Andy Cilley’s analogy (“Be picky about library offerings,” Our Readers’ Views, July 29) equating buffets to libraries is apt. Good libraries, like good buffets, offer a wide variety of material from which a person is free to pick and choose. The analogy breaks down when he compares food safety standards to book selections. The safety laws he refers to are based on medical knowledge regarding proven methods to combat disease.
By equating the regulation of food contaminants to the censorship of library material, he implies that there is a commonly acknowledged disease to be found hiding among the shelves of the library. There is not. Censorship, unlike health regulations, is carried out by the group with the loudest voice. Such groups often have a specific agenda that restricts and narrows our choices and our democracy.
We are fortunate to have the Fort Vancouver Regional Library. The staff have created a welcoming, inclusive space that offers “a story for everyone.” That does not mean that everyone is for each story. It allows us the freedom to choose. Protect your freedom to choose. Protect our democracy. Say “no” to censorship.
