The World Library Association has announced it will be opening in Bee Cave, Texas, as the American Library Association’s first direct competitor.
In a press release, the WLA expressed its excitement to begin its mission to “foster safe environments for librarians, curate valuable reading materials for children, and maintain a public space that promotes information literacy and political neutrality.”
The impetus for an alternative to the ALA comes from Dan Kleinman, a self-proclaimed “library watchdog” who has been chronicling instances of inappropriate content in libraries as a result of ALA policy for more than 15 years.
Concerns over the ALA have only increased recently, particularly after the election of a “Marxist lesbian” president who has advocated for a “socialist vision” of public libraries.
The ALA was also met with backlash after giving a virtual presentation on ways librarians can deny parent groups from accessing library meeting spaces for the purpose of preventing them from reading “Brave Books,” a faith-based children’s book company that teaches conservative mores.
Additionally, because the ALA recommends sexually graphic content like “Gender Queer” and “This Book is Gay,” they have now announced that they will distribute $1 million to fight sexually explicit book bans like Texas’ READER Act.
States like Montana have begun to cut ties with the ALA due to concerns over their leadership and the content they promote.
Kleinman told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the WLA will examine all library content, stating, “School policies right now recommend, basically, that anything goes and that it’s literally age discrimination to keep a child from any material.”
“New policy guidance from the World Library Association is going to recommend that schools follow laws or case laws like Board of Education vs. Pico, a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case that allows schools to remove educationally unsuitable and pervasively vulgar materials and to do so immediately,” Kleinman said.
As the WLA launches, Kleinman told Texas Scorecard that in addition to donating or signing up for a membership, he hopes people will continue to spread the word about the ALA’s stance toward inappropriate content for kids so that people will see the need for a safe, effective alternative.
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