Prohibit Funding to Radical Left American Libraries Association
Harrisburg, PA- As the Pennsylvania budget remains incomplete, the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus is demanding conditions that any library receiving taxpayer funding, whether through the general fund budget or a state special fund, be prohibited from diverting any funds to the American Library Association.
The Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus had initially called on all Pennsylvania libraries to cut ties with the American Library Association in July due to the agenda of their newly elected president, Emily Drabinski, a self-proclaimed Marxist. Drabinski’s publicly stated, radical agenda attempts to hyper-sexualize children, sow division in our school and community libraries, and turn libraries into centers for social organizing. Upon assuming the office Drabinski said, “as ALA president, I will direct resources and opportunities to a diverse cross-section of the association and advance a public agenda that puts organizing for justice at the center of library work.” Drabinski is also on record downplaying the prevention of access to sexually explicit materials by minors in libraries, (illegal in any other circumstance,) as a mere “book ban,” and marginalizing any and all critics as “dangerous, Christo-fascists.”
“The ALA’s agenda is clearly partisan and far afield from the mission of our community and school libraries and Pennsylvania taxpayers must not be forced to underwrite this national organization’s efforts,” said PA Freedom Caucus Chairwoman, Dawn Keefer (R-York). “The ALA contradicted their own claim of being ‘a non-partisan organization committed to serving people of all backgrounds and ideologies,’ when they selected Drabinski – who specifically sought the office with a campaign to take on politically conservative groups – to lead their organization,” she continued.
Drabinski, herself, was shocked by the ALA’s selection of her for president, posting on her @edrabinski Twitter account on April 13, 2022: “I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary. I am so excited for what we will do together. Solidarity!”
During this budget impasse there has been silence from library groups on the ALA’s liberal agenda as they eagerly await state funding. The Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus recognizes the valuable role libraries play in Pennsylvania communities and looks forward to funding libraries that can be a resource for all Pennsylvanians. However, libraries must be judicious with their often-limited resources and diverting even one dollar to a now politically driven and Marxist-led organization cannot be deemed fiscally prudent nor mission-aligned under any standards.
