My spouse and I are progressive and live in a centrist-leaning city in CA. We have a little library in front of our house, and we make a point of keeping explicitly political and/or religious material out of it. If a neighbor puts anything in there that might be construed as political/religious, we remove it immediately, even if we agree with beliefs being expressed. We want our library to be for the whole community, not just those who are on “our side”.

Don’t get me wrong - I truly hate what the MAGA mindset is doing to our country. But if we’re ever going to recover a sense of broader community, we need to preserve some neutral spaces where we can find common ground.

I feel it’s still worth the effort to try and find some common ground with the remaining sane-but-mislead folks.

But if you’re a full on racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, homophobic MAGA True Believer, well… sorry, but there’s no common ground to find.

It's amazing that psychopaths didn't make the cut in your list of undesirables.

We can't pick and choose another person's path to enlightenment.

We can, however, educate ourselves on who and what to expose ourselves and our children to if we hope to prevent evil influences from invading their peace.

It's great that you're running your little library that way, but from what the video said, she was just adding things to make the neighbor's library better reflect her community's already liberal values. That seems pretty reasonable to me.

But nowhere in the video does she suggest that the library held any books that ran counter to the prevailing values of the community. Only that the home owner flew a tRump flag. So, by adding items that reflect her beliefs is she not encouraging the home owner to do the same?

I thought it was implied, but you're right that she did not actually say that.

I still think what she did was okay, if all she did was add liberal leaning titles. If she was deliberately removing and replacing conservative materials, that would be more questionable, imo. But all she talked about was adding books.

She could have ensured there was a library that reflected her community’s values without having to hijack someone else’s. And it looks like she put inserts into ALL the books in his library, even those she hadn’t personally added.

I don’t know, this just felt unnecessary and performative to me. And counter to the whole point of Little Libraries. That’s all I’m saying. At the same time though, I DO understand the impulse - I get the “why”.

My confusion might hinge on your definition of "explicitly political or religious" material.

If somebody donates a book about comparative religion, will you remove it? Why? Isn't education the key to understanding?

What about Michelle Obama's autobiography? Removed for being political? Your neighbors will miss out on learning the facts about this remarkable woman's life.

Progressive.

Just as the home owner in this story flies his flag, we express our values and identity proudly. The Little Library is it’s own thing.

Hope the neighbor comes to its senses.

Peace ☮️