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

Wed Mar 9 08:29:15 PST 2022

(As always, if you manage to read through all (or just some) of what I've written below, I would enjoy discussing it with you. Don't like what I'm saying? Just starting to learn more about anti-racism and interested in talking? Know way more about all this than I do and you'd like to point out where I'm wrong? I always fancy an honest discussion, and if you'd rather not do it here and you'd prefer confidentiality, you can reach me via Hotmail at my mbaiocchi account.)

I was interested in learning a bit more about Dr. Stanley Kurtz after reading his op-ed piece, so I will be checking out (library humor!) the books and readings he suggested.

Before beginning the books, though, I wanted to see if Dr. Kurtz had reviewed (or simply discussed) them elsewhere. Bingo! (It may be important to keep in mind that Dr. Kurtz has a relationship with the National Association of Scholars (NAS) (https://www.nas.org/civics-alliance/who-we-are)).

Dr. Peter Wood, author of 1620, is the president of the National Association of Scholars (https://www.nas.org/about-us/staff-boards). From Dr. Kurtz's review of 1620 in National Review (https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/a-book-for-our-times-peter-woods-1620-skewers-1619-project/), "What, then, of the slaves brought to Virginia in August of 1619, an act which according to the Times, 'inaugurated a barbaric system of chattel slavery that would last for the next 250 years'? The slaves sold at Jamestown in 1619 were likely treated as indentured  servants, and would thus have been freed after a number of years. One  may eventually have become a plantation owner himself, a Virginia black  man with African slaves of his own. This African in early Virginia  renamed himself Anthony Johnson and successfully sued one of his white  neighbors in a Virginia court."

I fear that, when I read this book, it will be hard to stay objective when it seems the author treats slavery as an unpaid internship opportunity. It should be an enlightening read.

Dr. Wilfred McClay, author of Land of Hope, is an Academic Advisory Board member of American Achievement Testing (AAT: https://www.aateducation.org/about). From Dr. Kurtz's article on "How to Take Back American History" (https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/how-to-take-back-american-history/), "American Achievement Testing  (AAT), a new non-profit company, has formed an alliance with the  historian Wilfred McClay, whose extraordinary new American history  textbook, Land of Hope, is unlike any text currently available. In partnership with the National Association of Scholars  (NAS), AAT recently received a grant from the National Endowment for  the Humanities (NEH), to design instructional materials for K–12 U.S.  history courses, with Land of Hope as their core text " Also in the article, "President Trump touted the NEH grant during his speech and asked Rebarber (CEO of AAT), McClay, and Wood (author of 1620) to stand and be recognized" during the White House Conference on American History (video: https://youtu.be/7WGvn6N1qPE?t=1109). Interestingly, this also seems to be the venue where President Trump announced his pending formation of "a national commission to promote patriotic education...called the 1776 Commission" by executive order (video: https://youtu.be/7WGvn6N1qPE?t=1176).

I don't think I've ever read a book praised by President Trump published by a company praised by President Trump. This should also be an enlightening read.

Unfortunately, I don't know much about the founder of 1776 Unites, Robert Wood (https://1776unites.com/about/our-founder/) who seems to be a signatory of the NAS' Civics Alliance (https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/the-civics-alliance-open-letter-and-curriculum-statement), or about 1776 Unites itself. I have, however, just finished a book called Woke Racism: How a New Religion Has Betrayed Black America (http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1293883993) by 1776 Unites Scholar, John McWhorter (https://1776unites.com/essays/author/johnmcwhorter/), and was that a batten down the hatches here comes the storm kinda read. I didn't much care for the book itself, but I am looking forward to learning more about 1776 Unites and Robert Wood.

Finally (I know! I know!), in his op-ed piece Dr. Kurtz writes "I favor state laws that bar promotion of critical race theory ideology." Boy howdy does he ever. In this opinion piece he wrote for National Review (https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/stopping-k-12-indoctrination-is-right/) he states, "The overall effort to prevent CRT indoctrination, however, is both necessary and justified. It is CRT that is un-American, not efforts to prevent the imposition of this pernicious orthodoxy on schoolchildren." then continues, "I focus here on Texas House Bill 3979, inspired in significant part — but by no means entirely — by my model legislation published with the National Association of Scholars."

I'm not sure a person who literally wrote the book (or "model legislation," in this case) on banning CRT in K-12 education through legislation at the state level (https://www.nas.org/blogs/article/the-partisanship-out-of-civics-act) can honestly say, "whether the official curriculum promotes classical liberalism, woke  orthodoxy or other important perspectives, students should be free to  compare, contemplate and debate them all," and "supporting library neutrality by balancing books is in everyone’s interest."

Dr. Kurtz, also, I might add, is definitely not using the Oxford comma, which, I mean, come on...really?

Matthew Baiocchi
REFERENCE LIBRARIAN
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City of Lincoln City  |  Driftwood Public Library
801 SW Hwy 101  |  PO Box 50  |  Lincoln City, OR
P: 541.996.1261  |  E: mbaiocchi at lincolncity.org<mailto:mbaiocchi at lincolncity.org>
W: Driftwoodlib.org | W: LincolnCity.org

ook

________________________________
From: Libs-Or <libs-or-bounces at omls.oregon.gov> on behalf of Kirsten Brodbeck-Kenney via Libs-Or <libs-or at omls.oregon.gov>
Sent: Monday, March 7, 2022 2:24 PM
To: Libs-OR (libs-or at omls.oregon.gov)
Subject: [Libs-Or] ALA president Patty Wong in the NYT: Your Librarian Wants to Challenge, Not Ban

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

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

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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
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