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Closing libraries is how you burn books without lighting a match.
@jonoabroad @aral He doesn’t exist 
@donhawkins @aral just means he can't be offended :)
@aral I never thought Fahrenheit 451 would get this relevant anymore. https://archive.org/details/fahrenheit-451-1966-696p
@mattias Yep, definitely one that should be on everyone’s reading list.
@aral And when eBooks have DRM, our right to read can be removed at any second.
@autiomaa @aral I GET you’re talking e-books and not audiobooks, but the reference to DRM caught my attention. Please, any audiobook lovers, checkout Libro.fm for the very reason that audiobooks purchased from Libro.fm are DRM free AND, every book purchase from Libro. fm supports an Independent bookstore of your choice. I’m not affiliated, I’m just a big fan. Buy it, download the MP3, play it on any device, OWN it. It’s yours, no BS. Libro.fm is a “Social Purpose Corp.”
@aral 
exactly. We kept our library open by manning it with volunteers. It has been a big success 
The Texas state #GOP forcibly took control over the Houston ISD, and one of the first things they did was fire the librarians and turn the libraries into school jail.
It's utterly insane, but it's real.
"HISD to eliminate librarians and convert libraries into disciplinary centers at NES schools"
https://abc13.com/hisd-libraries-librarians-media-specialists-houston-isd/13548483/
#Libraries #Education #Houston #Texas #USA
#Politics #USPol #News
@aral but also through defunding libraries and archives, which has been common practice for decades! Public libraries also get screwed when other social services get cut and their resources get stretched even further. Meanwhile funding for policing and prison systems continues to grow. Any local politician that even mumbles ‘crime and safety’ is going to quietly toss another book into the fire when you’re not looking.
@aral
"Closing libraries is how you burn books without lighting a match."
And it's arguably more effective as well.
@aral @MattFerrel Houston, we have a problem.
@aral Yep. Cut off access to information and then they will probably initiate a PragerU curriculum... Kids won't know anything other than ultra conservative dogma. Scary.
@aral this whole situation reminds me of the book “Fahrenheit 451”, which is about a future society where books are forbidden. Guess that’s where we’re headed. Hopefully not.
@aral Exactly.
@aral I feel this is a premonition of what is come in the US soon.
Local governments trying to defund public libraries into closing if they don't remove books that small-minded individuals find objectionable.
@aral Currently, I numb the rage with the belief that what I am witnessing are the death spasms of the conservative right, who have seen the handwriting on the wall & have gone into complete hysteria through insane legislation & legislative proposals, that they will ‘finally’ pay a historically measurable price for in November of 2024. Please do not pee in my Cheerois by suggesting it can’t happen, coz it’s all I feel we have left.
Library --> Book Jail
@aral that's a great turn of phrase