I saw this article on book burning that I thought might be of interest (“A teen book burns at the stake”). A group of citizens in West Bend, Wisconsin has been trying to remove Baby Be-Bop from the shelves of their public library. When the Library Board decided not to comply with their request, it looks like several members of the board were ousted. Another group, the Christian Civil Liberties Union, has filed a lawsuit against the town and library, and have called for the book to be publically burned. The author in question, Francesca Lia Block, is actually one Natalie had mentioned earlier.
Oy. How could any reasonable person want to see a book BURNED? You object to the content, fine, you go through the proper channels (which the first group did, in this scenario), you petition, etc., a decision is made by those whose job it is to hear both sides and decide, and then *everyone abides by the decision*!!! These stories make me so angry. Frequently these book censors are all patriotic — the same people who talk about how we live in the greatest country in the world — but they don’t seem to realize that the First Amendment is one of the things that makes it so great! You’re entitled to say you hate the book, but others are equally entitled to read it if they choose, and it’s the public library’s job to make it available to those people.
Sorry to rant, but grrrr. This stuff ticks me off. In general I don’t get why people feel the need to legislate what other people can and can’t do in their personal lives. You don’t want to read the book, fine, don’t read it. But who are you to say that others can’t?
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