Those wacky librarians

And now for a short break from the re-redistricting follies to catch up on some other wacky zealotry, this time up in Montgomery County, which is north of Houston. Some of you may recall the efforts of a group called the Republican Leadership Council to ban certain books from the local libraries, and also to censor some men's room murals at a restaruant. (Read about it here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.) Today, the Chron reports that the RLC is at it again, but this time they were thwarted by the Commissioner's Court.

The Christian conservative Republican Leadership Council suffered a setback Monday when Montgomery County Commissioners Court voted to keep the county's membership in the American Library Association and to leave county library book-selection policies unchanged.

The 3-2 showdown vote ended weeks of momentum for the divisive issue, which ostensibly centered on whether the ALA, the national organization for professional librarians, has too much influence on what books go onto county library shelves.

ALA opponents say the group is atheistic, communistic and supportive of homosexuality.

[...]

RLC leaders sought to make the vote a referendum on the moral views of county leaders. Last fall, the organization raised the same issues on the eve of a $10 million library bond proposal, which later passed with 52 percent of the vote.

This time around, RLC speakers targeted the county's approximately $1,000-a-year ALA membership and urged commissioners to support Sadler's proposal to drop the affiliation in what one ALA foe, Mark Cadwallader, called "an ultra-liberal, atheist-based organization for the advancement of pornography and homosexuality"

Well, at least they toned down the rhetoric this time around. I just want to thank the RLC for reminding all of us that no matter how crazy things may get up in Austin, the real foolishness is always at the local level.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on July 29, 2003 to Elsewhere in Houston | TrackBack