“Librarians are being harassed in private Facebook groups. They’re receiving pressure from within and outside the school.”
But bookstores, libraries and book lovers of all kinds came together to fight back against the censorious, so-called READER act. From correspondent Matthew Patin: https://www.texasobserver.org/the-booksellers-revolt/
"When confronted with basic questions on '60 Minutes,' the group appeared ill-prepared and stumped and alleged their critics were trying to 'marginalize us.'"
Chamber music has been around since the late 1700s, so it may be difficult to give it a contemporary feel. But the Apollo Chamber Players in Houston intend to do just that, with each musical piece a response to Texas's status as one of the states with the most banned books in the country. “I really do think that going at controversial subjects, if you will, with an angle of musical compassion, can hopefully open the doorways to people listening to each other," ensemble co-founder and violinist Matthew J. Detrick said. NPR has more: https://flip.it/0NDHLz #Culture#Music#Texas#BookBans#Bookstodon
Article from the Dallas Morning News about the Keller ISD's cancellation of a high school production of "The Laramie Project".
Noting also for the record, the far right Patriot Mobile-backed board members who likely pushed for this were also recently responsible for sneaking an evangelical documentary film crew into a high school, to the outrage of many parents.
The Roman Inquisition in the 1500s was constantly complaining about its desperate lack of personnel (not enough Inquisitors, not enough censors to read books, not enough police) as it tried to keep up with the exponentially-growing flood of books enabled by the newfangled #PrintingPress. Why would such an organization waste hundreds of man-hours per copy on crossing out pages when they could have trivially burned the book and moved on?
"Not only does reviewing large numbers of books take away from the work librarians usually do, but in states like Texas where public-sector employees like teachers are prohibited from collective bargaining, librarians are not paid overtime for the work, according to Foote."
#BookBans are just another tactic in the far right's "flood the zone with shit" strategy. It's also tied to their goal of dismantling public institutions.
A Republican proposal that would require school libraries to notify parents of every book their child checks out was advanced by Georgia state GOP senators Tuesday, while proposal to subject school librarians to criminal charges for distributing material containing obscenity waits in the wings.
Far right Republican Fascists in the US Congress and the Kremlin are actively working to kneecap a large portion of their respective populations!
Unite Against Book Bans Launches Book Résumé Resource
In partnership with coalition members, including School Library Journal and dozens of publishers, Unite Against Book Bans today launched a free book résumé resource to help counter censorship attempts in the US. #AureFreePress#BookBans#Breaking#BreakingNews#LGBTQ
"The bill would remove criminal exemptions for #schools, public #libraries, and #museums that distribute or display 'obscene matter' to a minor...
The incredibly short piece of legislation gives no indication of how the new rules would affect paintings or sculptures that feature nude figures, or books that include descriptions or definitions of sexual conduct."
In the same way that the Republican-designed abortion law in Texas gives citizens the right to act as vigilantes, hounding and reporting on fellow citizens, De Santis' book-banning law in Florida encourages citizens to report books in school libraries to which they object.
These laws create vigilante societies in which some of us are empowered to harass and demean others, with law behind us.
As Judd Legum reports, though De Santis now pretends his — HIS — book-ban laws have gone too far, the reality is that his law allows citizens the right to challenge any and all books in school libraries. Just because. And those books have to be removed from shelves and reviewed.
In Escambia County, 2800 books have been removed from school library shelves, and 2300 remain off the shelves, unavailable to students.
"In an extraordinary press conference last week, #Florida Governor Ron #DeSantis (R) acknowledged that challenges to #books in the state's school #libraries are out of control. Over the course of the event, DeSantis blamed teachers, school officials, 'random people,' community members, 'bad actors,' and the media. DeSantis pointed the finger at everyone except for the person most responsible: himself." https://popular.info/p/oops-desantis-says-book-challenges
"Obscenity laws are incredibly hard to enforce, because definitions of obscenity still largely come down to individual interpretation. As a result, there will likely be more reports of obscenity, made by people who are either more conservative or just nervous about accidentally breaking the law."
Failed Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis insisted on Thursday that Florida is not banning books—while conceding that some school districts have been too liberal in accepting challenges to remove titles on their shelves. #AureFreePress#News#press#headline#GOP#Politics#USA#Florida#BookBans