[Asis-l] Library Books Burn as ALA (Again) Does Nothing

[RKent20551 at cs.com]

After reading an article in Lisnews.com about the court-ordered burning of 
library books in Cuba, David Rothman wrote an article for the Oct. 4 issue of 
"TeleRead" (www.teleread.org):

"BOOKS BURN IN CUBA - BUT ALA'S PCers STILL WIMPING OUT
 
"Cuba beats many nations in the number of books per capita, but maybe it 
would have still more if it didn't burn some. Fidel Castro's flunkies sentenced an 
independent librarian--collector of the incinerated books--last April to 20 
years in prison. Embarrassingly, however, the American Librarian Association 
has refused to speak out against Cuban repression. ALA members would do well to 
complain to President Carla D. Hayden. A September 28 item from the Friends of 
Cuban Libraries leads me to think that ALA is in dire need of a few Winston 
Smiths:

'The court papers published on the Internet [www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu] 
detail a March 19 raid on the home of [independent librarian] Julio Valdés....  
Among the "subversive" library materials cataloged in the trial proceedings 
were copies of "Cuba's Repressive Machinery" by Human Rights Watch, issues of 
TIME magazine, pamphlets on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Catholic 
periodicals, "Letters from Burma" by Aung San Suu Khi, and the text of 
speeches made by various persons during the European Parliament's ceremony awarding 
the Sakharov Prize, in absentia, to Cuban dissident leader Oswaldo Payá....  
[After sentencing Julio Valdes to 20 years in prison, the Cuban court ordered 
the burning of his library collection].'

"Memo to the ALA: Stop being PC and join Amnesty International in standing up 
for freedom of expression in Cuba. I don't care if Valdés isn't a 
professional, Castro-blessed librarian. ALA's Banned Books Week ("Celebrate Your Freedom 
to Read") will lack full credibility if the organization continues to wimp 
out. This year's Week ended on September 27, a day before Friends of Cuban 
Libraries reported new details about Valdés case. "Banned Books"? And burning 
doesn't count? Just a quick airplane flight from our shores? Talk about 
hypocrisy...."

    For more information, refer to the Friends website 
(www.friendsofcubanlibraries.org).

Sincerely,

The Friends of Cuban Libraries
(WWW.FRIENDSOFCUBANLIBRARIES.ORG)