Citrus County Commissioners

Citrus County Commissioners

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In a shocking show of partisan politics influencing the resources available to the public through the Public Library, the Citrus County Commission came to a consensus at the end of October: The county should not buy digital subscriptions to the New York Times for the 70,000 library-card holders who reside in the county. This action by the county commission is precisely why politicians should not be the ones who decide what materials are made available to the public.

“Do we really need to subscribe to the New York Times?” one commissioner asked during the meeting.

“Why the heck would ...

In a shocking show of partisan politics influencing the resources available to the public through the Public Library, the Citrus County Commission came to a consensus at the end of October: The county should not buy digital subscriptions to the New York Times for the 70,000 library-card holders who reside in the county. This action by the county commission is precisely why politicians should not be the ones who decide what materials are made available to the public.

“Do we really need to subscribe to the New York Times?” one commissioner asked during the meeting.

“Why the heck would we spend money on something like that?” asked another.

Commissioner Scott Carnahan appeared the most passionate against approving the funding, alluding to political reasons as part of his decision.

“Fake news, I agree with President Trump,” Carnahan said. “I don’t want the New York Times in this county. I don’t agree with it, I don’t like 'em, it’s fake news and I’m voting no. They can take that money and do something else with it ... I support Donald Trump."

These chilling quotes should stand to remind us all that Americans should not be denied access to information due to the partisan politics of the current political leadership or current flavor of politics.

Librarians are highly trained information professionals with Masters’ Degrees and libraries are subject to the first Amendment since they are government agencies themselves. Therefore libraries do not reject, censor, or deny Americans access to information based on the current political agendas of local political leaders. Librarians strongly believe that American’s deserve the right to access information and make their own decisions about their beliefs. In fact, decisions by political leaders to restrict access to information goes against both the beliefs and core values of libraries as well as the First Amendment itself.

After all, “Democracy dies in darkness” – Washington Post

 

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