ENDORSEMENT: Vote for Bauman
There is acrimony all over the country; crowds shouting about books in the children’s library depicting explicit sex scenes, and books which are increasingly focused on adult themes. Conservatives are riled up over what they perceive is an affront to family values, while applying age-based standards is called censorship by those on the left.
Are there any books that don’t belong in the children’s section? This is personal because we care about our children and want to have a voice in the debate. It’s political because voters and parents want to ensure their values are represented in the school and in the library. Yet libraries have limited shelf space. They always prioritize one book over another, one message over another. What would be academically superior, Homer’s Odyssey, or sexually explicit picture books and sex apps? Classic education should liberate students from passions and internal psychological issues that would tear them down. The Supreme Court has already established that schools can regulate books in the curriculum and in school libraries. They can restrict books that are pervasively vulgar or educationally unsuitable. Why shouldn’t public libraries do the same?
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