Originally published at: School board candidate checks out all LGBTQ books displayed at public library to make it a "safe place for children" | Boing Boing
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One can only hope Fletcher reads the books and learns something.
A forlorn hope. Know-Nothing bigots don’t read books.
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Many can hope that she returns them.
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Yeah, pretty much every time a right winger talks about “cancel culture” I tell them to go fuck themselves and cite all these book banning efforts in response.
They are really doing their best to shift the Overton Window to “Gilead”.
“It has to do with the preservation of innocence,”
Translation: We don’t ever give a crap about kids getting sexually assaulted (or even carrying babies from rape) but the idea of consensual adult relations scares us.
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Charge her with theft. Its obvious she does not plan to read or return them.
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So she stole books from a library. Not sure that makes the library safe, what if she steals other stuff?
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I don’t see how she checked them out. Most library systems have a limit, even on books.
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Yeah, but at my library I think the limit is 100. That would wipe out a display I should think.
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100?
Christ, my local only went up to 5 a couple of years ago. For most of my youth the limit was 3 and if you went back every week you were regarded with suspicion.
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They think you can read all those in the three week sign-out period? 
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I wish our country had a limit on stupid people doing stupid things for attention. Or at least a straw that will finally break the camel’s back.
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I just checked. It is a 100 limit on books, but you get six weeks, and can potentially renew.
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It has to do with the preservation of innocence,
I knew about gay people in like 2nd or 3rd grade. Pre-internet and everything. Shit I use to watch Threes Company reruns after school. Maybe if I had been exposed to more accurate media sooner, I would have had a more accurate understanding at a younger age.
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Our library, if you hadn’t checked out the books (~6 book limit), the alarm would sound at the RFID reader at the door.
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The article states that this library doesn’t have a limit on the number of books a patron can check out at a time and has a maximum renewal of 10 times. That’s amazingly generous in both cases! (I note that my library does not restrict the number of books a patron can check out, although other materials (DVDs, CDs, etc.) do have a limit. Renewals are technically unlimited but if someone else places a hold (request) for the item in question you are unable to renew it.
She can absolutely check out books she does not intend to read, no issue there, although it’s still a dick move. (Just be sure to levy fines against her as soon as she fails to return items.) However:
She also removed a cup of pins with a variety of gender pronouns printed on them.
I’d be a little surprised if this isn’t violating the library’s “Use of the library” policy, assuming they have one. If they don’t, I seriously recommend getting one in place!
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It sure would be a shame if another person with a library card for the same library were to, oh, request a recall of some or all of those books.
Because that would be a terrible inconvenience for the person who has the books and might result in some very large fines if they’re not returned in a timely manner.
[This has been a special edition of Librarian Sarcasm. Thank you for listening.]
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Someone else should put in requests for them, to block her from renewing them, but I doubt that they’ll see that stuff again.
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Step 1: Conservative Alarmist checks out a bunch of LGBTQ+ topical books to prevent their accessibility to the general populace. CA then proceeds to use the full number of renewals to keep them checked out for as long as possible. Per the library’s website, each checkout period is 21 days, and can be renewed 10 times. This means CA can keep them out for 231 days (21*11, accounting for initial check out and 10 renewals).
Step 2: Interested Progressives flood the library with hold requests for those books.
Step 3: In light of the interest in these books, the library purchases additional copies to meet the increased demand. Alternatively, they accept the donation of additional copies from generous donors.
Result: Library has more copies of these books than before.
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Hey, at last I can speak to a topic with INTIMATE knowledge, for this is indeed my own personal local library! The candidate is a deeply religious right-wing person who decided to use this as a campaign statement. She walked in during the Pride celebration on purpose, demanded they remove the display, and when they (rightly and proudly) refused, she checked out all the books on display to (in her words) “protect innocence.” She ALSO took all the Pride pins the library had for patrons to take and said she was upset her tax dollars were used to pay for such things.
Note: her tax dollars were not used to pay for them. Friends of the Brunswick Library paid for those and were allowed to put them in the library to give away.
Such bullshit. It was a campaign stunt, pure and simple. I was fucking PISSED. So, I contacted my library and told them that if they would like, I’d be happy to purchase additional copies of the books she is trying to deny others the right to read and will donate them to the library for their permanent collection. I let them know I was proud of the way they support our LGBTQ+ family and friends.
The library took the time to write me back and let me know they have lots of additional copies in stock and the display has already been refreshed. They also can draw on other books in the Frederick county library system if needed. I then directed my donation to Friends of the Brunswick Library with a note that they should make LOTS more Pride pins to put in the library.
A final note: Frederick County Maryland - and indeed all of Maryland - has a pretty robust system of support for teachers and school boards. The local alt-right nut jobs have been trying for years to get on the board, and keep failing. This attempt, too, will fail. They’ll go on microphone and have their pity parties, and then we’ll vote in sane people who won’t turn schools into their personal religious retreats.
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That seems bad! I am sorry!
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