Opinion: I witnessed brutal censorship in Iran. We should all take U.S. book bans as a warning.; The Washington Post; February 14, 2022

 Azar Nafisi, The Washington Post; Opinion: I witnessed brutal censorship in Iran. We should all take U.S. book bans as a warning.

"Azar Nafisi is the author of “Reading Lolita in Tehran.” Her new book, “Read Dangerously: The Subversive Power of Literature in Troubled Times,” comes out in March.

First they burn books, then they kill people!”

That line often came to mind when I was living in the Islamic Republic of Iran, every time the regime closed a bookstore or a publishing house, every time it censored, banned, jailed or even killed authors. It never occurred to me that one day I would repeat the same sentiment in a democracy, in my new home, the United States of America...

It is alarming to think that American communities in 2022 are actively seeking to deprive people of the reading experiences for which my students in Iran paid such a heavy price. For I can tell you: Book bans are canaries in coal mines — indicators of the direction in which a society is moving.

In recent years, we have seen how truth is replaced by lies, and how dangerous a cultivated ignorance can be, especially when it is embraced by our political leaders and our loudest media commentators, those with the largest bullhorns. Book-banning is a form of silencing, and it is the next step along a continuum — one that I worry even in the United States presages a further slide toward totalitarianism."

Ridgeland Mayor Demands LGBTQ+ Book Purge, Threatens Library Funding; Mississippi Free Press, January 25, 2022

 Nick Judin Mississippi Free Press; Ridgeland Mayor Demands LGBTQ+ Book Purge, Threatens Library Funding

"Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee is withholding $110,000 of funding from the Madison County Library System allegedly on the basis of his personal religious beliefs, with library officials stating that he has demanded that the system initiate a purge of LGBTQ+ books before his office releases the money.

Tonja Johnson, executive director for the Madison County Library System, told the Mississippi Free Press in an afternoon interview that she first reached out to Mayor McGee after failing to receive the City of Ridgeland’s first quarterly payment of 2022.

Johnson said the mayor informed her that no payment was forthcoming. “He explained his opposition to what he called ‘homosexual materials’ in the library, that it went against his Christian beliefs, and that he would not release the money as the long as the materials were there,” the library director said.

The director then explained to the mayor that the library system, as a public entity, was not a religious institution. “I explained that we are a public library and we serve the entire community. I told him our collection reflects the diversity of our community,” Johnson said."

Wake County Library ban of LGBTQ+ book may be unconstitutional; The News & Observer, December 16, 2021

SARA PEQUEÑO, The News & Observer; Wake County Library ban of LGBTQ+ book may be unconstitutional

"On Wednesday, the Wake County Public Library announced it was pulling its copies of the graphic novel memoir Gender Queer out of circulation. In a statement to The News & Observer, a spokesperson said it was due to “explicit illustrations that do not align with WCPL’s selection policy.”

The decision has been met with outcry from LGBTQ+ groups and activists, but it’s possible that the action could have legal consequences for the county government."

Iowa man burns children's books from public library to protest Orange City Pride; Des Moines Register, October 22, 2018

Shelby Fleig, Des Moines Register; Iowa man burns children's books from public library to protest Orange City Pride


[Kip Currier: The American Library Association's (ALA) Banned Books Week was last month. It's an annual event, started in 1982 by the late Judith Krug, a staunch intellectual freedom advocate, to raise awareness of the importance of intellectual freedom and efforts by some to ban books.

The theme for this year's event is "Banning Books Silences Stories". This Des Moines Register article and video about a man who videotaped himself burning several LGBTQ-themed books owned by a public library in Iowa is a tangible example of attempts to silence the stories of others.

Watch this 3 minute 2012 Banned Books Week video by veteran journalist Bill Moyers for a still-relevant response regarding, as Moyers puts it, "self-deputized vigilantes".]

"The Orange City Public Library said it's exploring legal options after a northwest Iowa man rented and then publicly burned several children's books Friday.

The second annual OC Pride kicked off Friday with a story time for kids, a schedule shows. About an hour before the event, Paul Dorr started a live Facebook video, in which he stood near the Prairie Winds Event Center. The 27-minute video ends with Dorr throwing at least four books with LGBTQ themes that he claimed he rented from the public library into a burning trash can."