV. To send a message to the listserv, direct it to bcala-listserv at bcala.org<mailto:bcala-listserv at bcala.org>. Contact webmaster at bcala.org<mailto:webmaster at bcala.org> to manage your LISTSERV settings, or use supplied links below.
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BCALA Listserv" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to bcala-listserv+unsubscribe at bcala.org<mailto:bcala-listserv+unsubscribe at bcala.org>.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/a/bcala.org/d/msgid/bcala-listserv/CALgc38%3DfaWm2ENTsU4Pv8hCrX%3D_yppgA98oWNe2Qi%2BnLrPwEgw%40mail.gmail.com<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fgroups.google.com%2fa%2fbcala.org%2fd%2fmsgid%2fbcala-listserv%2fCALgc38%253DfaWm2ENTsU4Pv8hCrX%253D_yppgA98oWNe2Qi%252BnLrPwEgw%2540mail.gmail.com%3futm_medium%3demail%26utm_source%3dfooter&c=E,1,QMfV6j83XqlaDJTtUafxi1wOUDpJFdogjoyO3NbBpeqK20yfcPIa2PG9Q4koORPp54f66htMn5bHMqP6vylw1uE4sthjsH3EV5yuXXlgiw,,&typo=1>.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20220307/a66a17d0/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 4429 bytes
Desc: image001.png
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/libs-or/attachments/20220307/a66a17d0/attachment.png>