Library Politics

Maria Stuart writes in a local publication, appalled that Republicans would criticize our beloved local library.

https://thelivingstonpost.com/school-board-candidate-local-republicans-take-aim-at-howell-library/

 

Stuart is the VP of the library’s board, so a biased source from the get-go.  She touts all the services and community connections the library has, garnering sympathy for the library.  I don't dispute them, but they don't make the library immune from community criticism.

 

She claims the library has been immune from partisan attacks until now, admitting she has been in a “bubble.”

 

Stuart claims to have no idea why the library would be attacked.  “More of what, Mr. Bedford?”

She either doesn’t know about this, or is playing dumb:

https://howelllibrary.org/adult-recommendations/#readwoke

 

It is not the GOP, or school board candidates, that started politicking in non-partisan libraries, but the library itself.

The woke, progressive agenda has been seeking to infiltrate our school board and library for some time.  To criticize GOP or non-partisan candidates for pointing it out is the height of arrogance and gaslighting, hiding behind a veneer of community service.

 

I have been a patron of the library for 2-3 years, and have often seen the “Read Woke” signs and endorsements inside.  All the readings are pro-woke, with no substantive critique of this radical agenda to balance or question it.  At the very least, the library should have represented views critical of woke-ness in their reading list.  Not doing so implies strongly that someone has an agenda.  The library turned one-sidedly partisan on this long before the GOP or any non-partisan candidate criticized them.  Stuart essentially claims the library should be beyond ANY criticism from the community, given its service and proper “liberal” posture.  This attitude needs to change.

I (and apparently Jason Bedford and Meghan Reckling and many others) oppose this diversity agenda.  This does not make us racist.  We all want to be inclusive and treat everyone with respect.  But reverse-discriminating against whites is not the way.  As Chief Justice Roberts has said, "The way to stop discriminating by race, is to stop discriminating by race."

 

Stuart’s article is a classic example of progressives who claim to be neutral, play the victim, and try to gaslight us that they have done nothing wrong or partisan when the evidence is obvious.

 

I’ll close taking the library’s side, though.  On the national scene, we’ve heard lots of stories about libraries with drag queen story hours and sexually explicit trans or LGBTQ material for elementary readers.  I have not seen or heard of anything like that at the Howell library, for which I am very thankful.