MAGA threat to public libraries exposes Trump’s movement to “Make America Grotesque Again”

The last few years have seen a remarkable acceleration of attempts to keep certain books off the shelves of public and school libraries.

The American Library Association reports an almost four-fold increase in the number of banning attempts between 2003 ( 458 ) and 2022 .

Free public libraries first appeared in this country in the late 1700s or early 1800s .

The Mission branch of the San Francisco Public Library is an island of peace in the choppy waters of my neighborhood.

Like more than 2,500 others built worldwide, my branch is a Carnegie library.

It was constructed in 1916 with funds provided by the Scottish-American robber baron and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie .

Carnegie believed that libraries belonged in local neighborhoods where potential readers would have easy access to them.

LZ Granderson says libraries are under attack in 24 states, including Idaho and Rhode Island .

Granderson: Libraries are desperately under attack by anti-censorship group EveryLibrary .

Oklahoma ’s “ Opposition to Marxism Act ” would outlaw cooperation with the American Library Association , he says.