Taxpayer-Funded Library Networks Promote Anti-Trump “Resistance”
Many of us get nostalgic feelings reminiscing about the libraries of our formative years. But the libraries of today are not necessarily the libraries of our youth. The reality is, as organized entities, they have been largely taken over by the radical left, represented by groups like the American Library Association.
The public may still view librarians as sources of information and intellectual enlightenment. But American Library Association President Julie Todaro sees the role of librarians as largely political, particularly in regard to the new administration. To drive home the point, Todaro issued a news release headlined “ALA Opposes New Administration Policies That Contradict Core Values” to vent recently.
ALA believes that the struggle against racism, prejudice, stereotyping and discrimination is central to our mission. We will continue to speak out and support efforts to abolish intolerance and cultural invisibility, stand up for all the members of the communities we serve, and promote understanding and inclusion through our work.
Since public libraries are predominately taxpayer-funded agencies, you might expect employees to keep their political proclivities to themselves. But American Experiment has obtained a newsletter distributed by a state-funded library network called Metronet this week to hundreds of Twin Cities area libraries that includes links to inflammatory, far-left anti-Trump organizations and promotes “resistance” to the new government.
The February 13 “Metrobriefs” newsletter is a collaboration between Metronet and the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA), another taxpayer-funded Twin Cities library network. The email update included a national social media network of activist librarians in the “resistance” on Twitter and Facebook under @LibrariesResist.
But the key link for would-be Minnesota members of the resistance is buried about halfway through the lengthy email. It’s labeled “Libraries Resist Resource List” and links to a Google doc that contains ten pages of websites and online tips. The “curated list of resources for libraries and library workers in the resistance” aims to equip librarians, curators and other “information management professionals” made “more vulnerable by the new administration.”
Recommended resources include “Trumpocalypse” which “tracks and mocks the white male rage underlying the rise of Trump and Trumpism. This blog is not a safe space; given the subject matter–misogyny and hate–there’s really no way it could be.” Another option named “Ctrl Alt Right Delete” reveals “how the right operates online” and “strategies and tactics for fighting back.” A roundup of resistance at the website Book Riot reminds activists “libraries are not, nor have they ever been, neutral spaces. They are political….Many believe that libraries and librarians are apolitical, but it’s simply not true.”
Metronet’s online job description lists routines tasks like long-range planning, communications, resource sharing, database development and other network functions. But no mention of political activism or resistance fighters. So why is the State of Minnesota funding the promotion of far-left Democratic party activism with public dollars?