The library is a refuge for the misfits, outcasts, eccentrics, and oddballs. It is a place of learning for home-schoolers and autodidacts. For those without a stable home, it is a sanctuary. Many children discover the joy of reading here. Many adults rediscover the forgotten pleasure of reading as well. It is a place of freedom, growth, wonder, and understanding.
Since prehistory, people have told stories. Libraries are repositories of fiction, some of which you may like, and some you may not. Genres, subgenres, and niche genres abound. There are saccharine-sweet inspirational romances, gritty detective stories, steamy thrillers, highbrow literature, epic fantasy, cozy quilting club mysteries, and more. You are encouraged to explore and find what you like.
A book can be a philosophical connection to explore ideas, challenge preconceptions, and build understanding. Anyone who would seek to restrict that is an enemy of freedom. Read what you want. Share your likes and dislikes with like-minded folks. Be skeptical of fearmongers and muckrakers. A good librarian will have resources to help you make informed decisions as a casual reader or serious researcher.
Feel free to voice opinions and raise questions, but make some effort to ensure there is substance to support them beyond, "a bunch of Karens are whinging on the internets!" Those social media echo chambers are toxic cesspools of nonsense masquerading as responsible citizen concerns, almost without exception. A deluge of baseless accusations also dilutes the impact of any real issues, substituting quantity of complaints for quality objections. Lists of "hundreds of dangerous books" sounds serious, but when it turns out most of the accusations are utter nonsense, or even at best subjective opinions, it only makes the accuser look like an idiot the moment such claims are examined seriously.
Do not treat librarians like a class of conspirators out to corrupt the youth. Until we achieve separation of library and state, ensure librarians are not being placed under the thumb of the government by neo-Puritan busybody control freaks. No matter how noble the assertions, censorship is never the path to liberty. Do not be afraid to open a book someone says is dangerous, unless perhaps you encounter the Necronomicon from the Evil Dead franchise.
The text above is explicitly released into the public domain. Feel free to copy, redistribute, alter, and improve it as you see fit. Copyright laws are a vestigial remnant of royal monopoly privileges, not a protection of property rights. Attribution is welcome, but not required, and condemnation is likely to be quite personal anyway. Ideas exist to be shared, challenged, reinforced, and built upon.
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