Information request of Municipality of Anchorage

Hi,

My name is Linda. I am a professional librarian formerly with the Anchorage Public Library. School and public libraries are facing unprecedented challenges to material conservatives have deemed inappropriate for juvenile and young adult readers. In a word, we are facing censorship.

Anchorage Public Library is under attack by a hostile administration run by ultraconservatives in the library and municipal administration. Mayor Dave Bronson has packed the Library Advisory Board with his conservative cronies who actively discuss how best to control books dealing with LGBTQIA+ issues in the juvenile section so that they are no longer freely available.

Current staff at the library have been issued a gag order from the municipal manager Amy Dembowski, so they are reluctant to talk on the record because of fear of retaliation. Recently, journalist Kelly Jensen, Book Riot, attempted to obtain records that would shed light on communication between deputy directory Judy Eledge and the mayor, between Eledge and library staff, and between Eledge and the Library Board. She is specifically requesting information related to communications containing language or book titles related to LGBTQIA+ characters, plots, or issues.

The Municipality came back with a price tag of $940 to provide said information. In essence, they are making materials ostensibly available under the Freedom of Information Act financially inaccessible. This fundraiser is to raise $940 to pay the Municipality's exorbitant demand. I will be purchasing said records and making them available to any journalist is interested in exposing the Bronson administration, specifically their attempts to block intellectual freedom in Anchorage.

The Censorship Story I Can't Tell You

Library Advisory Board Meeting video recordings

About Anchorage Public Library

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