a website for the conservative librarian
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Friday May 28, 2004
Here's a bit of sanity on Iraq from Victor Hanson.
Here's a terrific gift from Tomeboy, I only wish I
could order one!
Everyone have a great Memorial Day Weekend! This
would be a great weekend to sign the Librarians For Victory petition, so spread
the word!
Thursday May 27, 2004
I have a little research project to do. Night.
I found this listed on Ebay the other day.
Its gone now but in case any of my liberal readers happen to
see it around I would advise against wearing it. He has a little history with the
fire department:
Of course if you're someone who is used to having things
like that done all the time, by all means, wear the pin.
Tomeboy has a
question concerning the inconsistent face of the American Library Association.
Personally I think we are a human right-to-read organization.
I've said many times we are a socialist enterprise. One of our strengths is in
focusing on that one issue. We should see Iraq as an opportunity to offer those
rights to thousands of people who previously couldn't. We should also be able to acknowledge that simply because
Cuba's population can read doesn't mean they are allowed to read what they want.
Shran has to be the-most-looked-forward-too alien
in the Star Trek universe. You know the action heats up whenever he's around. Overall
last night was great, the past few episodes making up for a meandering season. The
best news is they get a chance to do it all over again starting in the fall.
Wednesday May 26, 2004
Enterprise's season finale tonight. Big success or
Big disappointment? Won't be a lot of middle ground on this one.
Night
Excellent post over at the Corner.
There's even better after that, maybe Krug and
others should take a peek.
All SPECTRUM debate aside, Conservator makes a couple
of surprising finds, one at LII and the other in
WSJ showing ALA leaders lack of
sincerity in debating the Patriot Act.
Last week I was talking about the NextGen article
and its reference to 'unsupported "I Hate ALA" generalizations'. Well throw this
in the "Why I Hate ALA" file. Actually scratch that. Hate is a very strong emotion
that should be kept in reserve for more important things. Throw this in the
"Why I Think ALA Is Run By Liberal Numbskulls" file. Richard Clarke will be the keynote
speaker at the ALA conference in Orlando.
What's funny is Clarke supports the Patriot Act. Apparently
even that contentious bit of legislation pales in comparison to ALA's hatred of Bush.
Monday May 24, 2004
I listened to Pat Whitley this morning for an hour an
a half concerning the unbelievable treatment of Tim Duncan who is running for State
Senate. One of the thugs who was involved actually called in to say that since Mr. Duncan
and his family were 'unscathed' he had nothing to complain about. Disgusting.
In a related note I want to acknowledge the latest feedback
in the forum. I kept meaning to last week. There are more conservative librarians then you
thought. Be heartened by that. I've had several librarians tell me they didn't feel
comfortable being public about their political beliefs because so many around them
are liberal. While we certainly don't risk the treatment Duncan had to deal with there
is a fear of being ostracized professionally. That's something each of us will have
to face individually but feel free to stop by and drop me an email and we can talk
about it together.
Sunday May 23, 2004
I read The Tale of Despereaux last weekend. It was
okay. Dark. I was annoyed with the narrator's commentary and if I was a kid I
probably would have been annoyed more. It didn't really pick up until the end.
As an adult I felt like you could've had a Freudian Field-Day picking out the
subliminal messages in the individual characters. Do I think there were any actual
ones? No, but you follow politics enough and eventually you question everyone's agenda.
I was trying to read Star Dragon this weekend. I got
about 100 pages in and had enough. The science was too technical to sludge through
and the relationships were too juvenile to tolerate. A person can age to 300 and
far beyond without the normal effects of aging but they are still haunted by
something that happened when they were 8? It was a very uninspiring view of the
future.
Night.
I got a follow-up email to the
one I posted last Sunday, two actually:
My note was put beneath a header which read "A Message From One Of Our Own."
Despite the content of my response, some readers have taken this attachment to mean that
my note was in support of Shush's position on the ALA Spectrum program, which may be
summed up in their description of it as "a very crude and ignorant concept."
I do not agree with Mr. McClay about Spectrum. I think his claim is false, intentionally
incendiary and not at all well thought out. You might imagine that I would take this
opportunity to blast Mr. McClay for a few paragraphs, but the most that I can say is
that his arguments are carried out with the skill and articulation of a graffiti vandal.
It says all you need to know about his powers of discernment that he would consider
my rejoinder a message of support.
What we need is an extended dialog about the nature and future prospects for the library
in this country. A well-spoken conservative presence would certainly be welcome within
that conversation. We await its arrival.
Michael McGrorty
I'm going to indulge the second email just this once
and then make a point.
If I were to ask whether some towns should operate libraries
if they aren't willing to fund them adequately I'd be a liberal. As a conservative my first
question to you would be, "what do you consider adequate funding?" Not all libraries
are equal, they don't all share the same goals. There is maybe one or two primary
goals they should share involving access to information but what information and in
what form can be quite diverse. If a little library in a small town is providing
high quality access to current and historical town and community information but
only partial access to fiction and nonfiction in general and the internet not at all
are they a bad library? I would say they are probably a great library and better
then some libraries two or three times their size.
Now this 'need for a conservative voice' nonsense has
popped up in a couple of places. The very liberal and outright socialist members of the
library community have used that argument to try and belittle those of us who are
making conservative arguments. "You know we liberals feel that our profession is too heavy to the Left
and we would welcome conservative input. We would love to debate conservatives. You're
just not what we had in mind."
I am a conservative and I am dealing with the issues
that are important to me and my profession. If you don't like the topics I'm bringing up,
or for that matter can't offer a legitimate argument against them, too bad. You're in
SHUSH country now.
I was looking at my web stats again the other day. It
really is an amazing thing to communicate around the world. I had an email the other
day from someone in Germany with a question about the "I Want To Be A Librarian"
shirts. My top competing
countries are Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and Japan.
Go figure. Though I'm guessing the hits I get from Australia center around an old
online friend of mine. Hi Sara!
What made me grin was the visits I'm getting from
Estonia. The countries in the area of the world always make me think of a great
series by Lawrence Block starring
Tanner. He's a war veteran who took some shrapnel
to the head destroying the sleep center of the brain. He's awake 24 hours a day, except
for the occasional hour or two of deep meditation and muscle relaxation. Lack of
sleep gives him the time to be a master of languages and one of his hobbies is
getting involved in the hundreds of underdog organizations around the world,
even the Flat Earth Society. He's been on a couple adventures in that part of
the world though it was during the Cold War so his travel ability depended a lot on the
freedom fighting organizations of that part of the world. Great books.
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