A Dispatch from a Conservative State's Librarian Convention

If it's this crazy in a rural, conservative state, imagine the rest of the country...

Thank you to this librarian for reaching out to us with her dispatch from a recent convention held in her rural and conservative state. Take a moment to imagine how bad these conventions are in California or New York. These “professional development” gatherings impact how librarians do their jobs on the local level, even in otherwise conservative areas. Nowhere is safe.

If you are a librarian with a story to tell, please reach out. We are happy to publish you anonymously if necessary.

I have always loved language, and the printed word. I spoke very early and clearly, in full sentences before I was two. My first memory of trying to read was grappling with a newspaper. Once I cracked the code, I was never far from a book.  The local library became a second home to me, a place my parents could let me roam free, because the people who worked there were intelligent and trustworthy.  The librarians guided me to age-appropriate materials, and called the police if a grown man wanted to sit in the children’s section and leer at us.