With the upcoming ALA conference, the Friends of Cuban Libraries are stepping up their pressure on the president to support the “independent libarians” in Cuba. The group has sent a letter to the ALA president asking her to take a stand on the “persecution of Cuba’s independent library movement”, and denouncing the extremists in ALA that have denied and covered up Cuba’s repression of independent librarians. The letter goes on to state:
We will do all in our power to ensure that the history of the ALA extremists’ complicity with the bookburning and librarian-persecuting Castro regime, naively approved by the well-meaning but negligent majority on the ALA Council, will receive the public recognition it deserves.
The Washington Examiner has already published a scathing opinion piece: Castro’s helpers: American librarians. Thankfully, Counterpunch has published an article that sheds some light on the Friends of Cuban Libraries and Cuba’s independent libraries.
February 4th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
Any info on the recent poll in the online ALA newsletter that asked about supporting Cuba’s “independent librarians”? It seemed an odd format, especially since the term is so loaded even when put in quotes.