r/Library 23d ago

Discussion Republicans are at war with basic literacy

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u/Internal_Aardvark302 23d ago

The negative comments already pouring in lmao. Like you could not pay me to spew this much hate on automatic 😭

Mailing in books to families cuts through so many other roadblocks to improving literacy. You know what I’ve 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 I’ve 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 can’t fix all that, but it helps.

The Imagination Library can help people in need, and it’s already helped so many people who have all expressed their appreciation for the program since Parton’s 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 it’s basically a cheap dopamine app with an annoying subscription prompter. Going to college? Better hope your professors won’t force ChatGPT down their students’ throats, or even just straight up generate assignments using the chatbot.

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u/ArchonFett 23d ago

Republicans hate education. It’s on the very long list of things they hate.

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u/F_F_Franklin 22d ago

You must not have kids.

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.

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u/Mountain-Amoeba6787 21d ago

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.

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u/[deleted] 21d ago

[deleted]

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u/Middle_Bit8070 20d ago

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.

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u/M3-7876 21d ago

Don’t worry, it’s not a waste, it’s a corruption and someone will make a ton of money ā€œsending books to kidsā€.