Are Public Libraries becoming Social Engines for the LGBTQ Agenda?
How to use this post. If you would like to read a synopsis of this post, skip to the list at the bottom. But, I would encourage you to read through what’s here and see exactly what is going on in some of our libraries.
Social Engine: A cultural institution whose power and influence is co-opted and utilized for the sake of a larger social agenda, or the furthering or a cultural ideology.
Is there something sinister and destructive going on beneath the surface of the calm and placid environment of some of our local libraries? Are groups like the American Library Association seeking to co-opt libraries for larger social purposes?
The answer to these questions is: Yes.
The American Library Association (hereafter ALA) is the largest association of Libraries and Librarians in our nation — and not only are they openly pro-LGBTQ+, they are using their organization to further the social agenda of the LGBTQ revolution and its ideologies. And ground zero for their cultural assault is the local library.
Aren't public libraries supposed to be safe places for the public? Places of exploration, free from political coercion and social agendas?
Aren’t our libraries places where little old folks sit around and read newspapers, where children innocently encounter the magical world of books, and where communities come together to celebrate knowledge and the gift of the written word?
Not if the American Library Association has anything to say about it.
Libraries seem safe and innocuous—and they should be—which is why most of us aren’t watching for social ideologies hidden in children’s books, or looking for cultural conditioning in the organizing of those books. We expect our local libraries and librarians to help us introduce our children to the authors like Dr. Suess, C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, Arnold Lobel, Eric Carle, and Beverly Cleary. And books like Charlotte’s Web, The Giving Tree, Where the Wild Things Are, Corduroy, and more. And, in a sane and moral society, this is exactly what can be found.
But, beneath the surface today, lying just out of the public view, is an entire agenda set on using libraries to introduce and normalize the LGBTQ+ social revolution, and it's aimed directly at our children.
My goal in presenting this information is simply to shine a light on its existence, and to help parents and Christians think more clearly about the dangers of today’s world.
Below are some things we know about the ALA and what it's seeking to do through Public and school libraries…
The American Library Association and Its Mission.
The ALA says this about itself
“The American Library Association (ALA) is the oldest and largest library association in the world. Founded on October 6, 1876 during the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, the mission of ALA is “to provide leadership for the development, promotion and improvement of library and information services and the profession of librarianship in order to enhance learning and ensure access to information for all.”
That all sounds good. An organization that exists for the development and promotion of healthy and successful libraries is a wonderful gift to our society. The only problem is that the ALA isn’t actually seeking those things. The ALA has changed its worldview, and now interprets its own identity and existence on radically different terms that one might expect from reading the statement above.
If you read through the “About the ALA'' page, nothing in particular sticks out. It's all normal, organizational-talk kinds of stuff: Values, action-areas, strategic directions, etc.
But, if we press a bit further and get into the details of those generic words and phrases, we find a world of radical ideologies and well detailed plans for how to turn libraries into outposts in the social justice war, and step-by-step plans for how librarians can not only serve as advocates and allies for LGBTQ young people, but how Librarians themselves can act as subversive social agents within school and public libraries.
But don’t take my word for it. Look for yourself…
Agenda-Driven Leadership.
At present, the ALA is led by Emily Drabinski, who is a self-avowed “Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world…” She is a Critical Pedagogy Librarian in New York…
Critical Pedagogy: Critical pedagogy is a “philosophy of education that has developed and applied concepts from critical theory” (Kincheloe, 1997), “It views teaching as an inherently political act, rejects the neutrality of knowledge, and insists that issues of social justice and democracy itself are not distinct from acts of teaching and learning” (Giroux 2007).
In some of her published articles, Drabinski argues that one of the ways that librarians in her position can fight for social justice and the furthering of LGBTQ+ ideas is through library book cataloging. In a 2013 article called, “Queering the Catalog: Queer Theory and the Politics of Correction,” Drabinski argues that by viewing library collections through Queer Theory, Librarians can work to correct unconscious biases against LGBTQ peoples in their library collections, and in so doing, create a safer place for LGBTQ+ people to feel seen and heard.
Her latest publications continue to focus in this area, and she is, no doubt, bringing these ideas and worldviews into her leadership of the ALA.
The ALA has a Social Agenda…
On the “About ALA” page, there is a link called “Strategic Plan (2017 update).” Most organizations have strategic plans, but not many of us take the time and energy to really digest what those plans say. The seven-page document begins with the ALA mission statement and then outlines the organization's core values. There are a few trigger words that catch our attention; words like “open and inclusive,” “social responsibility,” and “to create and share new knowledge.” On their own, they represent little to no threat, but in today’s cultural climate, nothing can be taken for granted.
The document presents the ALA’s strategic goals and the action steps they intend to use for the accomplishing of those goals.
Under the Goal, “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” on pg. 6—often referred to DEI in larger culture— the ALA writes this, “This work includes addressing, dismantling, and transforming policies, structures, and biases throughout the organization and the field of librarianship. ALA, through its actions, and those of its members, is instrumental in creating a more equitable, diverse, and inclusive society.”
For its GOALS in this area, the document states: (Pg. 6)
Commit to ameliorating marginalization and underrepresentation within the Association and the communities served by libraries through increased understanding of the effects of historical exclusion.
Provide context and understanding of the concepts of equity, diversity, and inclusion and recognize their intersectional and complex nature.
Establish resources and support so libraries and librarians can be effective advocates for the inclusion of all individuals in the life of their community.
Establish ALA as a major voice for the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion in all areas of information policy.
The ALA’s stated strategies for achieving the above goals are as follows: (Pg. 6-7)
Conduct professional development opportunities to address issues of DEI.
Review alliances and coalitions to increase focus on DEI.
Build a national advocacy campaign based on existing advocacy assets which focus on the values of DEI; and to empower all ALA members to advocate within their workplace, their community, and beyond.
Gather, develop, and disseminate research documenting the value of DEI.
Work with graduate programs in Library and Information Science to increase focus on DEI within graduate programs and within graduate program curricula.
Ensure the values of DEI are embedded in all containing education relating to all aspects of the profession and its practice.
Develop continuing education specifically focused on understanding and addressing unconscious bias, power dynamics, microaggressions, white privilege, and other topics related to DEI.
The document concludes stating that these goals and strategies “represent areas of intense focus for the next 3-5 years. The goals articulate the outcomes we would like to achieve and answer the question, ‘What would success look like?’” (pg. 7)
It is clear from this document that the ALA is dead set on the avocation and normalizing of a woke social agenda, and they are using libraries and librarians for that very purpose.
The ALA is focused on Introducing, Curating, and Protecting LGBTQ ideologies in Schools.
In what is perhaps its most concerning document, Defending Intellectual Freedom: LGBTQ+ Materials in School Libraries, the ALA has put together a 61-page handbook on how school librarians can curate and defend pro-LGBTQ collections in school libraries.
From the handbook’s introduction, “This resource stems from a concern brought forward by ALA’s affiliate assembly; the concern was then presented to a 2018 emerging leaders team. The Emerging leaders team was charged with creating a guide to support local school librarians in addressing challenges related to censorship of LGBTA+ materials and patron privacy issues.”
“Improving and safeguarding LGBTQ+ collection positively impacts the academic and social-emotional learning of all learners.”
The Guide then lays its its key commitments in this area: (Pg. 6-7)
1 - Building new knowledge: Filling in knowledge gaps about LGBTQ+ people; exposing personal biases, and developing collections to transcend biases.
2 - Demonstrate understanding and commitment to inclusiveness and diversity. Emphasis on teaching librarians on how to defend the value of LGBTQ collections.
3 - Work to broaden perspectives. How school librarians can work with school and community partners to grow their capacity to expand and defend a pro-LGBTQ+ collection.
4 - Make meaning for oneself and others.
5 - Discover and innovate. Explore and expose biases.
6 - How school librarians prepare to respond to challenges to LGBTQ collections, and defend them.
The handbook goes on to discuss a wide variety of topics, including preparing Librarians to defend questionable books and resources against Principals and Superintendents. Below, I quote two of the more concerning passages found in the handbook…
“By collaborating with community and school partners who are LGBTQ+ inclusive, school librarians can deepen their own knowledge and understanding of issues related to building a strong LGBTQ+ collection and creating more-inclusive instructional practices. Leveraging a greater awareness of these issues allows librarians to then collaborate with school staff to embed content into the curriculum…” (pg. 21)
And under the suggested activities page regarding “Teaching Tolerance,” (pg. 22) the handbook links to a website, “that specifically focuses on sexual identity and gender issues.”
One lesson, entitled “Art and LGBT Rights: Study of Symbols,” states, “This lesson explores symbols as a type of art and focuses explicitly on the way symbols have been used to advance LGBTQ+ visibility and awareness of fights for LGBTQ+ rights. Grade level: K-2, 3-5.”
And in “Challenging Gender Stereotyping and Homophobia in Sports,” students in grades 6-12 are taught to challenge the norms of male/female difference in sport.
The ALA Loves to Misuse Language.
Each year, the ALA promotes and celebrates what it calls “Banned Books Week.” Anytime a book is challenged by a parent or a school system, or anytime a library removes a book from its shelf, the ALA calls that a “book ban.” In reality, it's nothing of the sort.
We live in a free society governed by the values of western democracy. Thankfully, it is illegal to ban books. A true book ban is the absolute prevention through legal action of a book or a printed idea. Such actions are in violation of the Constitution's first amendment. Totalitarian governments such as Communist China today, or Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in the past, have perpetrated true book bans for the purpose of controlling their people. But, for a library to remove a book from its shelf over questionable moral content hardly amounts to a ban.
But social revolutions need to appear valid. And one of the ways that the ALA is engaging in the social war for LGBTQ normalization is by using the language of “book bans.” But it's just rhetoric for the ALA’s larger purpose of social change and revolution. If the crowd can yell “They’re banning books,” loud enough and long enough, then people will start to believe it.
On a recent edition of The Briefing, Dr. Al Mohler stated, "Now, we've been talking about that for a long time because we have seen this with booksellers and librarians and others, particularly in the activists left, just using the language of book bans in order to try to draw attention to what they basically want, which is their sole say in whether books are in a library. We're talking about professional groups of librarians that are predictably on the left, virtually every single time. If you doubt that, just go to the websites of the major librarian organizations, and those who set the professional standards, and look at the kind of resolutions that are adopted, and the kind of causes they talk about."
The language of "Book bans" is nothing more than smoke and mirrors; distractions that stoke a flame and divert attention.
By the Numbers…
How influential is the ALA in American society? Fairly large. While there are some discrepancies in the numbers, there are between 117,000 and 123,000 libraries in the U.S.
That number includes…
Public libraries (9,057)
Public School libraries (82,300)
Private School libraries (22,991)
College and University Libraries (3,697)
The ALA boasts a membership of more than 50,000, meaning that it has a wide influence and presence in the library world. As the largest Library association in the country, it also boasts impressive power and influence on Capitol Hill among lawmakers.
Recently, former President Barack Obama released a letter in support of those like the ALA. He used similar rhetoric saying, “Today, some of the books that shaped my life—and the lives of so many others—are being challenged by people who disagree with certain ideas or perspectives. It’s no coincidence that these “banned books'' are often written by or feature people of color, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQ+ community—though there have also been unfortunate instances in which books by conservative authors or books containing “triggering” words or scenes have been targets for removal. Either way, the impulse seems to be to silence, rather than engage, rebut, learn from or seek to understand views that don’t fit our own.”
The reality is that the ALA has an impressive influence in American culture, society, and law.
Here is a snapshot of what’s covered above…
1 - The ALA is a liberal progressivist group hiding under the cover of libraries.
2 - They are led by a woman who describes herself as a Marxist-Lesbian, and is a scholar of critical theory as applied to library science.
3 - The ALA has publicly stated goals relating to supporting DEI policies and LGBTQ ideologies.
4 - The ALA intends to be a major voice for LBGTQ and DEI in the culture.
5 - The ALA intends to equip its libraries and librarians to fight for social change and the furthering of the LGBTQ social agenda.
6 - The ALA is specifically targeting public school libraries as a means of furthering LGBTQ ideologies.
7 - The ALA intends to use its libraries and librarians to normalize LGBTQ behaviors to children and young people.
8 - The ALA misuses language as fear-mongering. No books are actually banned.
9 - The ALA has a major influence in American culture and law.
Why the Library?
Some of us might be asking the question, why is all of this happening in the local library? Why is the ALA targeting libraries as a means to further a social agenda?
The answer is fairly simple: Normalizing.
The ALA is not alone in this goal — the goal of normalizing LGBTQ+ ideologies and behaviors to children. The idea behind the library is fairly easy to understand. If LGBTQ identities and lifestyles are presented positively to children from an early age, then those children will grow up thinking it's normal. So by presenting such behaviors to children as normal, good, and non-threatening, especially through the medium of children’s storytime books, those children come to see such behaviors as right and normative.
Recently, in my own local Library, a book called “The Rainbow Parade” was read aloud at toddler story hour. While many claims were raised that the book is simply about love and fidelity, the book is actually about the normalizing of LGBTQ pride and behaviors to children.
The book presents image of bearded drag-queens, men in BDSM attire, a fully nude woman, a potentially nude man, and other women in extremely low-cut tops. All of it geared toward young children in the “non-threatening” package of a children’s book with pretty pictures.
It is a social agenda hidden in colorful children’s drawings.
To be sure, not every library and librarian falls into this category. There are many, many wonderful librarians who work hard to curate and provide excellent collections to our communities. We should thank God for men and women like this. But, the reality of the ALA and its worldview remains a real and present danger; a danger that is only continuing to grow...
Christians, this stuff isn’t going away. It’s growing. Which means that we can never take our eye off the ball in this world. We are no longer living in a culture that mirrors objective moral reality. We can no longer trust that the larger society shares the same desires for our children that we do. We must never blindly hand off the education of our children to others. Parents, we must be involved, watchful, guarding our kids, standing for what is right, and believing and holding out the true hope of Jesus.