I am requesting an opportunity to obtain copies of public records that pertain to school libraries, librarians, media specialists, and library volunteers, and their connections with the state’s library association and the American Library Association.
If there are any fees for searching or copying these records, please inform me if the cost will exceed $150. However, I would also like to request a waiver of all fees in that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to the public’s understanding of how public schools may be influenced by library associations.
I am Dan Kleinman of SafeLibraries® Brand Library Educational Services who has for over two decades exposed how policies promulgated by the American Library Association harm children, local communities, and even librarians themselves. My cybersafety work has been cited in over a dozen United States utility patents by Nintendo. I publish my findings and make them available at no cost, and my findings are discussed in library schools worldwide. More information about me here: https://tinyurl.com/AboutDan
I am a representative of the news media and my request is related to news gathering purposes. This information is not being sought for commercial purposes. I again request a waiver of all fees in that the disclosure of the requested information is in the public interest, as stated above.
Requests from others might pertain to school teachers and administrators whereas mine pertain to school libraries and school librarians, media specialists, and library volunteers.
Recent news by Luke Rosiak shows the school is in great turmoil due to the actions of the school board, including multiple rapes by a boy allowed in girls bathrooms per school board policy, then a related incident was used as a basis the United States Department of Justice to label school parents as domestic terrorists. This FOIA request is an effort to learn the extent to which influence by external library associations may have helped school employees and volunteers connected with the libraries to create the atmosphere where boys in girls bathrooms have become acceptable with rapes covered up by the school board.
Here are the generalities of this request:
1. This request is limited to documents created beginning 1 January 2019 up to the present, unless stated explicitly otherwise.
2. This request is limited to the school’s librarians, media specialists, and library volunteers currently employed or volunteering.
3. One does not need to have attended nor been graduated from an American Library Association accredited library school to be considered a librarian for the purposes of this public records request. Library volunteers comprise those who work in public libraries and not in school libraries and who also volunteer for school libraries. Hereafter, for brevity, all will be termed “librarians.”
4. This request is not limited to the school’s assigned email addresses. “Librarians” have been trained by the American Library Association to use personal email accounts and media sites to effect communications intended to be hidden from the public and from public disclosure laws. As such, documents requested herein should also come from personal emails and accounts when they pertain to the documents being sought. Of course redact any personal information.
5. This request is not limited to email addresses in the To and Cc addresses. It also includes the Bcc addresses. Bcc addresses are for the convenience of the sender and are not a means to evade open government laws.
6. This request is limited to documents, but it is not limited to only electronic documents. It includes written documents. For example, it includes handwritten notes taken by “librarians” while in attendance at any trainings. The American Library Association has advised its trainees not to respond to FOIA requests for notes on the claim that they contain material that is proprietary to the American Library Association and taken during trainings closed to the public. But such declarations are not of concern to open government laws, so such documentation must still be produced.
7. Please do not redact any non-exempt information on the documents.
8. Please do not destroy the documents requested then claim they do not exist, no matter who advises “librarians” to destroy public records. The American Library Association has done this in the past to prevent disclosure of the crime of child pornography viewing in public libraries and of its own homophobia when an ALA trainer asked why any woman would let her small children around a gay man (the gay man and the woman were the whistleblowers, so homophobic ad hominem argument was part of the training). California librarian Sarah Houghton, known as the Librarian in Black, provided training at a California Library Association conference in which she hinted that librarians should destroy public records to thwart police investigations.
9. All documents should be clear of imperfections that result from poor copy quality. For example, hand written notes should be completely readable and not appear too light or too dark to read. Unreadable documents are non responsive documents.
10. All documents should be produced as PDFs, except for photographs (that should be JPEG), audio files (that should be MP3), and video (that should be MP4 or MOV). Handwritten documents can be scanned into PDFs. If the document files are too large to transmit in one single email, I authorize you to transmit them to me either using a free file sharing service such as DropBox or to send multiple emails (as many as required to send all documents being provided).
11. All documents are to be provided electronically. Documents made available for personal inspection are intentionally not responsive to this public records request as I will not make a personal appearance to inspect such records, nor is that required by the law.
Here are the specifics of the request, given the generalities to be applied from above:
1. Provide documents showing the attendance of all “librarians” at online and in person meetings of any kind, including trainings and conferences, sponsored by the state’s library association or any of its subdivisions. Documents are to include financial receipts for payment of related expenses, attendance sheets from such events, lists of events attended, notes by hand or electronically recording during such events, recording of such events, links to recordings of such events, handouts from such events, links to handouts from such events, listings of books and other reading materials including online sources such as EBSCO received from such events, awards or certifications obtained at such events, and emails pertaining to such events.
2. Provide documents as described in #1 above, only with respect to the American Library Association or any of its subdivisions, including the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF), the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), the Freedom to Read Foundation (FTRF), Banned Books Week (BBW), etc.
3. Provide documents as described in #1 above, only with respect to the school district itself or school superintendents or principals themselves.
4. Provide transcripts of all “librarians” who spoke at any local public meetings including school board meetings and provide the full transcripts and meeting notes of such meetings. Such documentation should include the identity and date of the meeting.
5. Provide documents created by all “librarians” containing the following words and phrases: American Library Association, Caldwell-Stone, Pekoll, Judith Krug, critical race theory, crt, social emotional learning, social and emotional learning, social learning, structural racism, structural determinism, emotional learning, social and emotional competencies, sel, tsel, 1619 project, #1619Project, howard zinn, zinn education project, equity, gender, gender unicorn, gender queer, trans, cis, transgender, nonbinary, non-binary, non binary, bisexual, masturbation, anal, top surgery, front hole, chestfeeding, chest feeding, gender pronouns, breast binder, breast binding, PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis, implicit bias, drag queen, drag queens, drag queen story hour, drag queen story time, dqsh, dqst, diversity, inclusion, social justice, white fragility, black lives matter, latinx, acting white, white supremacy, white supremacist, white privilege, whiteness, enacting whiteness, white complicity, white glee, standpoint epistemology, kendi, ibram kendi, ibram x kendi, n hannah jones, hannah jones, nikole jones, nikole hannah-jones, ida bae wells, Derrick Bell, Kimberle Crenshaw, Richard Delgado, intersectionality, bipoc, poc, deangelo, diangelo, robin diangelo, antiracist, antiracists, antifa, antifascist, fascist, fascists, critlib, #critlib, Rufo, Rosiak, Nomami, mama bear, mama bears. For example, referring again to Sarah Houghton, she tweeted on Twitter, “If you are a fascist and work in a library, find another job. If you are white supremacist and work in a library, find another job.” Documents such as that with respect to your own “librarians” should be included in the response.
6. Provide documents from any date range related to how the school’s materials reconsideration form was created as it appears to be a copy of the American Library Association’s recommended version that makes every complainant into a censor by focusing on the thoughts of the complainant instead of whether a book meets a school’s selection policy, and is otherwise designed to discourage people from filing in the first place by asking invasive and irrelevant questions, let alone by having to fill out a form in the first place instead of simply sending an email.
If access to the records I am requesting will take longer than this amount of time allowed by your state’s open government laws, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies of the requested records.
If you deny any or all of this request, please assist me and cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.
Thank you for considering my request.
Sincerely,
Dan Kleinman
SafeLibraries® Brand Library Educational Services
Filed:
Public Records Request
R000640-102821
Status : In Progress
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