Quick quiz: Do you think public libraries should promote socialism? Do you think they should host drag queen story time for children? And do you think they should be allowed to discriminate against Christians? If you answered “no” to these questions, the Left-wing media likely thinks you’re a fascist.
The truth, of course, is a lot less sensational and a lot more straightforward. Simply put, progressive activists are using positions of influence and government resources to push their ideology on the American people. This is especially apparent at the American Library Association (ALA), whose self-described “Marxist” president wants to turn libraries into spaces of “queerness and difference rather than democracy and citizenship.”
As normal and sane people have noticed this trend, they have begun to push back, resulting in a slew of withdrawals from the ALA. This “exodus” isn’t about a “conservative book ban,” no matter what the Associated Press claims. This is about Americans not wanting themselves — or their children — to be subjected to Left-wing propaganda.
Critic Dan Kleinman puts it well when he says the problem with the ALA is that it has “changed from an organization that helped communities and used common sense into one that just promotes a view.” Similarly, Commissioner Diana Finegan of Florida’s Citrus County states, “[l]ibraries should be educating the public, not indoctrinating.” She explains that the county removed the ALA’s annual fee from its budget because the government “does not need to give … tax dollars to any organization run by a Marxist.”
And there is little doubt that the ALA is using federal tax dollars to do its dirty work. Earlier this year, the organization issued guidance to prevent the Christian publishing company Brave Books from hosting events at public libraries. In response, Senators Mike Braun (R-IN), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), and I sent a letter to the Institute of Museum and Library Services demanding an investigation into the ALA’s blatant religious discrimination.
Meanwhile, scandals continue to flow from ALA leadership. On September 2, 2023, President Emily Drabinski attended a socialist presentation on “fugitive pedagogy,” or “how to smuggle socialist ideas like Critical Race Theory into the classroom even when the law outlaws it.” Afterward, Drabinski said that libraries “need … to be a site of socialist organizing.” This is insane, even for a progressive organization.
The ALA’s defenders argue that those who leave the organization threaten “free access to ideas.” They also call those pushing back on the ALA “Nazis” and warn “that’s exactly how Hitler came to power.” It’s ironic, because the ALA is the censor, and it’s painfully obvious that the movement to abandon it is motivated by a desire for more freedom, not less.
Americans shouldn’t have toxic ideology pushed on them in libraries, just as they shouldn’t have it pushed on them in schools. Unless the ALA apologizes for its appalling behavior and corrects its course immediately, withholding membership dues is probably the sanest thing public officials can do.
Senator Marco Rubio represents the state of Florida and sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.