Unbounded Propaganda

[XLFD]

If you are a regular reader of the Ludington Torch or Pitchfork, you have seen the recap of the last LASD board meeting, where the COLDNews Assistant Managing Editor Jeff Kiessel contacted the library's youth outreach specialist Emily Garland in order to write a positive story about the Unbound program.  The purpose of such an article was to deflect some of the criticism I have been leveling against the program at the school board on a regular basis for its unapologetic level of access to adult themed material it allows for young elementary children across all public schools in Mason County. 

Kiessel showed that he wasn't reporter material when he totally ignored the controversy that occurred right in front of him at the last meeting of the board, where three city councilors asked for some accountability for a member of the board that they received a rather strong comment from.  This wasn't news to Kiessel, but he heard of how little children had access to age-inappropriate 'literature' from my comment, heard a weak defense of the program that failed to address the problem, and decided he would pursue the library's view only at a later date (as seen in Emily Garland's email right after the meeting). 

He then decided to write up a puff piece to defend the library's neglect of our next generation about ten days later in the July 27th newspaper, he placed in the most prominent location on the front page.  I was never contacted, nor does it address the controversy, rather it skirts around it.  The article follows in its entirety:

Library's Unbound program promotes literacy

The Unbound program at the Mason County District Library is a way to make library books available to students at area schools.
The program was born during the 2018-19 school year at Mason County Central to help alleviate some of the transportation issues that might have prevented students from getting to the library.

The program provided all kindergarten- through 12th-grade students with library cards that they can use to access the library’s catalogue from school computers.

The premise is simple: kids get a card, access the catalogue, make book requests, and their orders are brought to the school library as a drop-off point, according to Mason County District Library Eric Smith.

“We were trying to create equity in the county by making sure kids do not have to leave the school to use the library,” Smith said.

The program is now in its sixth year and available to students at Mason County Central, Mason County Eastern and Ludington Area Schools.

This program has really opened up libraries to kids, according to Ludington branch children’s librarian Emily Garland.

“Ludington Elementary has a beautiful library but no one library is going to be big enough for as many students as they have,” she said. “Mrs. Hamilton does a great job of keeping things that the students want and things the teachers need for their curriculum but there will always be a shortage of those popular titles — the books that are on the racks at Walmart or the bookstore that individual families either don’t or can’t purchase for themselves. We are happy to supply those, it saves the school money, it saves the parents the trouble of trying to get to the library after school.”

Smith said the many kids are taking advantage of the alternate way to access library materials. Even kids who weren’t library regulars prior to the program’s launch are taking part in Unbound.

“People are using Unbound as their access to the library in a way that we did not anticipate,” he said. “We thought that the kids we are already seeing day after day would be the ones that also use Unbound and that is just not the case.”

“We are really thrilled that we are creating a whole lot of new users in Ludington.” Garland said. “That these kids have access to books that they did not access to before.”

The Unbound program was just introduced to LASD in the fall. The program was board approved in November, but it did not begin in earnest until spring.

Smith said the way the program offers parents an opportunity to opt out either through a printed form or online at the beginning of the school year.

“The parent at the very beginning has the opportunity to say no,” Smith said.

The library has a second check system in place to make sure the parents stay involved. Every time a order is filled for a student, the parent will either get a phone call or a text, which is set up by default, to let the parent know that the student has an item coming home.

“We get calls all the time about this,” Smith said. “We left it on to create that opportunity to let parents know that their student is getting an item from the library, which opens up a chance for discussion about it.”

School librarians also look over the material before any book is handed out to the students, according to Garland.

The program has been well received by many area teachers including Ludington Elementary School teacher Wendy Rasbach, who found the program to be a great way to supplement her classroom library.

“My students were very excited to use Unbound to access books we didn’t have in the classroom or weren’t available in the LES library. For example, many of my students last year fell in love with the ‘Puppy Pals’ series, but I only had six of those books in our classroom,” She said. “Those students eagerly looked at the MCDL kids catalogue, and they were able to reserve several other ‘Puppy Pals’ books. Since the books were delivered to the school, I was able to look over what students had requested before I passed them out to the students.”

Rasbach said the convenience of having the books delivered to school and picked back up in the office was time-saving, as she no longer had to pick up books and return them to the library after school.

Teacher Christa Millspaugh also thinks highly of the program.

“My students were very excited about the Unbound program and loved the opportunity to check out books from the public library,” she said. “The program was easy for them to use and the books were delivered and picked up right in the school’s office.”

The Unbound program operates year-round. During the summer, kids can still access books from the library, but instead of being delivered to the schools the student or parent can pick up the order at the library.

Garland said the program is proving rewarding in boosting reading — a fundamental skill for everyone.

“(Former librarian) Sue Carlson used to say readers have choices, children who can’t read can’t access those choices for their future,” Garland said. “That is one of those things that the library stands behind. We believe in equitable access for everyone. We believe in an educated citizenship, we believe that people who read and who learn can go on to do better things with their lives and that is what the Unbound program is about.”

This reporter is a big fan of library outreach programs; as a young boy I used to always go to the bookmobile every week when it would park just down the road from my house in rural Mason County for a couple of hours at the township hall's parking lot where I would check out and return books.  I could be as big a fan of the Unbounded program if it was ran with some commonsense protocols to protect our children from age-inappropriate materials.  

The Mason County District Library (MCDL) has a lot of extra material missing from school libraries.  Some of that is valuable research resources, some of it is quality age-appropriate literature, some of it is inappropriate for children and would tend to confuse them or question their core values.  The Unbound program has determined that all library material should be made available to elementary students (5th graders/10 year olds/pre-pubescent students) and the memorandum of understanding (MOU) makes clear that the student has full privacy in their preamble:  "ensure that data concerning past or present students or patrons remains confidential".  The rest of the MOU affirms students will have confidentiality in their choices of material in all stages.  

Parents may be notified if their kids have checked out a book, but they won't know that it's "Gender Queer", "Blankets", or dozens of other controversial books that should not be what 5th graders should be receiving from their schools in privacy sleeves. 

School staff, including librarians, do not appear to take part in the Unbounded program other than to perhaps distribute the books, keeping the student's confidentiality needs paramount.  So even if you trust your school librarian completely, they may not be in any control of what your child is getting from the MCDL.  Your young child, years before puberty, may be getting targeted by the MCDL without the knowledge of you, or even the school, into receiving inappropriate books that are almost entirely themed about sex, sexuality (all types), and gender dysphoria.  

From the outside, the Ludington Library looks almost exactly like it has for decades, with an American flag and a Michigan flag waving on their front flagpole.  But when you get into the main library itself you see only two flags, the ones shown in the above pictures.  These are very prominently displayed in the youth section of the library and you may not be familiar with them so here's what they are.

The first is the equality for everyone pride flag, the second is the progressive pride flag.  July has historically been known as the month we have pride in our country, but the library proudly flies these flags in their youth section.  This may help explain why they have so many controversial books and graphic novels available that have these themes explained in more detail than a 10-year-old could ever understand and confuse them when they are still trying to establish their own identity, years before they form a rational sexual identity.

Eleven of the top twelve controversial books at school libraries are available to your children through the MCDL's Unbounded program, along with a lot more that parents might object to as inappropriate for their child and make them resent those who provided their child with such garbage.  

Are library officials trying to groom our children by making these titles available?  One would hope not, but you can't help but look at their pointless prattle that the Unbound program has limitless potential to help your child's literacy, while they dodge the counterpoint that with unbounded power there must come unbounded responsibility.  A school would not deny young students the positive power of the internet, without assuring parents that the negative parts of the internet are not accessed by installing filters. 

The MCDL and our public schools are doing an end-around of the parents by running the Unbound program without any filters and without true parental knowledge and consent.  They need to address the dangers inherent in the program as it is instead of ignoring them.  Editor Kiessel needs his own primer on how to be a reporter rather than a propagandist.

[Freedom Seeker]

Good summary in last sentence, X. I agree and see Kiessel's propaganda, sadly trying to unpaint your black and white rainbow exposure. Your report in detail for those who don't spout off before reading thoroughly contradicts what Kiessel says ... that parents are not notified 'what book' ... but 'just that a book' has been ordered and the child can pick it up himself/herself/itself.

I'm disgusted that our library appears to be flying the rainbow flag without flying and espousing the heterosexual flag to vulnerable young children.

Below is an interesting indepth discussion of the LGBQTist, et al. flag.

https://dmh.lacounty.gov/blog/2022/06/a-brief-history-of-our-lgbtqi...

[XLFD]

And those flags will just keep changing ad absurdum in the future.  That's because rainbows just aren't inclusive enough, and we'll keep bombarding brain cells with charged ions and discovering new genders just to put them on a periodic table, even if they are only theoretical, so we can celebrate how deeply they were discriminated against and ignored before we thought them into existence. 

Crayola currently puts out a 152 pack of distinctly colored crayons and at this point there are 107 genders, so I figure I won't offend any of them if I hang my Crayola Ultimate box from the ceiling of my porch throughout the year, because celebrating pride for only a month is so gauche, and chide all other color displays without at least 152 colors as non-exclusive, racist, ableist, sexist, homophobic, and other similar adjectives that come to mind.

[Freedom Seeker]

https://19thnews.org/2021/10/school-districts-have-begun-banning-pr...

Another link with another interesting controversy over "political" or "freedom of speech" gay rights. Gays have rights just like abortionists, but neither may be biblical or "Christian." I'm waiting for Jesus Christ, King of Eternity, to return and hang His Flag, ironically, a scripture says "there will be neither male or female."

https://www.gotquestions.org/neither-male-nor-female.html

For now, I think EQuity and peace and fairness to all requires a "straight" flag to fly when a "queer" flag is hoisted. I guess it's OK again to say "queer"? Who allowed the gay flags in the library? I want two straight flags for equal representation if there are two gay flags.  I didn't realize there were "straight" flags until I googled.

https://www.amazon.com/straight-pride-flag/s?k=straight+pride+flag

[Willy]

There should be no political or sexual orientation flags hung in any public building. Public buildings should be places for neutrality. These leftists will not stop until they are forced to do so and as long as the local press is represented by people of Kiessel's ilk and they are not challenged by the citizenry we will be seeing even more aggressive behavior by the twisted left. Who would have believed that flags representing perversion would be hanging in local libraries. Imagine if every politician demanded that flags representing themselves or their points of view be displayed on publicly owned property. We don't allow election signs to be plastered all over our parks, City Halls and Court houses. This must stop before it gets out of control. Imagine how upset the twisted left would be if Trump flags were flying at the County court house and in the libraries.

Speaking about equity and inclusion. Would this flag be acceptable in our libraries and publicly owned areas?