Comments on: Muslim Journeys in the Tar Heel State

By: Joneser

Joneser — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:01:00 +0000

Well, North Carolina is also a “taker” state, but I doubt if they see themselves in that light either.

By: Joneser

Joneser — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:59:20 +0000

Thanks Morse – now I don’t have to click on the link to see what the supposed contrast is.

By: Midwest SciTech Librarian

Midwest SciTech Librarian — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 02:19:58 +0000

“For example, Members of the House of Representatives, who apparently have ceased to function as a governing body, still get paid. It makes zero sense to borrow money from China to pay Members of Congress to not get any work done.”

It’s funny how members of Congress never see themselves in this light.

By: Gail Lancaster

Gail Lancaster — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 22:23:00 +0000

And I thought North Carolina was the progressive Carolina! I applied for and was awarded one of the Muslim Journeys grants for the library I work at, Kern County Library. Three groups have agreed to work with me on the programs required by the grant, the Institute for Religion, Education, and Public Policy at CSUB,the Muslim Students Association at CSUB, and The Shoura Council for Bakersfield. I’ve even read a couple of the books already, one written by the Pulitzer Prize winning historian Anthony Shadid. Another of the books, “Dreams of Trespass, tales of a harem girlhood”, is written by the Muslim feminist Fatima Mernissi, and is a memoir of her childhood and “harem” family life quite contrary to the Western stereotype of Muslim family life. If the library patrons were to read only one of these books, they might find a surprising emotional connection over commonly shared concerns about family, community and hertiage. But will they? Kern County’s political and religious persuasions are decidedly right of right and I wonder just how closed minded the public reception will be when the collection is presented at the main library and 5 branches in a few months? I hope to be surprised.

By: ChickenPolitics

ChickenPolitics — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 21:39:18 +0000

It’s a remnant of the Crusades’ ill gotten gains.

By: Strangerspeaks

Strangerspeaks — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 20:33:51 +0000

I can’t speak specifically for your library system, but I can give you the basic reason for our “no erotica” policy for donations. It has little to do with personal bias or censorship.

As with all things, the real issue is money. While the books might be free, storing and maintaining them still cost the library system money. Romance and erotica readers tend to be voracious in their reading habits, and as such when people have ignored our “no erotica” policy and donated anyway we’ve received 50+ books in a single donation. Also, because of the way erotica is marketed, the general public often can’t even buy the hardback editions, so our 50+ donations are entirely well-loved paperbacks.

And so while your donations might have been excellent books in pristine condition, most libraries would rather simply say “no erotica” and save the money that would be spent on staff time separating the mountain of abused paperbacks from the keepers for other things. Like new erotica.

If you have several great books to get off your hands, I would see if your community has a paperback swap. Sometimes these crop up specifically for erotica readers. My library will be starting a paperback exchange this spring. Good luck and thank you for attempting to share your materials, despite the roadblocks!

By: The Librarina

The Librarina — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:51:52 +0000

I think, as it’s comparing one excessively privileged group to another, the simile is just fine.

By: The Librarina

The Librarina — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:50:02 +0000

But Christianity is SO poorly represented in libraries! After all, the Dewey range for Christian nonfiction only extends from 220 to 290. Compare that to the sprawling Islamic range of 297 to…uh, 297?

Yeah.

By: Morse

Morse — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:58:37 +0000

Dan, that’s a great contrast between a sensible description of the project by a staid organization like the ALA and the rantings of a radical right conspiracy theorist who makes wild allegations without proof and ignores all evidence about a topic that doesn’t completely support his ideology. It does a really good job of showing the sort of echo chamber immune to critical thought that this congressman possibly inhabits, putting his opposition to this grant into a socio-political context that most of us never see because we’re sane.

Thanks for posting.

By: Dan Kleinman

Dan Kleinman — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:32:01 +0000

Here is the ALA on the books:
http://www.ala.org/programming/muslimjourneys

Here is Bare Naked Islam on the books:
http://www.barenakedislam.com/2013/01/11/north-carolina-u-s-representative-walter-jones-opposes-saudi-funded-government-grant-to-craven-community-college-for-books-and-dvds-about-islam/