A public teen librarian in Maryland described harassment at the library, online, and in the media.“A person spray-painted ‘GR[**]MER’ on two of our buildings, and a woman came to a program and loudly talked about ‘those people’ and called an LGBTQ+ display ‘disgusting,’” the librarian wrote. “I was also harassed by Dan Kleinman of Safe Libraries for being a groomer based on my work with the Rainbow Book List. My social justice camps were featured on Fox News web.”
SLJ Staff. “School and Public Librarians Describe On-the-Job Harassment.” School Library Journal, November 16, 2023. https://www.slj.com/story/School-and-Public-Librarians-describe-on-the-job-harassment-censorship. [Pictured above right.]
Naturally, what School Library Journal has reported about me is false. It may amount to defamation. I might write to have a correction submitted based on the following.
I looked up "The 2023 Rainbow Book List" to find, "Members of the 2023 Rainbow Book List are: ... Isaiah West, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (MD)...," where Isaiah West, pictured at right, was the only member from Maryland, as indicated in the School Library Journal hit piece. I do not recall ever hearing that name or seeing that face before. Searches on my social media provide zero results (until now, I suppose).
So I'm being accused of misdemeanor harassment in Maryland by a guy I don't know and never discussed in writing, and School Library Journal is publishing it as if it were true. To me, that's defamation, and when one is accused of a misdemeanor/crime, that's defamation per se. Especially so in light of SLJ doing no copy editing/fact checking, in which case no connection between me and Isaiah West would have been found and SLJ would have struck the defamation from the story.
Journalists are supposed to fact check, even double check, after all. Don't let the name "School Library Journal" fool you, there's no actual journalism being practiced.
Just to be sure I have identified the right person, I dug a little deeper and I found him and his "social justice camps," as referenced in SLJ's defamatory publication. So I'm certain that's him smearing me, I'm certain it's a fiction, and now I'm certain School Library Journal may have committed defamation per se.
I'll start with asking for a correction, although if the print edition is already out, it may be too late. And doing a stealth edit online (like American Libraries does) will not be enough. There must be a public correction and I must be informed where it is online and in print. You don't just defame parents who oppose American Library Association's s3xualization of school children by school librarians and get away with it.
Here is that additional evidence I considered:
Smith, Letitia. “August 2023 Member of the Month: Isaiah West.” Text. Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), July 27, 2023. https://www.ala.org/yalsa/august-2023-member-month-isaiah-west.
#PGCMLS staff, led by teen services specialist Isaiah West, were honored to curate the special #BlackLivesMatter edition of Voices of Youth Advocates Magazine. Explore the issue here: https://t.co/8asAYH36bj #Antiracism @UrbanLibCouncil @CEXAlsobrooks @PGCCouncilMedia pic.twitter.com/RT8QFQoazm
— Prince George's County Memorial Library System (@PGCMLS) May 3, 2021
Conclusion:
“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott, 1808.
NOTE ADDED EVEN DATE:
I have requested a retraction from School Library Journal. No response yet.
I have filed a FOIA request with Prince George's County Memorial Library System. PGCMLS has 30 days to respond, starting tomorrow.
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