(C) Daily Montanan This story was originally published by Daily Montanan and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Montana libraries may be shrinking by increasingly small minds – Daily Montanan [1] ['More From Author', 'June', 'Darrell Ehrlick'] Date: 2023-06-29 So is it the lesbian part or the Marxist part? That’s my question to the Montana State Library Commission, which decided that the election of Emily Drabinski, a Marxist lesbian as the American Libraries Association president, was enough of an affront to the Treasure State that it may need to pull out of the ALA altogether. That’s it. That’s the controversy. A social media post by the newly-minted president, a position that, to the best I can figure, is more ceremonial than anything, has prompted an entire portion of state government to contemplate leaving its professional organization completely. If nothing else, it appears the Montana State Library Commission is giving ALA President-elect Drabinski a lot of power she may not have. And it also assumes that being a lesbian or Marxist somehow will guide her every action. And it legitimizes stereotypes about both groups that may not just be unfair and unfounded, but also makes the people at the leadership level of our state library look rather uniformed. For a moment, let’s pretend that as the association’s president, Drabinski, could somehow change the mission of Montana libraries: What would that look like? The purpose of public libraries is already dangerously communistic: The state government provides information for free to community members who go to the collective, commonly referred to as a “library,” and then get to learn and keep the materials for free, only to eventually give them back. Seems like communal property and collective shared space for public education is already about as … what’s the word I’m looking for … Marxist… as you can get. And, if the pearl-clutching commission members are worried about the lesbian part, might I suggest taking that up with the state’s human rights commission, which would likely be troubled that sexual orientation may be the basis for making a state government decision, which would also appear to contradict state law? If libraries are no longer the space in which a Marxist can at least safely espouse her views, then democracy is doomed. It reminds me of a story told about a college president at my alma mater. When Concordia College President Joseph Knutson was asked by a conservative rancher during the height of the Red Scare in the 1950s if it was true the school’s library held a copy of the “Communist Manifesto,” the president replied that if there wasn’t one, he’d personally see to it that there would be a copy in place. Having read through some of Marx and Engels’ writings on the subjects of workers, communism and capitalism, I can conclusively say two things: None of them seemed like light, whimsical reading; and none of the boogie-man ideas seemed quite as radical as they’re made out to be. I mean: If you enjoy weekends, or believe that workers should share in some of the profits of their own work, then “Das Kapital” shouldn’t be very threatening. Montana’s history, as neatly contained in any state library, includes strong labor laws due, in part, to the role of robber barons and industrialists breaking the back of the workforce while raiding the land for any mineral wealth, only to leave it up to the overworked and underpaid residents to clean up scars that are still visible more than a century later. I sympathize with some of the library commission folks who appeared exasperated by the very public way the new president, Drabinski, has decided to share her political outlook. Let’s face it: Libraries continue to be the unlikely battleground for America’s current culture wars. Many far-right conservatives have spun a narrative that includes libraries being a clearinghouse of pornography, anarchy and history that isn’t red, white and blue enough. Librarians and staff are already under attack, so this latest news is likely unhelpful. And yet, the more I have considered this latest kerfuffle, the more I have arrived at the very real truth: If libraries are not the proper institutions to welcome a diverse – and uncomfortable – array of ideas and beliefs, then where else should a lesbian Marxist be a leader? I might also take this concern more seriously if this were not the same group that chose to look at a proposed logo for the state libraries and saw in a prism the “rainbow pride flag.” Personally, I thought it was much more reminiscent of a Pink Floyd album, but I guess we all see what we want. Instead of playing the role of a purveyor of the broadest, most robust collection of information, the library commission seems to have gone out of its way to be offended by prisms, lesbians and Marxists. I am certain that some on the library commission would say the problem with libraries today is that they’re too open or their collections are too broad. Me? I think this is evidence that they’re not broad enough. [END] --- [1] Url: https://dailymontanan.com/2023/06/29/montana-libraries-may-be-shrinking-by-increasingly-small-minds/ Published and (C) by Daily Montanan Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/montanan/