I mean, the Banned Books idea has mostly been a campaign to discourage both the public and the government from thinking certain ideas need to be suppressed in society, and you can see how well that's going over at the moment.
I think the library establishment may eventually come around to the idea that not every point of view needs representation in every library. At which point I expect to see a lot more campaigns to unfund the library for not catering to every whim of the most reactionary conservative in their service area.
So displays about historical books that have been banned and aren't now should probably be shelved in favor of displays about material that is currently being targeted and why people who want to do that kind of restriction need to examine themselves and the reasons why they want material restricted. It may not win any hearts and minds, but it'll be better than the carnival atmosphere of previous years, where libraries were trying to reassure their readers that "of course only wingnuts, fringe people, and the uncivilized are trying to get materials banned. Why would anyone believe otherwise?"
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2022-08-12 06:31 pm (UTC)I think the library establishment may eventually come around to the idea that not every point of view needs representation in every library. At which point I expect to see a lot more campaigns to unfund the library for not catering to every whim of the most reactionary conservative in their service area.
So displays about historical books that have been banned and aren't now should probably be shelved in favor of displays about material that is currently being targeted and why people who want to do that kind of restriction need to examine themselves and the reasons why they want material restricted. It may not win any hearts and minds, but it'll be better than the carnival atmosphere of previous years, where libraries were trying to reassure their readers that "of course only wingnuts, fringe people, and the uncivilized are trying to get materials banned. Why would anyone believe otherwise?"