Muns, Raleigh. "Libraries of TERROR: Are librarians the new secret weapon?"
The Current (University of Missouri-St. Louis) September 19, 2005 (vol. 38, no. 1161), p. 6
In addition
to being a librarian, I'm also a veteran of the Great Conflict With
the Island of Grenada also known as "Operation Urgent Fury"
which took place in 1983. As a member of the US Navy at the time (though
I saw no action) I'm entitled to join the American Legion, which I have
done. As a bonus, I receive a subscription to the
monthly American Legion magazine. In the September, 2005 issue
a commentary entitled "Libraries of TERROR"
by Deroy Murdock, naturally caught my attention. According
to Murdock, it turns out that libraries are actively aiding and abetting
"Islamofascists." He reports that members of the 9/11 terrorists
used library internet computers to "surf the web." I've recently
learned that one of the hijackers, Mohamed Atta al-Sayed, also drove
a Chevy pickup truck. I am planning to write a letter to American
Legion magazine informing readers to be on the lookout for Chevy
pickups as possible vehicles known to be used by mass murderers. I expect
an article entitled "Pickups of TERROR" in an upcoming issue. Also according
to Murdock, libraries are "enabling" child molesters. He cites
a Decatur Daily News report that pedophiles regularly cut out
pictures of children from various publications held by libraries. Sure
enough, I found we had huge numbers of
publications in our Ward Barnes Education Library with pictures
of non-adults. Though I failed to find even one picture razored out,
I did note that many journal and book pages were dog eared and it was
obvious that people had been checking these materials out and taking
them home. I went to
the Dean of Libraries with my new concerns and was gratified to find
out that the UMSL Library budget for materials for child molesters is
a healthy zero dollars annually, as is our budget for collecting "Islamofascist"
materials. Seems that we're wasting tax dollars buying books and journals
in the fields of "biochemistry" and "political science"
and "computer programming." Go figure. Being an inquiring sort,
I used the MERLIN Library Catalog to see if we possibly might have any
dangerous and scurrilous materials in our collection. With very little
effort I found that UMSL owned: three copies of well known white supremacist
Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf (one of which was written in a foreign
language); over 180 works by that known Communist sympathizer, Karl
Marx; several books by Karl's relative, Groucho; and 18 books by that
master of terror, Stephen King. Not to denigrate
library users' concerns about the activities of Grade A Felons in the
libraries, let me assure all that we genuinely take such things seriously.
The next time I see an "Islamofascist" child molester surfing
kiddie porn on library computers, I personally won't hesitate to inform
competent authority. Really. What I didn't
know before reading "Libraries of TERROR" was that libraries,
and UMSL's in particular, were such hotbeds of TERROR. Murdock concludes,
"The time for librarians to stop their facilities from doubling
as crime dens is long overdue." That's definitely
not groovy. |
Email Address: muns@umsl.edu
WWW Home Page URL:http://www.umsl.edu/~muns