On Censorship Quotes

“We protect our young by taking action on real, not manufactured threats. We protect children by informing them, by honoring the dignity of their curiosity not with deception but with evidence.”
― James LaRue, On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US

“The great value of literacy is examination of the world from a distance. reading gives us the space to process, to consider and test, to assess personal and societal consequences, to formulate a response to ideas and actions.”
― James LaRue, On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US

“I believe that most of the people in our communities have the same thirst. Too often in our society people either don't engage at all with gnarly issues or they only talk to people who already agree with them. This problem is particularly severe online, where many of us find ourselves being "in the middle of the road" in territory that is ever more extreme. The only way out of this contentious trap is to do just what the library did - find knowledgeable and reputable sources of information. serve as a model in setting some ground rules to allow for true intellectual exploration. Connect people and ideas. Have a meaningful conversation.”
― James LaRue, On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US

“One day, while walking through the frozen aisle at the grocery story, I saw a bunch of packages with clear labeling: brussels sprouts. I went up to the store manage, whom I knew. "Brussels sprouts offend me!" I told him. "Don't I deserve the right to come into a store and not see a product that offends me?"
He thought about it.
Then he said, "Nobody comes to the grocery store because it doesn't have what they don't want." He paused. "Some people like brussels sprouts."
It's the same with a library.”
― James LaRue, On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US

“Mary Jo Godwin, former editor of the late Wilson Library Bulletin, once wrote: "A truly great library has something in it to offend everyone." But libraries don't buy books in order to offend. We buy them to support our community. It surprises some people that not everyone wants the same thing.”
― James LaRue, On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US