Andy Cilley’s letter (“Be picky about library offerings,” Our Readers’ Views, July 29), which supported banning books in libraries, compared libraries to buffets. Since there is legislation governing buffets, attempting to prevent the spread of various communicable diseases, then it is acceptable to ban books/reading material in libraries, he wrote.
Wrong. Those communicable diseases are factual, whereas banning books is based on opinions. Huge difference.
However, one could say it is an appropriate analogy; just as in a buffet if you see a food item you don’t like you don’t have to put it on your plate, in a library if you see a book you don’t like you don’t have to pick it up to read it. Imagine the uproar if we treated buffets like he wants to treat libraries. Personally, I find beets extremely distasteful, so should they be banned from all buffets? Of course not! I exercise my freedom of choice to not put them on my plate. Just because I don’t like them doesn’t give me the right to exclude others from the same freedom of choice.
All those who want to ban books need to be reminded that their opinions are not fact.
