Utah’s Little Free Libraries Face Controversy Amid Book Ban Debate
My wife absolutely loves reading.
She reads in the bathtub. She reads in the living room. She reads at the table. She even reads while sunbathing in the backyard.
She has managed to parlay her love of reading into quality time with the grandkids. They can't wait until "Gigi" reads them a story.
With her passion for reading, Shelly decided to have one of those free library bookstands put up out in front of our house.
You know what I'm talking about -- a little bookstand shaped like a little house with a roof over it to keep the elements out.
The idea behind the free little library is people are encouraged to come take a book or two for free, hopefully leaving a book or two behind in exchange.
It's not necessarily a life-changing concept, but is a cool little service that encourages reading and helps book lovers save money at the same time.
Well as it way too often turns out, being nice may just get my wife in trouble.
You see, this Democratic lawmaker in Utah (her name is Sahara Hayes) is throwing a hissy fit about certain books being removed from the shelves of elementary and middle schools.
She calls it book banning when graphic and even pornographic books are removed from the school libraries.
So she has vowed to start placing these highly-controversial books in all the little free libraries in Utah.
"If you're someone who runs a little free library, you have to make the choice: 'Am I going to put these things in there and take the chance' [of a pornography charge]," Peter Bromberg, a policy advocate for the Utah Library Association, told Axios.
In other words, people against the removal of certain books from school libraries may come and put these nasty books in yours (or my wife's) little free library .. and then you will be the one who is in trouble if authorities find these books on your property.
It's yet another insidious way left-leaning politicos are using fear to get their own way.