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/r/fednews is going wild about what's going on with the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This is in-line with this executive order. If this really does goes forward and a significant chunk of federal funding is cut from museums and libraries nationwide, I might really just start go kick a rock somewhere. I love libraries, I love museums, and I really don't think they're that wasteful either. I've read and somewhat understand where other posters are coming from with regards to institutional-ideological-capture, but on this I am struggling to see how that weighs so much compared to the good being provided.
Literally over the weekend on a day trip, my wife and I stopped at the local town's library for a midtrip break and I was absolutely astound at the many services this small town library provided. There was weekly notary service, children activities, a display of locally important quilts, a plethora of tax-season offerings, etc. Personally, in my childhood, my school library was open on Saturday and it was common for my mum to unload us kids there for the day and let us roam the stacks as we please. As a middle schooler, the library was great for a socially anxious kid. And in adulthood, on every exploration walk I've made, if there's a library open, I'm walking in.
For any trip to any world-class city, museums are the first thing on my list. The artifacts, the stories, the experience of seeing things you've only seen in books or through the internet with your own eyes, letting those electrons hit those retinas. Washington DC would be a lot less inviting or exciting without the many museums that dot its map. Even the small libraries can be a great experience as they often document a subject I've never thought of before.
The US greatest treasures are its national parks and forests and public land. Thankfully at least that nature would survive when there are less humans, though I still fear for the actual long term consequences. Not so the libraries and museums. Can someone explains to me why this is a good thing?
Last time I went in my local library they had a David Horsey exhibition. They'd thrown out all the books I wanted to read in an "equity-based weeding" process, as well as destroying their local history archive, including the only copies of our local newspaper. (I only found that out because the museum called asking if my mom's copies still existed. They were pissed, because they'd always used the library copies for research until this outsider with a library science masters came and took over the place)
In 2020 the head librarian decided the volunteer staff were too white, so she got a grant for replacing them with no-show equity hires. The old man who took care of the expensive computer system (also grant and tax funded) got the boot, and now the public wifi, meeting room projector, and several of the computers have been non-functional for several years.
All the new books are five copies of whatever schlock her Tumblr feed and the kirkus Diversity & Inclusion Digital Catalog tell her to buy.
They recently had an expensive rebuilding that more than doubled the size of the library, but have fewer books than before. Only half of one of the wings is now dedicated to the stacks, the same area as their DVD collection.
Now they're lobbying for a higher property tax levy so they can hire more librarians.
Pick out any decent books they haven't already destroyed, herd the board inside, bar the door, and torch the place. Guilt-tripping people to protect the guilty isn't going to work any more. I'm so fucking sick of everything I ever loved being murdered and turned into a skin suit for leftist brain parasites it's unreal.
I believe this is known as fed-posting.
This isn't good for being boo out group.
You have been on thin ice. Normally I'd just make this a warning, but this needs to stop. One week ban.
It’s the Motte, so of course the topic that really kicks off the fedposting is libraries
The fire rises
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