A local church is urging its members to permanently remove books from the Shelby County Public Library by checking them out and never returning them. The books portray gay characters and historical figures or explore LGBTQ+ themes.

Pamela Wilson Federspiel, who has been director of the library in downtown Shelbyville for 34 years, says the action is tantamount to “stealing.”

But three leaders of the Reformation Church of Shelbyville defend what they call an “act of civil disobedience.”

  • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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    11 hours ago

    Hope they enjoy their item replacement fees and collection agency reports, and not being able to use the library at all 'til all of that is resolved (no matter how much a fit they throw when they can’t use the printers.) They’ll still pay for the material with their taxes. They’re paying for public unbiased access to information either way. We’ll serve LGBTQIA+ books the same way we serve faith books the same way we serve Bill O’Reilly’s slop and tomes of questionable fad diets and endless ghostwritten hackjob murder mysteries. For free. For everyone.

    Their loss if they wanna stay dumb and mad.

    Pretty sure God’s not big on stealing stuff that ain’t yours, too. These “churches” are cults of lost, confused, angry children, and I pray they find their brains somewhere along the way.

    Thanks for supporting your local libraries, especially as we’re under siege from so many angles every single day.

    —With love, a library employee (also a Christian)