A perfect response to censorship

Just a quick note to draw your attention here, to the blog of James LaRue, librarian and scholar. He has posted his response to a patron's recent challenge of a children's picture book on gay marriage that is a marvel of eloquence, tact, and diplomacy.

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You feel that a book about gay marriage is inappropriate for young children. But another book in our collection, “Daddy's Roommate,” was requested by a mother whose husband left her, and their young son, for another man. She was looking for a way to begin talking about this with son. Another book, “Alfie's Home,” was purchased at the request of another mother looking for a way to talk about the suspected homosexuality of her young son from a Christian perspective. There are gay parents in Douglas County, right now, who also pay taxes, and also look for materials to support their views. We don't have very many books on this topic, but we do have a handful.

In short, most of the books we have are designed not to interfere with parents' notions of how to raise their children, but to support them. But not every parent is looking for the same thing.
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Bravo, James. You do every librarian a credit with your reason and fortitude. Unfortunately, my experience has been that people who complain over such issues are invariably the people least likely to value reasoned discourse.