"Freedom to Read Week" ends with head librarian fired for promoting diversity of reading material

By John C. A. Manley

GetWokeUp.com reported that the “head librarian of the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library (NOTL) has been fired after an op-ed she wrote was deemed hateful by her woke superiors.”

Here’s a sample of Cathy Simpson's “hateful” words:

“Librarians are quick to defend books written by authors from ‘oppressed’ groups and books that promote critical social justice… This would be fine except books offering other points of view… are rarely defended or even purchased. As a result, library collections are increasingly biased and offer one viewpoint justified by the claim the other viewpoints are ‘harmful’.…”

It sounds to me as if it’s intellectual censorship Simpson hates, not people.

“In fact,” she writes, “viewpoints that don’t conform to progressive agendas are rarely represented in library collections and anyone who challenges this is labelled a bigot.”

She released her op-ed during “Freedom to Read Week” — which may one day be renamed “Freedom to Read What We Permit You To Read Week.”

But not if librarians like Cathy Simpson can help it.

“We will only be truly free to read,” she says, “when authors are no longer afraid to write on any topic, publishers no longer prioritize an author’s identity over their work’s merit, teachers no longer present students with only one viewpoint on issues, and library workers ensure their collections are balanced to include a variety of perspectives on controversial topics.”

I believe the reason they are attacking libraries is summed up in the adage: Readers are leaders.

Brainwash the leaders and the masses will follow.

Cathy Simpson, however, is a leader who’s immune to brainwashing.

You can read her full article at Niagara Now.

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John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. You get free chapters from his novels by subscribing to his Blazing Pine Cone email newsletter at https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/

Image: GetWokeUp!

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