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A bill in Louisiana, HB 777, would make it a crime for librarians to use public funds to join the American Librarian Association or attend an ALA conference, punishable with prison time and hard labor for up to two years.

#libraries #education #books #librarians #theocracy

in reply to Jen Sorensen

Fighting to return to the 11th century must be a hell of a drug. Let’s come back in 20 years and see what is left of literacy and most industries in Louisiana.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

I guess, "Freedom of association" is next on their list?
in reply to Jen Sorensen

> ALA deserves criticism as an organization for many reasons,
> both from those within it and those outside it.

... and these reasons would be?

in reply to soc

@soc yeah, that was an interesting aside to drop into the penultimate paragraph of that article.
@soc
in reply to Orc

@orc @soc Hmm yeah, I'm not sure what they're talking about there.
@Orc @soc
in reply to Jen Sorensen

@orc @soc My take on this, as someone who just stepped down from an ALA Councilor position is that ALA has been poorly positioned to respond to a lot of these challenges (their office of intellectual freedom is under-resourced), they have no real "social/network" game to speak of and there is a lot of endless committee work when they should be out fighting a war.

They did not do a great job supporting/championing their president Emily Drabinski, a truly terrific woman...

@Orc @soc
in reply to Jen Sorensen

wouldnt this criminalize every library in the state? I’m assuming all the university ones at least are associated with the ALA
in reply to Cameron Talley

@cameron_talley I don't know for sure, but it seems any publicly funded university or community library would be vulnerable.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

the south is a scary place. Can we just remove them like we do uncles lol
in reply to Jen Sorensen

The article doesn't seem to support the headline. It also says "librarians would be sentenced to hard labor for daring to join their largest professional organization". The HB777 text they quote, however, 'only' bans the 'use of public funds' to do so. Still bad, of course, but let's stick to facts. So I'd love to know if librarians doing all this with their own money, are also 'criminalized'.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Might have to change my bio to “Notorious information dealer and fact smuggler.”
in reply to Jen Sorensen

An ignorant populace is an exploitable populace. Just the way their GOP government likes it.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

I was gonna say this must be an unwanted side-effect of a larger bill. But no, literally the whole bill is no longer than half a page, only mentions librarians joining the ALA, and assigns punishment more severe than punishment for assault in Louisiana.

https://legis.la.gov/legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1357708

in reply to Jen Sorensen

I am against millionaires, billionaires and multibillionaires but on this particular occasion - come back Carnegie, all is forgiven 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
in reply to Jen Sorensen

In a world filled with sad news, I found this particular sad.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Sad to see states being so anti-literacy but that is the cumulation of the oligarchy’s goal of dumbing down America.

However, this picture just makes librarians much cooler. I feel like I’d be apart of Reference Desk Annie’s gang.

in reply to Jen Sorensen

Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the American Library Association?
in reply to Jen Sorensen

ah the US. Land of the Free, indeed. Y'all are so fucked that if I were to look up the term, I'd find a map of your country next to the definition.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Thanks @jensorensen

(I am a Self-confessed “reader at work”)

#Solidarity with #LibraryWorkers
https://bookriot.com/louisiana-hb-777/

This entry was edited (7 months ago)
in reply to Jen Sorensen

Cancel all future ALA conferences scheduled in New Orleans
in reply to Jen Sorensen

What will we do when they make it illegal to possess and read certain books? There haven’t been any consequences for them this far.
This entry was edited (7 months ago)
in reply to Jen Sorensen

WTF? Isn’t there something about freedom of association in the constitution? How the fuck can they even do this?
in reply to Jen Sorensen

With all the book banning and potentially arresting librarians, it seems the Republicans are taking 'the pen is mightier than the sword' quite literally. Asserting that librarians are more dangerous than the NRA!
They obviously don't want people who can think, as they want subservient masses easy to control.
in reply to Jen Sorensen

For a minute, I thought you mentioned "hard labor" in jest---imprisonment for such "offenses" being already ridiculous and anti-democratic--but there it is listed as a possible punishment in conjunction with imprisonment. What a ridiculous pile of BS, speaking as a former librarian. Louisiana is absenting itself from the American experiment, along with a few of her sister states. Buh bye. (I'm in Florida and we are essentially dropping off into the sea.)
This entry was edited (6 months ago)

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