Nor is the problem limited to Massachusetts. Conservative patrons of public libraries throughout the country have long complained that books by liberal authors — particularly new releases — are promptly ordered and never in short supply, while books by conservatives or on conservative themes seem to make it onto the shelves months after publication, if then.
I am not a professional investigator, but simply someone who has worked as a librarian. The worrisome information presented here is the full extent of my knowledge of this problem, and I have no answers or solutions. But surely these revelations lead to questions that need answering:
1. What is the full extent of the relationship between elements within the American Library Association and terrorist organizations, and exactly which terror groups are involved?
2. Considering the fact that U.S. taxpayers, to a remarkably large extent, pay for the transportation, accommodations, and compensation time of library personnel attending the semi-annual ALA conventions, has the American Library Association been violating the law by engaging in activities championed by those of its members animated by an anti-Israel agenda — activities that include sending the anti-Israel resolutions to the U.S. State Department, the U.N., and Arafat?
3. How many more biased condemnations of the only democracy in the Middle East will the ALA’s Israel bashers and group masochists (sadly, there are some Adam Shapiro/Noam Chomsky types involved) manage to push through?
4. Will the American people be complacent while members of the ALA vocally campaign against tighter security measures in the war against terrorism (the ALA was a fierce opponent of the U.S. Patriot Act that Congress passed by an overwhelming majority), while encouraging the censorship of books, periodicals, and audio-visuals which do not conform to a leftist agenda?
5. The latest ALA Council’s implicit condemnation of Israel (more often than not, the condemnations have been explicit) calls for an ”investigative” group to be sent to the Palestinian-controlled territories. Who will be footing the bill for that and what will be its composition? Will the ”librarian-investigators” endanger the lives of Israelis?
6. What are the chances that any funds the ALA transfers to Arafat’s people, purportedly for ”rebuilding Palestinian libraries and cultural institutions” will end up in one of Arafat’s private Swiss bank accounts? And how much of that money will be used to purchase bullets and bombs for the murder of innocents?
The time is long past due for Americans to view both the American Library Association and their local public libraries with greater scrutiny.
