Brian Katcher

I’m a school librarian, but I’ve been on the ‘friends of the library’ board of my local public library for about 8 years. Every month we’d meet, the librarians would tell us about the great programs they had planned, and we’d decide how we could best support them.

That is, until last night. For the first time since I joined the board, the librarian talked not about the great upcoming programs, but the programs they’d have to cut. The visiting musicians and authors they could no longer afford. The technology grants they can no longer apply for. The grants they had been awarded, but will no longer receive, putting them on the hook for the cost.

This is all because POTUS defunded the IMLS (The Institute for Museum and Library Services) which funds this sort of grant. My small town is missing out on great activities because a billionaire literally took a chainsaw to the library funding. No matter your political leanings, I can’t see how this ‘makes America great.’

Ironically, this library is a Carnigie library. It was paid for by a billionaire, and decades later, it’s being dismanted by other billionaires.

(NASHVILLE, TN)—Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, along with attorney Kerry Knox, filed a lawsuit on behalf of three Rutherford County families and PEN America against the Rutherford County Board of Education, in response to the banning and restriction of more than 145 books from school libraries in the county. The three families, who are anonymous, include two rising freshmen and a rising senior who will attend Rutherford County schools next year. PEN America, a national writers and free expression organization, joined the lawsuit on behalf of its author members, 32 of whom have had a total of 53 books banned or restricted by the Rutherford County school board.

Read the entire article here.

ALMOST PERFECT is on the list of the many, many books this school has banned, along with a lot of much better books. See the list here.

You are not alone. You have many allies. We’re going to get through this. I’m scared too.

He was credibility accused of rape multiple times. He was the only US president to not peacefully transfer power at the end of his term. He’s lecherous, crude, a bigot, and a homophobe. He sells influence and is manipulated by oligarchs and dictators. But he promised to lower egg prices…

@Brian-Katcher