Before ALA copied Book Looks there was a smear campaign against it. Kelly Jensen of Book Riot, for example, attempting to tie Book Looks to Moms for Liberty, as if that were bad, by stating without evidence, "It is a tool developed by Moms For Liberty being used to push their agendas even further under the guise of protecting children." Her support for this is only this conclusory statement, "Filed for an LLC in Florida on April 5, 2022, BookLooks is spearheaded by Moms For Liberty member Emily Maikisch, per filings." What is not reported is that the creator of Books Looks was a former Moms for Liberty member. There are over 130,000 Moms for Liberty members, compared with almost 50,000 ALA members. Are we supposed to hold grudges against them and all former members too? Kelly Jensen, who falsely claims Book Looks was "created, curated, and promoted by Moms For Liberty," also calls parents extremists, Christofascists, and white supremacists, so she's not trustworthy in the slightest. She also smears the ratings efforts of other parental groups.
Others pick up on that theme and malign Book Looks accordingly. A man in New Jersey named Guy Citron, for example, wrote a letter to the editor of a local media source saying, "'BookLooks' is for Book Haters." "Florida-based BookLooks is also publicly tied to the state's local Moms for Liberty, a hyper-political book-banning movement." No it's not. He got that from Kelly Jensen who made it up out of thin air. And there is no "book-banning movement," except that by ALA as mentioned below. Guy Citron is just being intentionally inflammatory. He supports his position by saying, "Next, there is no need for the Warren County Library to diminish its credibility by promoting such an unreliable source," and "Clearly, BookLooks and Commissioner Thomas have an agenda. They want to spread hate about books and restrict their access, rather than understand and communicate their value objectively."
Contrast the smearing and the cries of spreading hate with no reliable sources being given with what I myself wrote to the Warren County Library Commission where I pointed out ALA has been working for decades to take rights away from parents and specifically has targeted ratings systems for censorship and blacklisting, and here they are again sending NJ school librarian Martha Hickson to enforce the Chicago Way and block the use of Book Looks:
Dear Warren County Library Commission,
I have learned from former school librarian Martha Hickson, indirectly, that you are considering using information from BookLooks.org for being an additional source to guide parents on book selection for their children. I have learned she opposes using that source and claims it is an extremist position to use BookLooks, and anyone supporting that in the Warren County Library Commission is an extremist.
Setting aside that the recent national election proved the people calling parents extremists comprise only 14% of the population, I wish to speak in support of using BookLooks as an additional source for information, and to show that American Library Association from Chicago, IL, that Martha Hickson represents as an employee of ALA, has worked for about six decades to take away rights from parents, and specifically has worked repeatedly to keep parents in the dark about the contents of potentially inappropriate material. This matter may be new to you, but it’s a long term suppression effort from the ALA. I hope my information makes you aware of that and helps you vote accordingly—in favor of BookLooks.
BookLooks provides parents and others with accurate information about books and their content. Said information includes multiple exact quotes and multiple graphics. The resource is used extensively by parents, to my knowledge. It is not connected with any political group, although it was founded by a former member of Moms for Liberty after she left Moms for Liberty. It is smeared repeatedly by librarians precisely because it gives guidance on the contents of books, and librarians claim you can’t judge books by mere excerpts and pictures. One particular librarian, Kelly Jensen, has worked for about four years to fabricate lies about BookLooks; she recently wrote that parents who challenge books are white supremacists. Eventually, American Library Association, having tired of parents getting information from BookLooks, decided if you can’t beat them then you join them. So ALA created its own book rating source for parents called Book Résumés. The ALA source gives no excerpts and no pictures but it does give glowing reviews from approved reviewing sources, even its own Book List, and the various awards books have obtained, mainly from ALA sources. So BookLooks is so effective that ALA was forced to copy it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
So BookLooks is an excellent source for information, so much so ALA copied it.
ALA has worked for about 60 years to take away rights from parents and ensure via the Library Bill of Rights that children get and retain access to inappropriate material: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1PZ2pDhKhRAtlNgR7gek_1kcdGFoskHpa/view?usp=sharing
Specifically as to book ratings, when ALA learned it had a subgroup using Common Sense Media to guide parents, where CSM was providing reviews of explicitness of the books, ALA censored CSM from its own web site, then ordered library school and state library associations to stop linking to CSM: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8sytqvlo3asbint/YALSA-IFreportAug2013.pdf?dl=0
Analogous to books and how they are rated for explicitness, ALA ordered librarians to stop using MPAA movie ratings as authoritative: https://safelibraries.blogspot.com/2011/06/keeping-r-rate-films-from-children-is.html
ALA ordered librarians to attempt to block the use of public meeting rooms for Kirk Cameron and his Brave Books, and generally the reading of Christian books in such rooms: https://www.kenningtonreport.com/p/alas-banned-books-and-censorship
ALA even ordered librarians to stop doing anything about patrons viewing child p r n:
"A librarian is not a legal process. There is not librarian in the country — unless she or he is a lawyer — who is in the position to determine what he or she is looking at is indeed child p()rn()graphy."
"Libraries vs. Police in a Suit Sparked by P()rn; Kent Case Centers on People's Rights and Protections" by Jeffrey M. Barker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (August 13, 2002).
Along comes Martha Hickson working for ALA to argue exactly what ALA has been arguing for decades, and enforcing deceptively, and she wants you not to use Book Looks.
So now is your chance to provide services for your community with diversity of opinion, or put on the Chicago ALA straight jacket and don’t trust parents to be evenly informed and to make up their own minds.
We just had a national election showing 86% of the population opposes the people indoctrinating and s()xualizing children, now it's your turn to vote for a great resource for parents you serve or for the 14% indoctrinating and s()xualizing children, here represented by Chicago ALA’s Martha Hickson and her calling you extremists and idiots if you support diversity of opinion for your library patrons.
Thank you.
Dan Kleinman
SafeLibraries
So I provide cogent argument supporting diversity served by Book Looks, backed up with solid facts and reliable sources establishing a long term pattern of keeping parents in the dark, while those who oppose Book Looks have no reliable sources and instead use scare words like "book haters" and imply library leaders themselves would "lose credibility" if they chose to use Book Looks.
As ALA's point person in New Jersey Martha Hickson says via her @NHVfREADom account on X, smearing one of the library commissioners, "You know a public library is under attack when a library commissioner tries to force BookLooks into the system. Support the professional staff at the Warren County Library https://www.tapinto.net/towns/phillipsburg/articles/booklooks-is-for-book-haters" Source: https://x.com/NHVfREADom/status/1859297263576863077
It's time for libraries not to be bullied by community organizing efforts based in Chicago, IL, and instead use independent reviews like Book Looks to guide local parents and educators on book content.
Let's hope Warren County Library Commission votes to be inclusive and diverse and include book reviews by BookLooks.org.
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