Category: Political Viewpoint
Meeting Rooms and Sacred Spaces Cause Schisms in Seattle
The library as a shared space naturally brings people together, yet it can simultaneously foster deep divides within a community. The latter has taken shape recently in Seattle in a conflict between the transgender community and the Women’s Liberation Front.
Teaching Disinformation Literacy
Instead of focusing mainly on fake websites when teaching information literacy skills, teachers should introduce the term disinformation and provide students with learning opportunities to explore the detrimental effects disinformation has on society.
Diversity Versus Indoctrination in Children’s Publishing
Attempts at censorship in children’s publishing are nothing new. However, the rising popularity of organizations like We Need Diverse Books, which strives to represent all types of people in book publishing, strikes conservatives such as Joy Pullman, executive editor of The Federalist, as indoctrination. As the American Library Association prepares to celebrate Banned Books Week this month, learn more about why children need diverse books more than ever.
Breaking the Silence: an interview with Ruta Sepetys, author of hidden histories
Readers around the world are eagerly anticipating historical fiction novelist Ruta Sepetys’s new book, The Fountains of Silence, to be published on October 1, 2019. Read an interview with the author to learn more about the setting of her newest example of hidden history, life under dictator General Francisco Franco in Spain after the Spanish Civil War.
Finding the Truth in Today’s Politics: An Interview with Angie Drobnic Holan Editor of PolitiFact
At PolitiFact, we are trying to correct the misstated or incorrect facts because if you don’t have accurate facts, any conversation becomes impossible.
LGBTQ displays: Everything is political, but not everything is partisan.
In response to a challenge to a LGBTQ display in Maine, I argue that LGBTQ are mainstream parts of today’s culture (not a “far left” agenda as the challengers argued), that creating LGBTQ displays is still a political act, just as choosing not to create those displays would be.
“How Dare They Take Away My Right To Education?” Happy birthday, Malala Yousafzai!
On July 12, the world celebrates the birthday of Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist, author, and speaker, Malala Yousafzai. While perhaps most widely known for being shot in the head by a member of the Taliban on the way home from school and surviving, Malala was an outspoken advocate of girls’ rights and education before that. Make plans for the children and young adults in your libraries and classrooms to discover her work and message.
Moving Post- Post-Truth in a Trump Biography for Young Readers by Martha Brockenbrough
Living in a post-truth political climate can make it difficult for teachers and school librarians to select reading materials while also appearing neutral. Read excerpts of an interview with Martha Brockenbrough, author of Unpresidented: a Biography of Donald Trump, to learn more about how she approached writing a biography on the 45th president for young readers, challenges to herself and the book, and what she hopes young readers will take away after reading.
Burning Books for Children
By: guest contributor and author M. Earl Smith – In the United States, there is a group that, sadly, ties patriotism into a fervent, almost cult-like devotion to certain figures, ideas, and symbols…Yet the second that someone presents the work of someone who views the world differently than the American Dream myth, they are either shouted down or they are, ironically, twisted, contorted, and used to continue that ethos.
Indomitable Murals Remembered: The Resurrection of Siqueiros’ América Tropical
A library-fueled regaling of a nearly vanquished iconic Los Angeles mural and the topsy-turvy tale of its fruition.