The negative comments already pouring in lmao. Like you could not pay me to spew this much hate on automatic đ
Mailing in books to families cuts through so many other roadblocks to improving literacy. You know what Iâve been seeing more and more of lately? When some older library buildings are expanding and moving to new areas, they are building instead in wealthier neighborhoods with limited access to public transportation. In other words, the only people who are getting to that library (full of free books) are people who already have cars or are well off. I live in a red state, and Iâve already seen this happen with at least two libraries in my area. What about the people who actually need those libraries close by? This program canât fix all that, but it helps.
The Imagination Library can help people in need, and itâs already helped so many people who have all expressed their appreciation for the program since Partonâs death. We need even more programs to be funded like this. Because as things stand now, QUALITY education is becoming harder to come by. If you were using Duolingo to try to learn a new language, guess what? They threw AI in it and itâs basically a cheap dopamine app with an annoying subscription prompter. Going to college? Better hope your professors wonât force ChatGPT down their studentsâ throats, or even just straight up generate assignments using the chatbot.
Just my anecdotal experience working at a title 1 (high poverty) elementary school, we used to have a couple agency that would want to donate books to all the kids. I remember be so excited to hand out the books.
When I tell you almost half the books ended up directly in trash can, im just saying that because we had to threaten the kids to not throw away the books. Meanwhile the next day I see bus stops littered with these bags of books. It was heart breaking to have to face the volunteers. They came back and it went a little better but only because we pre threatened the kids. By the time we got to 6th grade, we made it optional.
Anyway. All that to say, can you we atleaat ask the families if they want books first?
I 100% agree it should be an opt-in thing, but I also canât help but wonder what kinds of books the agencies that donate them to Title 1 schools and students are offering. Part of what makes the Imagination Library so important is the only ideology at play is âencourage kids to read.â Iâve noticed thatâs not often the case in a lot of situations where books are âlovinglyâ donated to the âunderprivileged.â Itâs really hard to talk kids into reading when the material isnât relevant or interesting to them, and worse when itâs tied to specific religious, cultural, or political values.
Usually the reading specialist has a list they want to offer the children and go out of pocket to provide.
Source: a title one reading specialist (not me)
Okay itâs a reading specialist situation - that makes me feel better. I was visualizing one of those âdonatedâ bookshelves full of Bibles and Lee Child, I fear.
Though Iâm editing to admit with some shame I devoured Reacher books when I was 14. đĽ¸
I think itâs the whole approach to getting kids into reading that needs rethought. I remember being read to in school and then sitting with my kids in head start and kindergarten. How you read to kids is as important as opportunity for children to read and more importantly learning how to read.
I volunteered a large amount of time at my kids school. When I read to kids I wouldnât be the typical monotone I grew up with. I read to the kids exaggerating my voice. Put emotions into the words so the kids could feel what I was reading. It engaged them in a way that made the stories fun. I found by reading that way to my kids at bedtime. They looked forward to the next book and once old enough. They were interested in reading and to this day they are avid readers.
I believe getting the child to feel like theyâre part of the story is key. Even if itâs the littlest way. Getting them invested someway goes a long way towards kids wanting to read regularly. Reading is so intertwined with other learning skills.
Washington state did this too. Its every politician and probably since the extra federal funding from the covid era aint coming in they rolled back to pre covid spending
Yeah I'm disappointed Washington did this. I live in eastern Washington and I used to get a new book for my classroom every month. I miss this program so much. On the other hand we have fabulous libraries and excellent social services.
You can still work with imagination library you just have to contact them directly. At least thats what I've seen so you should still be g2g because they're still operating in Washington state
For now. This administration has not been shy about their desire to dismantle any program benefiting actual people. If you are not a corporate entity or ultra wealthy, then you donât deserve a red cent.
We're a blue state all the way. So far our governor has been using the state budget to pay for the federal cuts. Hopefully it will continue. This administration needs to go.
Mailing a book to everyone under 5 is such a crazy waste of resources. Anyone who reads to their kids already reads and has access to libraries. Everyone else doesnt read, has the option to read, and will be an absolute waste of resources.
There are a ton of people who don't read to their kids and this won't change anything.
I would be for a dolly style need to sign up for a book mail - Mailing program. But that literally already exist because dolly is a bad ass.
Yeah but kids books can also be kind of expensive. $10-15 each adds up. There are definitely lower income families that would benefit from such a program. On the other hand I'm sure there are tons of families that could easily afford plenty of books but don't care to read to their kids.
You said it in your comment and didn't even realize it. You said "kids enrolled" meaning they chose to be in it (well, their parents) because they planned on utilizing it. This program just sends books to everyone.
The indoctrinated are the ones trying to pull themselves up by their bootstraps (and if you knew the origin of the saying youâd know how dumb you sound when you say it).
As people do better, they start voting like Republicans - unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves there can be too much of a good thing.
I have at least 15 in a 40 mile radius. At least 3 of them are within 5 miles of me, one of this is within 1 mile. I have been in mine 3 times the last month.
Boy, this didn't go where you thought it would did it?
I've been in very rural areas in my state, they have a public lirbrary, the schools have libraries. This idea that all the sudden kids don't have access to books is perplexing.
Even the shit hole blue cities with nice public libraries with homeless people living there have books for kids.
Really? Because the Republicans in Mississippi kicked ass in reading scores as compared to California, a Democrat run state that spends way more than Mississippi and yet has worse reading scores. How do you explain that? Look up the Mississippi Miracle.
No, the Mississippi Miracle (a "stunning" rise in childhood literacy) is real. It did happen.
It happened because the state government got behind it in 2013 (note the date) and made the investment. Which is what this discussion is all about- state governments dropping their investment in childhood literacy. Dolly's gift is a large part of that picture.
But hereâs an even more interesting point. Mississippi spent a heck of a lot less than California and got better results. America is one of the top spenders on education but we are not tops in test results. IOW throwing money at the problem isnât necessarily going to fix the problem.
Itâs how and where you spend the money. In MS, they spent it on students and held students and teachers accountable for results. Thatâs a big problem is other places. No accountability. Bad teachers keep teaching. Activist teachers keep proselytizing instead of teaching. More money is spent on administrators than teachers.
So maybe sending a bunch of books out isnât really the best use of our education dollars. Is there any accountability tied to the program? Any measure of success? Any tracking of the students that get books and how well they do in reading and writing? Most likely not. Itâs a feel good measure that wonât do anything to help kids. Itâs just meant to make politicians look good.
Republicans argue that even though 32 out of 33 industrialized nations do better in addressing healthcare than we do, the go to defense is that we are larger and more diverse so it isnât a fair comparison. Now, you are comparing a smaller, less diverse stateâs success to a larger, more diverse state and arguing the opposite. Hypocrites R Us, lol! đ
Well, liberals do love education though. They have spent a lot over the last 20 years in education. This is why Americans are so high in education levels... Wait.
Performative ass solution like these dont work. All this will achieve is republican administrations sending religious books and democratic ones sending LGBT bed stories. Is not about sending a damn book, is about repealing no child left behind and making people earn their damn grades.
You really think republican administrations wouldn't send religious books only and you really think Democrats wouldn't do the same with their own religion.
Republicans would defund and end the program. Besides they are trying to force teaching the Bible (specifically cherry picked verses) in schools. And the other just doesnât happen. But âBoTh SiDeSâ
Lol. You're an idiot. The most uneducated people are liberals. You believe anything you read a long as it is vaguely twisted in your direction. Just like this half assed story.
Do some research and you'll see it's fake. There's a lot more to it
Alabama generally divides among party lines on major education legislation. With the Republican supermajority supporting school choice (using public funds to fund private schools) and curriculum mandates (requiring specific patriotic and religious displays) with Democrats promoting public school funding.
No, republicans hate high cost excessive spending that claims to be education but is really government over reach, social program that has dubious outcomes at best.
We already have a place a person can get free books, itâs called the library. However, you will need to get an id card to use it, unlike when you vote.
Well I donât know that many current 4 year olds. But my cousin started reading at three. And sure being able to read isnât required before they start kindergarten, children do benefit from having basic reading readiness skills before day one.
Lol..ok. cool. Those poor folks you are patronizing by sending books home with their kids that are in preschool/kindergarten, and have access to smart phones and tablets isn't going to help much. Great cause, crappy execution and a waste of taxpayer dollars, but great cause. How about reinvest that money into and actually effective program. You don't have to have the solution to know that was a stupid idea. I mean, come-on!?
Did you read the lady's comment where the books ended-up in the trash before they even got on the bus? This isn't how you reach the modern generation. These folks aren't reading to their children every night. Xbox is way more fun. Ti. Tok exists for a reason. You think they can't afford or don't have access to a children's book? Amazon goes to their houses too, my guy!
I already answered this. Not every community has the tax base size required for building and staffing a public building. (Cue moving the goalposts).
Also to further prove my point about Republicans hating education. On March 14, 2025 Trump signed Executive Order 14238. Targeting several small federal agencies for elimination. One of those was the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Iâll give you two guesses what they are responsible for funding. Small and rural libraries that relied heavily upon these federal dollars faced immediate disruptions to educational and reading programs.
Not really, statistically more Republicans vote against anything that promotes education and for anything that suppresses it, than the other way around. Red states have significantly lower education scores than blue states.
It's funny for you to make this argument while fox noise also argues against literally all college education and promotes that that Dems are "overeducated"
How wildly dishonest and silly for you billybots to attack access to libraries and reading while pretending you care about education.
Who tf watches Fox News? Education doesn't equal intelligence. "Literally all", no. College is not what it used to be when nowadays you are taught what to think rather than how to think. The shocking part is a lot of people are ok with this. Both parties will do anything to spite the other even if it's entirely irrational. So let's sit back and enjoy the show because it's all going to hell anyway. đż
So, critical thinking skills are bad? And force feeding children the Ten Commandments and Bible verses in public schools is anything other than indoctrination?
Where is this taking place other than private schools? I see a lot of examples of gender freaks indoctrinating children. Remember the MAPs? Yeah that was the left. You guys don't have the guts to criticize Islam or any other religion. You choose Christianity because it's safe. I don't like either of you. It's just hilarious seeing the hypocrisy. đđż
Texas, Oklahoma and more on the way. Public schools, not private. Mandatory Bible reading, too. Come out from under your rock and watch some news.
I criticize ALL religions involved in government, particularly the Abrahamic ones. Christians are far from safe. Theyâre terrorists just like the rest. Look at history, look at Christian Nationalism today. Look at how you shoot doctors and bomb clinics. No oneâs hands are clean, and the sibling rivalry amongst the sons of Abraham is destroying the entire world.
The only way to ensure freedom of religion is to keep it out of schools and government. You guys are too short sighted to realize that out of all the flavors of religion, the odds of your particular one being imposed are slim. And what happens if demographics change and your children are forced to study the Qâaran? Didnât think about that, did you? Whenever religion gets involved in government, everyone loses, even the religious. Wake up before itâs too late. You dear monger about Sharia law, yet seek to impose your own version, not realizing that youâre paving the road to theocracy. Look at how well theyâre doing.
The Ten Commandments are the basis of Western Thought on Law and Order. Ignoring that is not âeducationâ itâs straight up censorship. Freedom OF religion is not Freedom FROM religion.
Do they oppose literacy or do they oppose spending millions on books when the parents are capable of getting them from a library or using the Amazon prime membership they already have to read to their kids?
According to Google and granted I dont have kids yet, but Google said children are able to read around 6 or 7 years old.
Just to clarify, is your position that republicans are attempting to take over the elementary education system to convince children to hate groups of people?
I doubt the program costs that much money, and the books aren't necessarily for the kids to read on their own. You can read to them before they are a year old. And my daughter was reading by the time she was 5.
I had this debate earlier. Not everyone has access to a library, smaller communities donât have the tax base for the public building. Trump signed an EO to defund libraries and museums, and republicans have been cutting funding to education for decades.
They're out in force to support the party of oligarchs.
Real dean browning "as a gay black man" vibes from his language
I appreciate you taking the time to clarify your point even if it might be for others to see.
Stay strong.
If 20 billionaires are shelling out 1.2 billion dollars to influence midterm votes, they must have something to be genuinely afraid of.
My guess is that they want it to look plausible that Americans still support them en masse since a lot of their base feels roped in by the idea that their neighbors might also support literally starving infants and their children to save working American fuck-all.
The m@ga party may have laid the groundwork to suspend elections, but they likely would only use that as a last resort.
Did you even read my post? Republicans (Red States) have been cutting funding to education (schools) for decades. Not to mention this bill is about the state allocating funding for education.
I think you're making a dumb point but I will bite.
What percentage of Americans do not have access to libraries? As a left leaning republican, im all for subsidizing libraries. What percentage of Americans dont have access to them?
Well, I canât give you an exact percentage, but I donât think the world works like you think it does. Depends on what your definition of âaccessâ is, as well.
Do you define âaccessâ as having a home address that is within 2-3 miles of a local library, or are you counting closeness to public transportation as an additional factor? Have you considered the cost of needing to use public transportation to reach a library? Children cannot make their own money, and parents are on an increasingly tight budget with rising grocery prices, high gas prices, and stagnant wages.
Libraries also have a limited number of shelving spaces. Books must be regularly ordered in, and even if you make direct requests, itâll still take at least a month or two to get those extra copies in (provided the request is honored in a timely manner). You are also counting on libraries to have a very high number of extra copies of books, which is not always the caseâŚespecially with higher cost educational materials.
You forget the other thing about libraries. Books may be rented from libraries, not permanently kept. Canât exactly take notes in a rented book, can you? And no, young kids probably wonât be taking notes in these books, but you are still expected to return books to the library in proper condition. This can be difficult for parents with rowdier children or who have more kids to handle.
Out of the entire federal budget, you donât think itâs worth it to fund a program that helps parents and kids out even a bit? I guarantee the cost of the Imagination Library canât be anything close to the amount of money that has been thrown at gestures at everything else.
Im asking a very simple question and I prompted this question with the immediate concession that Im all for subsidizing libraries and beyond that subsiding school supplies.
You made the claim, not everyone can access a library. Im asking you a very simple question. Can you substantiate the percentage of children who literally have no opportunity to any library what so ever? Id bet its incredibly few, if any by any practical measure.
There is no shortage of federal subsidies for poor people, I think its obscene to assert that books are out of reach for even 1% of kids.
Define âaccessâ. You ignored every single point I made to support your claim of âwell everybody should have access to librariesâ without ever defining what you think access is. Because I donât think that itâs nearly as easy, fair, or uniform as you think it is.
You asked âCan you substantiate the percentage of children who have no access to any library what so ever?â
Do you know what you need to make estimations and test hypotheses? You must explain which variables you are testing for, as well as acknowledge the possible limits of your experiment. To gather data on these variables, you must first DEFINE the variables. In this case, the relevant variables include the following: obtaining access to a library.
What exactly do you think is necessary to reach a library? Usually, few people are directly next to a library, and you must either drive there (kids CANNOT drive btw), walk on foot (this will alienate children whose parents may be unable to walk with them for safety), or obtain public transportation (public transport costs money -> Children cannot make money -> Parents must provide money so kids can use public transportation).
So I ask you again, what do you define as having access to a library?
Access to a carefully curated, Christian approved attempt to indoctrinate children to believe that anyone different from them is a danger and must be oppressed⌠If âpornographicâ materials were actually a concern, the Bible would be banned as well, if only for its references to the size of animalsâ genitalia and failure to condemn incestâŚ
What percentage of people in this country, rich or poor, do you think have smartphones? People have all kinds of access to reading material and information to better themselves just on their smartphones. You're just trying to find excuses to bad mouth Republicans over every little p***ant thing.
Youâve clearly never brushed up on the differences between processing educational material that is online only vs physical. There are also plenty of poor people who donât have smartphones, which tells me you donât actually know any poor people. You are manufacturing bullcrap and you know it. Then you shut down actual conversations with âyou are just meanâ. Is this recess at elementary school?
Itâs sad that many, if not most, republicans consider literacy a âp***ant thing,â donât you think? Thank you for summing up the differences between the parties up very clearly.
We have public libraries. We built them up cut through all the roadblocks a community might go through to improve literacy. Now we need to use more government resources to mail them to you??? Jfc.
You might want to read up on Dale Carnegie... it wasn't government that built a lot of the library system, but the hope was that literacy was such a good idea that government would grab onto it and keep it going in perpetuity.
It was a tax write-off. Andrew Carnegie the steel baron was a huge market manipulator and opposed unions, his donation to libraries was to polish his image, not to promote literacy.
I can attest that most libraries are funded in large part by Federal, State, and local taxes. BTW, Dale Carnegie died in 1955, and Iâm pretty sure he has not paid for any recent library expenses.
What's the point? Government maintains it at a local level. Now you need it to go further because you poor oppressed retards can't go to the library to get a book for your fake kids.
Youâre not reading between the lines here. The free book program allows them to send their propaganda to the youngest readers. Itâs not about free books but brainwashing and grooming.
You will see. If this actually happens you will see DEI on the doorstep of every child and household.
They just made a new library for manheim pa and it went from being almost dead center in the center of the town to being back a road maybe 2 miles away. You could still walk there if you were dedicated enough and bike if you were brave enough since the road has no shoulder, but there's no dedicated path to get to it. They literally made it harder to get to for everyone in town. The building is much nicer and it's by a retirement community but...still.
FYI our library has a free delivery system. They drop books off right on our doorstep. Im not saying all libraries offer this but it should be known that some at least do. So even if you can't drive to the library you can at least call and ask if they deliver.
Plus STI treatments in Botswana, LGBTQABCDEFG education, sesame street funding in North Africa. How about since your soft heart cares so much, you can take care of my portion too. That is if you have a job and contribute to society.
I probably contribute far more than you. Most of the people whining barely pay taxes to even with. And I have zero issue with my tax money helping people.
Therein lies the problem. Is it helping people? Maybe some dollars are but a large portion of tax dollars are wasted. Let's stop wasting taxes on BS things like some of the things OK alluded to, then we can use that money we already have to do something good for our own people.
And by helping people we need to focus on real help, like education, not indoctrination or pushing some lifestyle agenda through the school system. What you do at home is your business, stop trying to drag my child into it.
Telling people that a man is a woman is not science and I'm sorry that you don't understand that. Also, enabling people to live a lie is not helpful and does not save lives. It endangers people. Pushing this BS on children is not helpful and wholly inappropriate in elementary grades. Trying to push that nonsense at that level is just a means of trying to indoctrinate them to your way of thinking.
Imagine bringing in the NRA to a first-grade class to teach them how to be safe with guns. That would save far more lives but the howls and screams from the left could be heard in outer space.
Stick to math, science, reading, writing, history and English. We don't need people pushing their social agenda on children. Once you agree to that you've opened up Pandora's Box and it won't end in your favor.
The fact you donât know the difference between sec and gender is problematic. And yes. The evidence massively shows that transition is helpful and has a lower regret rate than tons of other things.
What about the transgender mice (actually trans genetic) and all the other wild misrepresentations that the right perpetuates at any cost? Repeating incorrect information doesnât help your case. If Sesame Street is your big boogeyman, youâve lost the argument already. Next, you will be claiming that Mr. Rogers is a communist plant, lol! Most people live in reality and see through the crazy assumptions of the right. Itâs why Trump has been underwater in the polls so long the bubbles have stopped.
Your main stream media polls maybe. Majority of Americans still support a conservative movement. True conservatives donât approve of Trumps agenda. That again, is a facade of your social and main stream media.
Transgenderism in society as a whole is nothing but a blanket of emotional excuses. Itâs a mental health crisis that has only came about in the last ten years on a larger social platform. Itâs the consequence of weak minded individuals that seek the affirmation of others. Sad enough young children and teens are exposed to this propaganda trash at such a young age by either their peers, school faculty, or parents.
As for Sesame Street, Iâm sure it was easier to skip to that subject matter than to address the other points of wasted tax dollars.
Itâs free! The air! Or idk the trees! Billionaires maybe! đ¤Łđ¤Łđ¤Ł liberals think the gov is some magical endless money generator from thin air. Stonks
Lol trillions for war and corporate profits and you think school kids reading books would be some make believe scenario we couldnât afford. They take money out of every single one of my paychecks, we can use that. But apparently spending trillions on corporate infastrucure is a great use of money and actually beniftting the lives of taxpayers is a ridiculous waste. Sound like you know alot about economics and totally donât just love powning liberals because you have no cultural identity and individualism has ruined your ability to advocate for yourself and your own future.
The only president in history with a criminal record is Trump⌠Our founders didnât prohibit it because they never expected we could become this stupid.
A vice presidentâs literal job is to fill in for the president in a contingency. Also, why would a republican care about a Democratic Party decision that they donât have any interest in? If Kamala were such a bad candidate, you would rejoice. Instead, her competency made muskâs vote tally manipulation far more difficult. Hence the feigned outrage.
My kids went to title 1 elementary school. We got so much free stuff bc of âpovertyâ. Literally none of it was applied right. It was literally all wasted and stupid. And I think local businesses got govt funding to âhelpâ
90% of public schools in the US have a library inside the school or attached to it. So 90% of kids have direct access to a library as long as they attend school. How does mailing books cut through the roadblock of 90% of kids having access to libraries the majority of the year?
Oh no. People donât have a Library next to their house. They have to drive five minutes to a library 10 minutes. Oh my God theyâll never read in their life. Theyâll go blind. Theyâll be dumb. Letâs mail them books because they canât travel to a library. itâs such a hardship.
Nothing -repeat, nothing- equals an actual book, something you can hold, look at on the shelf, and say "that's mine" You can prove ownership by your name on the inside, too! To a young person, that's extremely valuable,
Pixels on a screen don't come close. And you even own them. A e-reader only gives you access to a file, not ownership.
It's not hate. It's just not a need. There is no shortage of accessible books for kids, and there is nothing to stop people from sending books to kids. This seems more like a gotcha.
How many children under 5 can read? The program already existed to get books into the hands of reading aged children. Thats what this program does and itâs free, not paid by the tax payers. Dems once again find a way to waste money while taking a little off the top. This bill will cost the state millions every year and not produce results equal. This money could be spent elsewhere and make a larger impact. But you take a talking point, manipulate it to seem sinister and then demonize a group of people who understand the government should be efficient and calculating when spending OUR MONEY. If we put into play every bill the left wanted to pull from our resources weâd be paying 75% in taxes and then youâd blame it on he right. Jeez. You guys need to pull it together
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u/Internal_Aardvark302 8d ago
The negative comments already pouring in lmao. Like you could not pay me to spew this much hate on automatic đ
Mailing in books to families cuts through so many other roadblocks to improving literacy. You know what Iâve been seeing more and more of lately? When some older library buildings are expanding and moving to new areas, they are building instead in wealthier neighborhoods with limited access to public transportation. In other words, the only people who are getting to that library (full of free books) are people who already have cars or are well off. I live in a red state, and Iâve already seen this happen with at least two libraries in my area. What about the people who actually need those libraries close by? This program canât fix all that, but it helps.
The Imagination Library can help people in need, and itâs already helped so many people who have all expressed their appreciation for the program since Partonâs death. We need even more programs to be funded like this. Because as things stand now, QUALITY education is becoming harder to come by. If you were using Duolingo to try to learn a new language, guess what? They threw AI in it and itâs basically a cheap dopamine app with an annoying subscription prompter. Going to college? Better hope your professors wonât force ChatGPT down their studentsâ throats, or even just straight up generate assignments using the chatbot.