For a deeper dive, can I recommend reading Through the Looking Glass: a reporting into trans activism in children's publishing and libraries from SEEN in Publishing, Biology in Medicine and Transgender Trend. The report was launched at the House of Lords on 17 June 2026 under the auspices of Baroness Jenkin of Kennington and deals with the UK situation. There is much that chimes with the section on libraries. https://www.transgendertrend.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SEEN-report-14.pdf
Because many in British publishing are Arts graduates, several chapters on basic biology and child development were included. Chapter 7 is particularly good at explaining child development from a clinical psychologist's view and why it is at odd with Gender Ideology.
I also think it useful for people to understand Wilfrid Reich's sex-pol movement of the 1930s and its emphasis on breaking taboos, particularly of a sexual nature in order to usher in a Marxist revolution in the West. There are huge echoes of Reich's work in Queer and Gender Ideology but such ideology is often at odds with known childhood development arcs.
This is why, as a professional librarian, I've long emphasized usage and patron requests over all else in acquisitions. It strikes me as dishonest or delusional to imagine that I've somehow got a "God's eye" view of the community needs such that I alone can be entrusted with the authority to "create a balanced collection."
Furthermore, why should it be assumed that a "balanced collection" should be the goal? It seems to me that the collection exists FOR some community. Thus, the issue isn't fundamentally the balance of the collection, but it's usefulness to the community it exists to serve.
Activism easily finds its way into patron requests. Social media makes it very easy to post to your group and then have dozens of people request the same book. This is why a small protest for an extreme view makes the news and people think this represents the view of the public at large. Activists also openly check out books they don't plan to read and keep them out to make viewpoints they disagree with unavailable for the general public. To me the response should then be to buy many more copies of targeted books. I think regardless of the community, when one viewpoint is supplied, there should be sufficient opposing viewpoints accessible to let the reader make their own decisions. This is the purpose of libraries in a free society. I think librarians should also monitor that these diverse perspectives are openly displayed, and not that the casual borrower only ever walks past one side of the story. Israel - Palestine is a great example. Many libraries were highlighting anti-Israel literature without openly displaying views from the other side. If books were only published for the community, there would never have been a science book available in medieval Christian Europe and we would never have had an Enlightenment.
It's unquestionably true that activism finds its way into patron requests. It's equally unquestionable that activism finds its way into librarian selections. Both are made by people; And people are, by their nature, imperfect.
Your descriptions of various schemes (e.g., rousing a rabble to "request" a given book in order to create an image of widespread community desire that may not be real) are certainly valid, but I believe there are pretty simple ways to respond to them. You mention one where, if one were to check out a book they disapprove of and refuse to return it in order to "protect" the community, my response would simply be to say, "Well...this items has remained continuously checked out for the last X number of days. Evidently, there's a massive desire for it, so I need to buy some additional copies." And we'd just keep doing this until the self-appointed censors realize they're not going to get anywhere with that strategy.
I don't think you're assertion that, "if books were only published for the community, there would never have been a science book available in medieval Christian Europe" is at all accurate. Where did the Renaissance commence? Among what community did the early scientists arise? Who bought their works? Clearly there was some communal interest in science. There's no plausible way to account for the phenomenon of the Renaissance otherwise.
Naw...they're more National Socialists. Given their fixation on race and identity (and entitlement based on same) it could hardly be otherwise. And the NSDAP had a very strong foothold in the German university system prior to the rise to power.
It's been my experience that there is a willful blindness between what is considered education and what is considered indoctrination in publicly funded schools and libraries. Intolerance and hypocrisy are shared by both the left and the right.
I still believe you are either fighting a losing battle or wishing for something that can never be. People are never neutral in their choices (even if they attempt to be their choices reveal their preferences).
An interesting piece.
For a deeper dive, can I recommend reading Through the Looking Glass: a reporting into trans activism in children's publishing and libraries from SEEN in Publishing, Biology in Medicine and Transgender Trend. The report was launched at the House of Lords on 17 June 2026 under the auspices of Baroness Jenkin of Kennington and deals with the UK situation. There is much that chimes with the section on libraries. https://www.transgendertrend.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SEEN-report-14.pdf
Because many in British publishing are Arts graduates, several chapters on basic biology and child development were included. Chapter 7 is particularly good at explaining child development from a clinical psychologist's view and why it is at odd with Gender Ideology.
I also think it useful for people to understand Wilfrid Reich's sex-pol movement of the 1930s and its emphasis on breaking taboos, particularly of a sexual nature in order to usher in a Marxist revolution in the West. There are huge echoes of Reich's work in Queer and Gender Ideology but such ideology is often at odds with known childhood development arcs.
I'd call it *both* propaganda and grooming. They're normalizing it.
This is why, as a professional librarian, I've long emphasized usage and patron requests over all else in acquisitions. It strikes me as dishonest or delusional to imagine that I've somehow got a "God's eye" view of the community needs such that I alone can be entrusted with the authority to "create a balanced collection."
Furthermore, why should it be assumed that a "balanced collection" should be the goal? It seems to me that the collection exists FOR some community. Thus, the issue isn't fundamentally the balance of the collection, but it's usefulness to the community it exists to serve.
Activism easily finds its way into patron requests. Social media makes it very easy to post to your group and then have dozens of people request the same book. This is why a small protest for an extreme view makes the news and people think this represents the view of the public at large. Activists also openly check out books they don't plan to read and keep them out to make viewpoints they disagree with unavailable for the general public. To me the response should then be to buy many more copies of targeted books. I think regardless of the community, when one viewpoint is supplied, there should be sufficient opposing viewpoints accessible to let the reader make their own decisions. This is the purpose of libraries in a free society. I think librarians should also monitor that these diverse perspectives are openly displayed, and not that the casual borrower only ever walks past one side of the story. Israel - Palestine is a great example. Many libraries were highlighting anti-Israel literature without openly displaying views from the other side. If books were only published for the community, there would never have been a science book available in medieval Christian Europe and we would never have had an Enlightenment.
It's unquestionably true that activism finds its way into patron requests. It's equally unquestionable that activism finds its way into librarian selections. Both are made by people; And people are, by their nature, imperfect.
Your descriptions of various schemes (e.g., rousing a rabble to "request" a given book in order to create an image of widespread community desire that may not be real) are certainly valid, but I believe there are pretty simple ways to respond to them. You mention one where, if one were to check out a book they disapprove of and refuse to return it in order to "protect" the community, my response would simply be to say, "Well...this items has remained continuously checked out for the last X number of days. Evidently, there's a massive desire for it, so I need to buy some additional copies." And we'd just keep doing this until the self-appointed censors realize they're not going to get anywhere with that strategy.
I don't think you're assertion that, "if books were only published for the community, there would never have been a science book available in medieval Christian Europe" is at all accurate. Where did the Renaissance commence? Among what community did the early scientists arise? Who bought their works? Clearly there was some communal interest in science. There's no plausible way to account for the phenomenon of the Renaissance otherwise.
All institutions in education have been taken over by marxist. Period. Any other explanation is none other than psychobabble.
Naw...they're more National Socialists. Given their fixation on race and identity (and entitlement based on same) it could hardly be otherwise. And the NSDAP had a very strong foothold in the German university system prior to the rise to power.
It's been my experience that there is a willful blindness between what is considered education and what is considered indoctrination in publicly funded schools and libraries. Intolerance and hypocrisy are shared by both the left and the right.
i have good ideas against differemnt poisons in America
eric
e-mail tortoise1234567@yahoo.com
Is it your opinion that progressive children’s books should be banned from public libraries?
I will reread your essay but since it was clear that you are discussing books for kids isn’t this the province of the parents?
I think you need to re-read the essay.
I still believe you are either fighting a losing battle or wishing for something that can never be. People are never neutral in their choices (even if they attempt to be their choices reveal their preferences).