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Yes – I’m still pissed. And – so this is my first small step. I’m starting with the library in my small hometown where I grew up.
They are woefully underfunded and just sent out a plea for money to stay open last week. So I called them yesterday and (completely unashamedly) told them that I’d cover the basic expenses to enable them to stay open IF I get a written commitment that they will not censor any book based on political or religious views. They’re so desperate, they said yes. So – today, I subscribed them to The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly and Harpers Magazine. I also sent a box of PROGRESSIVE nonfiction/political books from my own shelves. (And – now I’m doing selling T-Shirts, etc. at www.cafepress.com/tesibria to help cover the cost of the commitments I just made.
AND – I put my mom on monitoring duty – she’s going to go in once a week and make SURE that the magazines are available to patrons/not hidden. She’s gonna make sure they are on the shelves or loaned out. (My crazy-evangelical yet-somehow-wonderful mother is about the only Democrat/only person in the precinct of 700 people who voted for Kerry. And I LOVE her for it.)
I know that it’s – such an incredibly small step – but I HAVE to do something NOW. So – this is what I’m doing. The only hope for the kids – and adults – in these towns – indeed **OUR** only hope – lies in getting the light of the “outside world” into those dark, isolated, narrow places. I’m gonna try to do something about it. I see no other way at the moment. To borrow a childhood church song … “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine. … “ They’re not gonna know what hit them (smile), but that’s ok.
(When Salisbury’s shelves get full, we’ll find another isolated, underfunded library and “bribe” them the same way.) Cheers, Tesibria www.democracyiscoming.com
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