In commemoration of the American Library Association's
Banned Books Week, which begins September 27, an excerpt from
a letter written by Anne Kilkenny, a resident of Wasilla, AK:
While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.
"Petty tyranny" is one of the phrases that spring to mind.
Before we start jumping to the worst possible conclusion IT, just because they're not the same party affiliation we happen to be ... do you have any idea what books might have been on this "list"?
ReplyDeleteI don't and I'm interested in finding out. The papers say the librarian is on vacation and hasn't returned their calls.
ReplyDeleteTina Fey to Tina Feh. Oy.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Boston Herald, at the same time the Wasilla librarian received a termination letter, the following individuals ALSO received termination letters: the police chief Irl Stambaugh, public works director Jack Felton and finance director Duane Dvorak. John Cooper, a fifth director, resigned after Palin eliminated his job overseeing the city museum.
ReplyDeleteWere they part of the conspiracy to keep "bad books" in the library? Doubtful.
Conspiracy? Whoa. So it gets worse?
ReplyDeleteYeah, why is it so hard to accept that this may all be explained by one of the many legitimate reasons for a mayor to repeatedly ask a librarian if she's willing to censor generally accepted books, as part of a test of "loyalty" to "administrative policy"?
ReplyDeleteUnless we know what books these were, the reasonable conclusion is that it was totally innocent, not a red flag at all.
Worse? Doubtful ... but people are always good at making tempests in teapots.
ReplyDeleteShe claims that the letters went out as a test of loyalty. I don't know if that's common place or not. All of those individuals were put in place by the previous mayor, and from what I've read, these people all campaigned against Palin. Perhaps she wondered whether or not they might try to undermine the work she planned on doing when she took office.
I think this is politics as usual, and has nothing to do with being a Republican or a Democrat. If Obama gets into office, I'm sure he's going to hire a new Press Director, and put a new Cabinet into place ... as is his right. If the laws of Wasilla don't prevent the Mayor from terminating the positions of people put in place by the old administration, I'm not going to fault Palin for testing those waters. The only reason other people ARE faulting her is because ... well she's conservative and they're most likely not.
I have no objections to any of the political activity. Even so, banning books as a test of loyalty? Wouldn't you think that categorically refusing to ban books would be the successful passing of such a test? In America, I mean.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not referring to the banning books as a test of loyalty, I'm referring to the letter of termination.
ReplyDeleteAs to the banning books ... from what I've read, she inquired (at most two times from what I can gather) as to whether or not it was possible to remove books considered objectionable to the community. For all I know, a few concerned, albeit loony, parents asked her to check, and she was following through.
Whether that request was to remove the books entirely, or remove them from say perhaps, the childrens section to somewhere else in the library ... I don't know.
For all I know, a few concerned, albeit loony, parents asked her to check, and she was following through.
ReplyDeleteCould very well be.
For a second there, I thought it said "Banned Boots Week."
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in a town roughly the size of Wasilla for 15 years after a decade in Madison, I find all this talk about mayoral experience hilarious. In a town with a city administrator, even. Our last few mayors? Two retired high school teachers, a bus driver / retired sausage factory worker, a retired PR guy. Even with the most active mayors, the city admin does the daily heavy lifting.
I'll wait for the details about the library story. Public libraries do have procedures for moving books from the open shelves to behind the desk. It's considerably more work than just asking or making a complaint.
It'll probably turn out to be The Hungry Caterpillar Has Two Mommies or something like that.
ReplyDelete