Their attempt to control what people can learn through libraries just serves to highlight how little a certain group knows about how libraries function. Apparently they do not care they will be cutting off access to many things modern libraries do besides allowing people to check out books. Thanks Bob, for reminding us of another scheme in which they attempt to "lord it over us peasants".
I bet you have a hunch about the disgruntled council member! Thanks for the heads up. We need to be vigilant these days. I agree the smartest people in the room are usually librarians & teachers.
Because one town- one library- one city council - had a disagreement about something, Sen Green wants to take a sledgehammer to the whole library system? Dispicable. Surely there is a better way to work that out.
Also, I did not see it mentioned here, but the bill would give a city council the right to take over all properties from a library starting in 2025. That would include land or trust funds donated to the libraries.
Not that long ago the Republican Party accused the Democratic Party of becoming a nanny state. One of the issues was a higher tax on soda pop in New York City. I’d rather have a tax on soda that is full of sugar than a law that changes or eliminates funding for our libraries.
Thanks, Bob, for articulating so well the concerns that so many of us feel but have difficulty expressing.
And thanks for trying to track down the source of this proposed legislation; it's instructive. I get really suspicious of the line, "Wherever I go, I hear constantly from so many of my constituents that they want dramatic changes to ____ (fill in the blank with some entity that is currently functioning quite well, thank you)."
About early February, I get exhausted trying to respond to the avalanche of ill-advised legislative proposals that continuously pop up. Thank Heavens for warriors such as yourself, Bob, who are devoted to fighting for us sane, rational Iowans.
For a party that embraces "freedom," they have a strange way of granting it. The repubs need to realize that public libraries also serve the school voucher kids too...
Some Libraries, beholden to the American Library Assoc., the Iowa Library Assoc., and State Library Assoc., have become untouchable sacred cows in the US. An independent board is desirable as long as it isn't just a board of friends with allegiance only to the director and none to patrons. That is the problem in Marshalltown. I have attended 17 straight board meetings and in emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, am considered "our problem patron" by the director. It's a long read and worth it.
Libraries shouldn't look for excuses to exclude.
28 Feb 2023 — Times-Republican
Randy Evans
This has not been an easy time to be a librarian.
Sixty-plus years ago, back when the library card was a coveted sign of my status as a young reader, Miss Botts and Mrs. Sager were never viewed as conspirators of controversy in the corner of the free world where I grew up.
I never remember a time when their domain, Bloomfield's library shelves, was a controversial place to be.
That was then. Now, too many people in Iowa have drawn targets on the backs of the librarians in Iowa's schools and town libraries.
Much of the controversy has come from people who want to block their own children and grandchildren from having access to certain books and who also want to block other people's children from reading those books, too.
But recent news out of Marshalltown shows library officials are creating some of the discord themselves - by neglecting to bring a dose of common sense to their work. And I am not talking about stripping controversy from the library shelves.
Allow me to update you about the controversy in Marshalltown. I think that will help you understand why that city's library dispute is so unfortunate and so unnecessary.
The Marshalltown Times-Republican has reported on the strong feelings that have formed since John Worden of Green Mountain, a patron of the Marshalltown Public Library, first asked the library to purchase subscriptions to a couple of conservative publications, American Rifleman magazine and the Epoch Times newspaper, for library visitors to read.
Library director Sarah Rosenblum and the library's board of trustees have steadfastly said "no" - even after Worden and another library patron offered to pay the cost.
Rosenblum explained at a meeting of the board of trustees that she made a "deep dive" into the content in American Rifleman and the Epoch Times. The gun magazine is published by the National Rifle Association. Epoch Times is affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement.
She had what she called serious concerns about the science coverage in Epoch Times and about the American Rifleman being a benefit of NRA membership.
Every library in Iowa cannot accommodate every book, every magazine, and every newspaper. But that is really the same point some parents and some grandparents are making about certain books written for teenage and pre-teen readers.
These parents and grandparents are saying there are plenty of other books available for young readers, so why must these LGBTQ books be available. The response from librarians, teachers and other parents correctly comes down to, yes, you can block your child from reading those books, but libraries should not be blocking other parents who may want their child to have access to those books.
This is where a dose of common sense is needed by officials at the Marshalltown library.
If we trust parents to make the correct choice for what books their children read, shouldn't we trust adults to make the correct choice for what newspapers and magazines these adults choose to read?
Worden told the Marshalltown library trustees that he had done an even deeper dive into the content of American Rifleman and Epoch Times that the head librarian has, the Times Republican reported.
"I think that the staff and this board is inserting themselves between the patrons and the material," Worden said. "The patrons own this building and everything that's in it. They pay the wages. They come first."
Another library patron echoed Worden's comments. Ray Mitchem told trustees, "I think we have to be careful not to put blinders on. I think the public can choose. The public should decide if it is something for them" - he said of the publications Worden has suggested.
Gary Thompson, a member of the Marshalltown City Council, attended the library's January meeting and weighed in on Worden's request.
"You guys allow your patrons to use the internet," he said. "They're going to find misinformation, pros and cons, on everything. I think you guys made a big mistake."
The councilman's comments about access to the internet is the same one that defenders of LGBTQ books in school libraries make in support of having those available. Kids have access via the internet to content that is even more extreme than what is found in the library.
Libraries traditionally have been advocates for intellectual freedom - making many views and perspectives available for their patrons. Through the years, libraries have taken the position that there is no place for censorship in a free society.
The Marshalltown library's policies even state, "The library will not reject materials which are requested by patrons or suggested by standard review sources because of the point of view or ideas they reflect."
Call me naïve, but I think John Worden is correct. A well-rounded public library should have the American Rifleman and the Epoch Times on its shelves, especially if a generous donor is taking care of the expense.-----
Randy Evans is the executive director of the
Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He can be reached
The word for today is optics - but not the kind where your eye doctor is an expert.
Instead of eyeglasses, I am thinking about the kind of optics that result when the perception of some person's or some institution's values are contradicted by the reality of the actions they take.
Here's an example. This involves poor optics.
Librarians across Iowa have been put on the defensive by parents and grandparents who criticize some of the thousands of books that fill a community library or school library. This criticism has been especially sharp toward books intended for teenage readers that contain content with homosexual or transsexual themes or that include descriptions of sexual encounters that some people believe are too explicit for these readers.
Librarians have stepped forward to explain that it is not proper for people to force the removal of challenged books, thereby taking away other people's ability to choose what they want to read or what they want their children to read. Library administrators have informed parents how they can limit the books their children have access to in the library or in the classroom.
But those reasonable explanations are not the same message the Marshalltown Public Library is giving some patrons about content aimed at adult readers, not at young readers.
John Worden told me in an email last week he has been called "our problem patron" by library administrators, because he has attended Marshalltown library board meetings for the past 12 months to ask the library to provide subscriptions to a couple of conservative publications, the American Rifleman magazine and the Epoch Times newspaper. The library has refused - even when a couple of library patrons offered to pay for the subscriptions.
Library director Sarah Rosenblum told library trustees earlier this year she had made a "deep dive" into the content of these publications and has serious concerns about the science coverage in Epoch Times and about the gun magazine being published by the National Rifle Association.
That is where the poor optics occur.
No one expects libraries to carry every book, every magazine, and every newspaper. But how can libraries defend the presence of some books whose themes and content have been challenged by parents and then insist, as Marshalltown's library does, that a gun magazine and a conservative newspaper do not belong in that library's collection?
Librarians have long advocated for what is called intellectual freedom. They believe in the principle of making lots of views and perspectives available and leaving it to their patrons to pick and choose what they want to read.
Most libraries operate like a buffet. Some people come for the steamed broccoli. Others are drawn by the three-bean salad. That is why it is so baffling Marshalltown officials would dig in their heels and ignore reasonable requests from "our problem patron."
The library dust-up in Marshalltown certainly shows the scope of our current political divide in Iowa. You often hear people talking about how Iowans are more divided now than they have been in the past.
But Michael Giudicessi, a Des Moines attorney, provided important context and insight when he spoke last week at the annual meeting of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
Michael reminded us that in 1857, Iowa voters ratified the state's constitution. Legal scholars praise the document for its clear recitation of the meaning behind the motto on Iowa's great seal. We learned it in Iowa history classes: "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain."
But in the beginning, the constitution was not resoundingly popular with people living in the state.
The ratification vote was 40,311 in favor and 38,681 against. That was an approval margin of 1,630 votes - meaning that a shift of 816 votes would have torpedoed the constitution Iowans still live under 166 years later.
Their attempt to control what people can learn through libraries just serves to highlight how little a certain group knows about how libraries function. Apparently they do not care they will be cutting off access to many things modern libraries do besides allowing people to check out books. Thanks Bob, for reminding us of another scheme in which they attempt to "lord it over us peasants".
I bet you have a hunch about the disgruntled council member! Thanks for the heads up. We need to be vigilant these days. I agree the smartest people in the room are usually librarians & teachers.
Because one town- one library- one city council - had a disagreement about something, Sen Green wants to take a sledgehammer to the whole library system? Dispicable. Surely there is a better way to work that out.
Also, I did not see it mentioned here, but the bill would give a city council the right to take over all properties from a library starting in 2025. That would include land or trust funds donated to the libraries.
Another day, another horrible, divisive, freedom-sucking Republican bill. Thank you for helping us keep up!
Not that long ago the Republican Party accused the Democratic Party of becoming a nanny state. One of the issues was a higher tax on soda pop in New York City. I’d rather have a tax on soda that is full of sugar than a law that changes or eliminates funding for our libraries.
Thanks, Bob, for articulating so well the concerns that so many of us feel but have difficulty expressing.
And thanks for trying to track down the source of this proposed legislation; it's instructive. I get really suspicious of the line, "Wherever I go, I hear constantly from so many of my constituents that they want dramatic changes to ____ (fill in the blank with some entity that is currently functioning quite well, thank you)."
About early February, I get exhausted trying to respond to the avalanche of ill-advised legislative proposals that continuously pop up. Thank Heavens for warriors such as yourself, Bob, who are devoted to fighting for us sane, rational Iowans.
Too much political control of any public program tends to undermine and destroy its purpose and function.
Thanks for your vigilance, Bob. There are so many things we can no long take for granted.
I couldn’t agree more!
For a party that embraces "freedom," they have a strange way of granting it. The repubs need to realize that public libraries also serve the school voucher kids too...
Some Libraries, beholden to the American Library Assoc., the Iowa Library Assoc., and State Library Assoc., have become untouchable sacred cows in the US. An independent board is desirable as long as it isn't just a board of friends with allegiance only to the director and none to patrons. That is the problem in Marshalltown. I have attended 17 straight board meetings and in emails obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, am considered "our problem patron" by the director. It's a long read and worth it.
Libraries shouldn't look for excuses to exclude.
28 Feb 2023 — Times-Republican
Randy Evans
This has not been an easy time to be a librarian.
Sixty-plus years ago, back when the library card was a coveted sign of my status as a young reader, Miss Botts and Mrs. Sager were never viewed as conspirators of controversy in the corner of the free world where I grew up.
I never remember a time when their domain, Bloomfield's library shelves, was a controversial place to be.
That was then. Now, too many people in Iowa have drawn targets on the backs of the librarians in Iowa's schools and town libraries.
Much of the controversy has come from people who want to block their own children and grandchildren from having access to certain books and who also want to block other people's children from reading those books, too.
But recent news out of Marshalltown shows library officials are creating some of the discord themselves - by neglecting to bring a dose of common sense to their work. And I am not talking about stripping controversy from the library shelves.
Allow me to update you about the controversy in Marshalltown. I think that will help you understand why that city's library dispute is so unfortunate and so unnecessary.
The Marshalltown Times-Republican has reported on the strong feelings that have formed since John Worden of Green Mountain, a patron of the Marshalltown Public Library, first asked the library to purchase subscriptions to a couple of conservative publications, American Rifleman magazine and the Epoch Times newspaper, for library visitors to read.
Library director Sarah Rosenblum and the library's board of trustees have steadfastly said "no" - even after Worden and another library patron offered to pay the cost.
Rosenblum explained at a meeting of the board of trustees that she made a "deep dive" into the content in American Rifleman and the Epoch Times. The gun magazine is published by the National Rifle Association. Epoch Times is affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement.
She had what she called serious concerns about the science coverage in Epoch Times and about the American Rifleman being a benefit of NRA membership.
Every library in Iowa cannot accommodate every book, every magazine, and every newspaper. But that is really the same point some parents and some grandparents are making about certain books written for teenage and pre-teen readers.
These parents and grandparents are saying there are plenty of other books available for young readers, so why must these LGBTQ books be available. The response from librarians, teachers and other parents correctly comes down to, yes, you can block your child from reading those books, but libraries should not be blocking other parents who may want their child to have access to those books.
This is where a dose of common sense is needed by officials at the Marshalltown library.
If we trust parents to make the correct choice for what books their children read, shouldn't we trust adults to make the correct choice for what newspapers and magazines these adults choose to read?
Worden told the Marshalltown library trustees that he had done an even deeper dive into the content of American Rifleman and Epoch Times that the head librarian has, the Times Republican reported.
"I think that the staff and this board is inserting themselves between the patrons and the material," Worden said. "The patrons own this building and everything that's in it. They pay the wages. They come first."
Another library patron echoed Worden's comments. Ray Mitchem told trustees, "I think we have to be careful not to put blinders on. I think the public can choose. The public should decide if it is something for them" - he said of the publications Worden has suggested.
Gary Thompson, a member of the Marshalltown City Council, attended the library's January meeting and weighed in on Worden's request.
"You guys allow your patrons to use the internet," he said. "They're going to find misinformation, pros and cons, on everything. I think you guys made a big mistake."
The councilman's comments about access to the internet is the same one that defenders of LGBTQ books in school libraries make in support of having those available. Kids have access via the internet to content that is even more extreme than what is found in the library.
Libraries traditionally have been advocates for intellectual freedom - making many views and perspectives available for their patrons. Through the years, libraries have taken the position that there is no place for censorship in a free society.
The Marshalltown library's policies even state, "The library will not reject materials which are requested by patrons or suggested by standard review sources because of the point of view or ideas they reflect."
Call me naïve, but I think John Worden is correct. A well-rounded public library should have the American Rifleman and the Epoch Times on its shelves, especially if a generous donor is taking care of the expense.-----
Randy Evans is the executive director of the
Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He can be reached
at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.
Uneasy times as a librarian shuts out other ideas
14 Nov 2023 — Times-Republican
Randy Evans
The word for today is optics - but not the kind where your eye doctor is an expert.
Instead of eyeglasses, I am thinking about the kind of optics that result when the perception of some person's or some institution's values are contradicted by the reality of the actions they take.
Here's an example. This involves poor optics.
Librarians across Iowa have been put on the defensive by parents and grandparents who criticize some of the thousands of books that fill a community library or school library. This criticism has been especially sharp toward books intended for teenage readers that contain content with homosexual or transsexual themes or that include descriptions of sexual encounters that some people believe are too explicit for these readers.
Librarians have stepped forward to explain that it is not proper for people to force the removal of challenged books, thereby taking away other people's ability to choose what they want to read or what they want their children to read. Library administrators have informed parents how they can limit the books their children have access to in the library or in the classroom.
But those reasonable explanations are not the same message the Marshalltown Public Library is giving some patrons about content aimed at adult readers, not at young readers.
John Worden told me in an email last week he has been called "our problem patron" by library administrators, because he has attended Marshalltown library board meetings for the past 12 months to ask the library to provide subscriptions to a couple of conservative publications, the American Rifleman magazine and the Epoch Times newspaper. The library has refused - even when a couple of library patrons offered to pay for the subscriptions.
Library director Sarah Rosenblum told library trustees earlier this year she had made a "deep dive" into the content of these publications and has serious concerns about the science coverage in Epoch Times and about the gun magazine being published by the National Rifle Association.
That is where the poor optics occur.
No one expects libraries to carry every book, every magazine, and every newspaper. But how can libraries defend the presence of some books whose themes and content have been challenged by parents and then insist, as Marshalltown's library does, that a gun magazine and a conservative newspaper do not belong in that library's collection?
Librarians have long advocated for what is called intellectual freedom. They believe in the principle of making lots of views and perspectives available and leaving it to their patrons to pick and choose what they want to read.
Most libraries operate like a buffet. Some people come for the steamed broccoli. Others are drawn by the three-bean salad. That is why it is so baffling Marshalltown officials would dig in their heels and ignore reasonable requests from "our problem patron."
The library dust-up in Marshalltown certainly shows the scope of our current political divide in Iowa. You often hear people talking about how Iowans are more divided now than they have been in the past.
But Michael Giudicessi, a Des Moines attorney, provided important context and insight when he spoke last week at the annual meeting of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
Michael reminded us that in 1857, Iowa voters ratified the state's constitution. Legal scholars praise the document for its clear recitation of the meaning behind the motto on Iowa's great seal. We learned it in Iowa history classes: "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain."
But in the beginning, the constitution was not resoundingly popular with people living in the state.
The ratification vote was 40,311 in favor and 38,681 against. That was an approval margin of 1,630 votes - meaning that a shift of 816 votes would have torpedoed the constitution Iowans still live under 166 years later.
Talk about optics ...------
Randy Evans is the executive director of the
Iowa Freedom of Information Council. He can be
reached at DMRevans2810@gmail.com.