Important lessons, beautifully taught

I identify myself as a bleeding left-wing near-commie hippie liberal, and that's probably being conservative, no pun intended. I don't talk politics too often because I am only too aware that my opinions could be backed up with a lot more research, but I don't read nearly enough -- so my reactions to the world are largely emotional and instinctual. Sometimes I change my mind after doing some reading -- cloth diapers being one example of something I thought I'd do, until I read more about it -- but the writing has to be good, and the research traceable. I think it's really hard to change people's minds (mine included) once they have an opinion, so I don't often try.

That said, I am beyond impressed when someone does so elegantly. My friend Karen linked to this story on her blog Free Range Librarian, and I was so moved by it that I am forwarding it willy-nilly to all my fellow BL-WN-CHL's (see above self-definition). It is a blog entry by a librarian who received an email challenging the placement of a children's book in his library, a book called Uncle Bobby's Wedding, that tells the story of a little girl guinea pig whose favorite uncle is getting married. Oh yes, and he's marrying another male guinea pig. The librarian wrote a beautiful, elegant response, well-thought-out and well-written, researched, backed by facts and documented. Had I received the email to which he is responding, I would have been hard pressed to do more than spew out a bunch of four-letter words. Maybe he did that too, privately, but his public response is inspirational.

Books like this get challenged all the time. The absolutely adorable book And Tango Makes Three is one of my daughters' favorites, and tells the true story of two loving male penguins raising a baby penguin together at the Central Park Zoo. It received no end of controversy. My reaction to the controversy was to rave about going to the library and challenging all the evangellically religious books, the books about putting your babies on a feeding schedule from birth, the books about cooking foie gras and veal, and on and on, all the things with which I disagree. After all, isn't that the best use of my public librarians' time? (If you could see me typing this right now, here in the coffee shop where I work, you'd laugh as I huff and puff over my computer and kick the wall behind the table.)

So, here's that link again, to librarian Jamie LaRue's response to the challenge of what sounds like a very nice book. Please read it, and even if you're not a BL-WN-CHL like me, forward it on to everyone you know.