I love saying “of course” instead of “you’re welcome,” like of course I’m helping you that’s what I do, you were foolish to even consider an alternate dimension in which I’m not helping you. you idiot. you absolute buffoon.
Love logging on to tumblr dot com and seeing posts about why libraries should be Cancelled because they don’t pull problematique books
Also let’s be real, Problematic Books are one of the strongest arguments for libraries’ continued existence?
Let’s say you need an outdated queer theory textbook that uses biphobic and cissexist rhetoric for your gender studies thesis, but you don’t particularly want to own that book.
Let’s say you need a primary source to strengthen your argument to your college as to why a certain political figure does not deserve to be a speaker at your graduation because they perpetuate hate speech.
Let’s say you and your friends want to hateread a book by your least favorite author but you don’t want to give him your money.
You deserve the ability to access that content legally without having to purchase and own it. And so does everyone else, no matter how suspicious you might be of their motives for reading a Problematic book.
When I was doing my masters in library science, they reiterated over and over: there should be something in a library to offend everyone. Believe me. There are books in my library that I find offensive. But my job is to provide access. Not to question WHY people need stuff or to judge them. Libraries should function as a neutral space. We are providing information, which in and of itself is neutral. It’s what people DO with that information that matters. And even then, it’s not my place to judge.
When I was in college, I was doing a paper for an African-American Studies class, and I found myself suddenly in need of info on exactly what sort of self-justification white people were using during the days of slavery.
And I found one in the college library. An original slave-owner’s apologia from eighteen hundred or so.
Nasty stuff. But studying the mechanics of evil is a useful pursuit. One that has relevance in today’s world, certainly.
(My African-American Studies professor thought so too; he gave me an A.)
The point being, no matter how bad a book is, there is value in preserving it—if only to demonstrate, “This, this right here, this is a bad thing.“ Mein Kampf? Worth picking through to note the psychology of a depraved leader. (Did you know that Hitler framed every damn thing as a war, including farming, which he characterized as wrestling food from an unwilling land, or some such bullshit? Might be a characteristic worth paying attention to. Be cautious about leaders who use “war” rhetoric for things that aren’t actually wars, such as … oh, to pull an example out of a hat, how about “drugs.”) Slavery apologia? Leans heavily into Biblical justification, from the one I read, so maybe, just maybe, we should examine Biblical justifications very carefully. Even the worst stuff teaches us things.
honestly bears are how humans should be. bears are an improvement on the human blueprint. they can get up on their back legs like a man…. but they also walk on four legs so they don’t get cocky and forget where they came from (the earth). big and hairy and silly. can kill with a single swipe of the paw
