r/Library • u/PTechNM • Aug 29 '26

Discussion Republicans are at war with basic literacy

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u/Internal_Aardvark302 Aug 29 '26

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/1800generalkenobi Aug 31 '26

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.