Retired teacher donates thousands to a Hanover Library after donation cut by Southwestern School Board

The Spark

A retired teacher donated $10,000 to the Gutherie Memorial Library after the Southwestern School Board decided to cut the $10,000 donation made to the library.

According to Lizzy Baldwin, former director of the Gutherie Memorial Library, it all happened after a decision to remove a book from a classroom library in a middle school.

“And so, you know, book banning, and censorship has been on the rise in the nation. You know, as a librarian, I'm well-tuned into that kind of news. And so, you know I, I saw that it started to happen in Hanover. And I, you know, as the public librarian who served that school district, they were in our service area. I decided that, you know, I should. You know, say something and, you know, advise against going down this road. Right. I'm so I sent a letter to the school board, and I basically said that. And I you know; censorship is an issue in my professional opinion. We need to be, you know, having viewpoints and books that show different experiences, from a, you know, a wide range of things to make good global citizens for our students. And so, you know, I want to be clear that, you know, I think you should keep these books, but if you don't, your students will be able to access them if they go through the Memorial Library, because that's what libraries are all about. They're about providing free and uncensored information. We're a neutral provider of free and uncensored information to the community. And so, I got a rather interesting response back from the school board president and I because I wasn't going to speak at the school board meeting, I just was going to send the letter and just kind of leave it as like where it was. And I said, you know, if you have any questions or whatever, please contact me. But then, like I said, I got the interesting response back. So, I went to the school board meeting, and I got up and I said, you know, I reiterated my point that, you know, libraries are about free and uncensored information. Much like Richard, I don't like bullies. And so, I also wanted to kind of stand up and say like, I'm not going to be bullied about this. This is the fundamental tenet of public librarianship. And I'll reiterate it for the community that any book that is removed from Southwest or School District per like a book ban issue, will be made available in the Gotham Memorial Library. And then, you know, the decision was made to discontinue our funding support. Over the years, school districts have given us a range between 5 and $15,000 every year, 2023. It was a so for an average of 10,020, 23 was 10,000 and they decided to discontinue their donation, “said Baldwin.

Richard Gallagher was upset by the decision. He did his student teaching in Southwestern High School and spent 32 years as a teacher in Maryland.

“I went to the board meeting and confronted them directly and, you know, just told them that this was pure intimidation on their part. They have an $83 million budget that they couldn't find $10,000 for the library, which is ludicrous. I stood up and confronted them directly because. They need you to hear it face to face. And of course, since the school board meetings are on YouTube. After the meeting. My wife posted the actual speech that I had written on her Facebook page, and I have many contacts and linked them to YouTube. And the response was overwhelmingly positive. As Lizzy said, you know, there are just so many people who are just upset by this. And one of the groups that I heard from several people were the Hanover for Progress Facebook group and the. The circumstances were. I didn't like what they were doing. They were trying to bully the library. And I hadn't met Lizzie yet. Quite frankly, I was surprised. I expected to see someone about 70 years old, but she's not quite there yet. So, I was very surprised to see a young woman like that stand up. But I happen to have the resources to be able to help. And I was more than willing to do that, to let the board know that censorship just doesn't work. You have to give exchange of ideas. The kids. Nobody forced these kids to read any of these books. It's not like it was on a course curriculum. These were library books. Kids signed up. Our schools have librarians who guide them. People to the appropriate section. For example, if you go into the Guthrie Library, they have the children's section, the teenage section and you know, everything else. So, it was purely voluntary on the student's part if you wanted to read the book. Parents should be supervising or at least checking on what their kids are reading anyhow. And the parents and the students agree to that. The student should read the book. Well, it's nobody else's business and I hate people who are trying to control. As I call them, the book 1984, if you remember from high school, the thought police and I hate I have no tolerance for the by police. So, I was able to do it and glad to help out. But listen, he's really the hero of the story here, “said Gallagher.

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