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[return to "Illinois to Become First State to Ban Book Bans"]
1. pyuser+ab[view] [source] 2023-05-29 00:38:52
>>Anon84+(OP)
Yeah but “banning books” isn’t much of a thing. Even the ALA talks about “challenged books.”

And most of the controversy involves school libraries - although there are some exceptions.

This bill just doesn’t do much. I’m not opposed to it. I guess it might do a little good.

But it’s posturing by politicians.

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2. woodru+Xc[view] [source] 2023-05-29 00:55:28
>>pyuser+ab
> And most of the controversy involves school libraries - although there are some exceptions.

This is splitting hairs: removing books from school libraries is a de facto ban on those books. Neither the article nor law implies that "book ban" in this context means anything other than "school book ban."

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3. Burnin+de[view] [source] 2023-05-29 01:11:28
>>woodru+Xc
According to [1] There are about 130M published books in the world.

So by your definition, does a school library with 13k books ban 99,99% of all books?

[1]

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4. woodru+Se[view] [source] 2023-05-29 01:16:41
>>Burnin+de
You missed a link.

No. Not stocking a book because it's physically impossible to stock all books in the world is not the same as banning it.

The ALA's statement[1] is clear, and IMO common-sense: proscribing or removing content for doctrinal reasons is the problem.

[1]: https://www.ala.org/advocacy/intfreedom/librarybill

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5. Burnin+Sg[view] [source] 2023-05-29 01:39:02
>>woodru+Se
Sorry about the link. Not great for my credibility.

The concrete "book bans" I've heard about have been that Maus is no longer required reading in 8th grade, or that explicit sex pictures are banned from middle school libraries. Neither seem terrible to me.

What are the most egregious bans I might actually be upset by?

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6. woodru+Uh[view] [source] 2023-05-29 01:50:08
>>Burnin+Sg
Please don't take this as a slight: why does your personal emotional reaction matter here? The idea that public libraries should be open sources of information shouldn't require hot-blooded sentiment from you or me. It's an extension of principles that you and I (notionally) agree on.

That being said: I, for one, think that 8th graders should have Maus accessible to them; it's a difficult book substantively and in terms of presentation, but I don't think reading it is going to "damage" any 8th grader. "Required" is besides the point.

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