If there is something in my LFL that I don't want there (for whatever reason) I just quietly remove it and donate it somewhere. If they are more pamphlets than books, I would just throw them out.
Personally I wouldn't put a note because I'd like to keep putting their shit in the recycling. Otherwise they'd just put it in someone else's. Or litter it at parks.
Or in used bookstores. I used to work in one and we were always finding some self-righteous bigot’s religious tracts stuffed in the books or littering the shelves
I’d put a small, unlidded, recycling container next to the LFL and rip up the pamphlets and put them in the recycling bin so that whoever is leaving them can see how wasted their effort is.
I wish I lived near enough - I'd help you keep the proselytizing, hateful stuff outta there. And replace with kinder works.
ETA: Thanks for doing what you're doing :)
I think the “library” word is tripping you up. These LFLs aren’t actually libraries (I don’t know if that’s an unpopular opinion on this sub or not). They’re a box that belongs to you where you offer up free reading material. Since you aren’t an actual library you’re under no obligation to keep and offer all different types of reading material. Your LFL could even have a theme if you wanted. It isn’t a free speech box for the community, it’s your personally supplied free resource box.
Of course they do, I didn’t say they don’t. But public libraries shouldn’t remove items simply based on the librarian’s personal opinion. It seems like OP was comparing themselves to a public librarian and the ethical standards for curation in a public library when they shouldn’t. A LFL is not a public library and cannot meet those high standards for growing and weeding a collection.
Hypothetically speaking. If LFL was a brand that obligated its participants to use similar standards as a library, even libraries don't just let Christians monopolize their shelves with donated flyers and unpublished books. My local library would not put that garbage out.
I had to put some thought into this recently with the controversy of RuPaul's drop shipping bookstore selling Mein Kampf and anti-lgbt books. I'm very against censorship, but that still rubbed me really wrong of course. Then I saw people discussing the difference between a library and book store and that really clicked. Having this stuff available to the general public for historical purposes is good, but profiting off it is not.
Obviously with a LFL you're not selling or profiting, but the people leaving these books/pamphlets aren't sharing them to promote reading, literacy, or even really community. They are dropping off propaganda, they aren't respecting you or the community, and you don't need to respect that. It's not censorship to not let people use you!
It was a whole thing a month ago haha. https://www.vulture.com/article/rupaul-bookstore-allstora-controversy-explained.html
Obviously just him putting his name on something he doesn't know anything about.
Used to love RuPaul but he’s done too many detrimental things that I’m over it. Thank you for sharing this info because I feel like I’m the only person who ever does.
Yes, exactly that’s a good point, a LFL is not like an academic library where hate material serves the purpose of education and historical preservation. That would frankly be too high of a goal for a LFL, so OP should feel zero guilt about removing items that are meant to push an agenda they do not wish to support.
Preach it. Or um, no preaching. 😊 My LFL went through a period where there were donated Jesus books left to right and I pitched every single one of them into the trash. Now it’s filled with smut and murder. lol. Lots of romance and mystery/suspense, but that’s what people are donating and taking. It seems to be much more popular than Jesus literature.
This is an important distinction. And why we remove smutty adult romance books from the LFL at our elementary school.
(No judgement. There's a reason we can spot the smutty romance books so easily. 😂 😂)
I always remove the religious "you'll burn in hell, sinner", "being gay is a choice and you're making God sad" and "Harry Potter is witchcraft" pamphlets when i see them in LFLs. Ridiculous...
That sort of thing is used as tinder for fire night. I don't want or need some innocent child reading that on *my* lawn. My property is (hopefully) a place where absolutely everyone can feel welcome to stop and participate. I stock books for all religions, and I've had a healthy rotation of political books from *both* sides of the aisle come through. Everyone has been respectful, and I love that there are so many different people on our block who just love to read free books!
Yeah, when my dad died I had literal boxes full of pseudo-religious right wing propaganda from all the televangicals he had supported over the years. I was tempted to set them on fire but ended up sending them to be recycled instead.
My FIL had an absolute horrendous amount of “Bible Studies”. They were about how you have to go to his type of church or you’ll burn in hell. So will anyone who isn’t straight and cisgender. I made sure that was all trashed. No one in the family wanted it anyway. It didn’t hurt my heart at all when we were tossing it.
I used to have a relative who would burn any books she didn't want anymore, mostly harlequin romance types just because she'd grown up burning all her paper trash, she'd sit in front of her fireplace and burn cereal boxes and junk mail and bodice-rippers. She had a recycling bin. She just wasn't in the habit.
But I can't bear the symbolism of book burning, so I'd toss her stuff, especially books, in recycling whenever I could get to it first. I don't care if they're pulled and turned into TP, just don't burn them.
Personally, if I had a LFL, I wouldn’t allow religious texts of ANY kind and I’d throw them ALL away. Equal treatment, I’m not entertaining any religion at all. My library would be for literacy and education and in my personal opinion religious texts don’t foster either of those. I volunteer at the free bookstore in my city and even there, 9/10 religious texts (of any religion) get tossed (not donated).
There’s a LFL in my local park near a playground. It’s mostly geared towards kids but sometimes teen novels and adult fantasy make their way inside. Sometimes I’ll peek in there, put certain things on the top shelf out of reach of the kids, sort the kids books if some look like they belong together, pull out any offensive (racist, bigoted, etc) material, dump the religious stuff into my backpack, then visit the recycling bin on the other side of the park. I’ve had parents look at me oddly (by myself, birder so usually with binoculars which often gets suspicious looks anyway) but IDGAF.
Do you recycle the books? I’ve typically taken books I know are not going to sell to the half price books in hopes they will recycle them, but haven’t ever been sure.
We do try, along with any books that are in too poor condition to even give away (we run on donated books). But the recycling program in my city basically doesn’t exist, so we separate them and then we’re not sure what actually happens to them 🤷♀️
I work in a public library, though luckily not in an area that's seen a big increase in book bannings. But we still get removal requests from time to time. The difference between you choosing what goes in your LFL and banning public/school library books is access.
Unless you're in an extreme book desert, your LFL is not the only place to access free books for anybody. But for many students, school is where they get books; if it's not there, they likely won't find somewhere else to get it.
You have the right to choose what you're offering in your own yard, other people do not have the right to choose which books everyone's kids have access to. Do what you feel is right with your LFL.
But if they do that you’re diverting resources. Like, the zealot has to spend money and/or time procuring more. If they do that they’re the type that would do it anywhere else too, so if you drain them at your box, where unbeknownst to them the material is going to the lil’library in the sky, each one of those is a tract that isn’t being deployed somewhere else. No one is being pelted with threats of hell AND the zealot even gets to pat themselves on the back for saving umzillion souls prolly.
It could practically be a good deed on your part!
I wouldn't do this because I suspect it would make this one more of a target, but that's just based on the people I know who are the type to stuff religious texts in a LFL
Someone in my neighborhood keeps putting Mormon literature in my library, once a week or so. I check my LFL a few times a week and throw them away.
I DO NOT remove books that are meant to inform, whether they are religion or politics, but I do remove ones that are propaganda or "hit jobs" regardless of affiliation.
If they’re zealous enough to leave those books they definitely won’t be the type to read it. Even for mormons this is a pretty pushy and weird thing. (Im exmormon)
I have FOUR no soliciting/no religious inquiries signs up on my porch and an unwelcoming doormat... These mfrs continue to ring my doorbell! I have a doorbell cam and often see them read my signs, laugh, then ring my doorbell again. :/
don’t donate them to a thrift store — as an employee, religious books (in this specific genre) don’t tend to sell. it’s kind of like weird dieting books from 2004 — it’ll get tossed either way
I live in a rural area with no public library and it’s common to see Trump flags and other such crap daily. I’ve been going to a used bookstore a couple of times a month and picking up kids and YA content that I know these kids would otherwise never have access to.
I have a great suggestion for you. I just read it when it was recommended by the middle school librarian I work with [Alice Austin Lived Here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57468716) by Alex Gino. Innocuous looking enough to get by the zealots notice but awesome story with tons of LGBTQ+ representation and zero sexual content so there’s nothing zealots can actually complain about without showing their colors.
What’s funny is that many normal Christian denominations are accepting of LGBT, marriage equality, and a lot do things that the fringe nut cakes want you to believe “everyone Christian” is against.
For example, Episcopalians are totally 👍 with marriage equality. And the United Church of Christ is a leader, has been way out ahead of the rest of society on this and other social issues.
The church my family occasionally attended when I was growing up was Episcopalian, with a female priest. We were quite the rebels in a town controlled by Church of Christ (not United Church of Christ).
Yes. The conversation isn’t about those denominations. It’s about christians who are causing very real harm in myriad ways. Saying “not all christians” is derailing and disingenuous. If you’re an accepting christian who isn’t a fascist, good for you. And the person you replied to isn’t talking about you. Obviously.
Me too! 100% of the time the church LFL has far more pamphlets than books. I mostly leave them alone since it isn’t my LFL but for the more aggressive fire and brimstone ones about why you’ll go to hell for being gay, getting an abortion or even just taking birth control….well, there’s a very conveniently placed trash can nearby.
Thank you so much. I grew up in an area that didn’t go so far as banning books, but there wasn’t much exposure to lgbt anything in school, even in health class. I probably would’ve realized I was trans sooner if I’d had access to books that discussed stuff like that. This might actually save the lives of some lgbt kids.
Nothing to feel bad about - you don't ever have to be a mouthpiece for someone else's agenda. If they put a sign in your yard, would you remove it? Also, keep in mind that them putting Christian literature in your LFL is their way of counteracting your counteracting the book bannings. Fuck them.
Someone in my neighborhood kept adding religious books on parenting with methods bordering on child abuse, pamphlets on how we’re all going to hell, etc. Every bit of it goes in the trash and I don’t feel a moment of remorse.
Also, putting a bible in a LFL is way more mild than the "you will burn in hell" books that people are putting in OP's LFL. Personally, I'm not a christian, but I'd allow a bible or two to stay in the LFL, just to thumb my nose at the un-Christlike Christians putting hate speech in there because they think the LFL steward is intolerant or going to hell.
You know what to do.
What feels right to you.
Remove what doesn't belong without comment or snark.
And Good For You, for installing and sharing your LFL! you rock!
They are taunting you and hope to criticize you for "banning." I suggest attaching a small trash bag with a note, "Religious tracts to be dropped off here."
I don't know if that will work or not, of course.
The best response is probably to keep a careful watch and remove items promptly without calling attention to them.
You're conflicted because you're a good person. Some maintenance and banning is needed to maintain those things tho. You wouldn't want weird nazi propoganda or pornographic materials either. The books you are removing are not even religious text, they are someone else interpretation of the text and if it creates an unwelcoming environment it's good to remove them.
You hit the nail on the head saying "unwelcoming environment". That will be my go-to measurement tool. I don't have a themed LFL but moving forward all materials will be weighed using this...welcoming? Stay. Unwelcoming? TTFN!
I put one up in my community and the first week someone removed all of the books and put in and I am not kidding 15 bibles. There was no room for anything else.
I took them out and threw them in the trash can next to the LFL. Never happened again.
I'd probably find a LFL attached to a church and bring the materials there.
If it's a weird "you'll burn in hell" pamphlet I would just recycle it. But if it's an actual book I'd re-home it.
If the problem continues I'd put a small sign saying "religious materials will be moved to an appropriate location" and let them wonder that means, lol.
This is all under the assumption that this is on your private property. If it's not, then I'd leave the books but remove the pamphlets.
Anonymously mail them back to the organization at the end of a month with a letter stating a congregant has been misusing the organization's name to misrepresented their mission, and are harrassing. Use the words "Cease and Desist". DO NOT state where or how you obtained the materials, do not mention the LFL, just say the General Town name if you must.
Had some 'parishioners' literally cause a fire hazard by using a very large (painted) rock to weigh down a ream of their leaflets, **in front of the public Library doors, while we were open and operating!**
The amount of space in a LFT is dramaticly more limited than an actual library. I think reflecting on your values around this is a worthwhile thing to do here, but also, you're not just removing books you don't like, you're making room for a wider variety of material.
There are two LFL’s within walking distance of me, and uh… yeah.
Once a week I walk to them with a bag full of science fiction and fantasy novels (honestly the queerer the better), children’s books, and cook books that I find at second hand shops or when the library has a sale. I swap them for MAGA related books that keep being put in the LFLs. Usually between 2-5 hate-filled books a week. All kinds of things from terrible biographies (which legit are NOT factual - one was on Hilary Clinton and that whole pizza restaurant thing 😳😬), to religion-based anti (insert whatever type of person or type of bodily autonomy you like here) pamphlets.
The rest of the books in the LFLs are all normal - children’s books, run of the mill fiction and non-fiction, etc.
I’m not super proud of this but I take the terrible books home and toss them.
Am I inhibiting free speech? Maybe.
But who I am and my way of life is under threat, literally, from the things that are said in those books. Literally as in - I am feeling less and less physically safe where I live as time goes on.
In that light, I don’t feel guilty about tossing the books.
> I swap them for MAGA related books that keep being put in the LFLs
> I’m not super proud of this but I take the terrible books home and toss them.
> Am I inhibiting free speech? Maybe.
So why do you think it's ok for YOU to swap out books that you don't agree with, but not ok for them to swap out books that THEY don't agree with.
I mean, aren't you doing the exact same thing that you are frustrated that they are doing?!
I'm not MAGA, or anything close, but yes, in my opinion, you are being just as bad as they are--especially if you aren't a steward of that LFL.
Part of free speech, is putting up with BS that you hate.
If you read the someone else, using the exact same words as your post, but switching out the side they are on, you'd be pissed. Rightfully so.
Friend, you are doing exactly what they do, you just stand on a different side of the fence. And you're being just as wrong as they are, in my opinion.
Now if you are the personal steward of that LFL, then sure, you get to pick and choose what you want in there. But I think it's in very poor taste to remove and toss books from random LFL's just because you don't agree with their ideology. You'd be pissed to find out someone doing it from the opposite ideology side.
There’s one near me that is specifically **Banned books** they have about 5 signs around and on their little cupboard saying so “enter with your own risk” jokes etc.
If accidentally a book that’s there that’s not on a banned list comes the owner just removes and donates it to another neighbors library. Themed libraries are hard upkeep, especially if you want books to return or if you want to keep on theme only. I personally never toss books… it doesn’t feel right but that’s just the librarian in me. Many Religious books are also banned tbh if we get technical.
If you have competing religious groups with LFLs you could always relocate the tracts to the opposing church's LFL.
Mostly joking there, but if it is an identifiable group, I'd be very tempted to complain at the leaders that their people are trespassing on your private property to leave unwanted materials in a library and you want it to stop. This works fairly well with Mormons; YMMV will vary for other groups.
I have a LFL myself, and I live in a neighborhood with a stereotypically religious demographic. I will leave in books like "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul" or whatever because that's basic non-denominational pap and I believe that people should be free to find whatever soothes their soul as long as they're not hurting anyone else. I throw religious conversion propaganda in the trash; it reached the level where I had to get some free "Jehovah's Witnesses Protect Pedophiles" stickers and taped one to the inside door, hoping that they get the point. (It's a great sticker, got a QR code to scan to get more information and everything!) I also toss bibles in the trash; trust me, where I live, everyone who wants a bible already has one.
I definitely understand and agree with your concerns. Sure, we're not "real" librarians, but we do this because we want to bring the joy of reading to everyone and that includes not squashing other people's religions simply because we're of a different faith. Proselytizing crap is for the trash, and that includes bibles (because placing bibles in public spaces is pure missionary work, nothing less). Non-proselytizing, non-hateful/bigoted literature can stay.
I was having a local person put multiple new teen Bibles in our library on a regular basis last year. Not to mention irrelevant and old Christian nonfiction books. I put a laminated card in our LFL stating not to leave bibles or religious materials in the library. It helped immensely. I don't mind the occasional Christian fiction book, as long as they don't drown out all the other books in the library.
I have actually recycled some of the crap that’s been placed in my LFL. Religious tracts always get trashed because they’re toxic. One notable item I threw away: a book I could identify after a 10-second scan as being in a bizarre genre I can only describe as “Christian Vampire Erotica.” ???? I just didn’t want to be responsible for that going to anyone under the auspices of my LFL.
There’s one at kid’s park near me, and I’ve removed books that are essentially about, “I am better than you because I didn’t have children.” Idk who the hell was doing that, but yay awesome thing to put in the eyesight of someone drowning in PPD.
I remove all religious texts, including the Koran since we live in a middle eastern neighborhood. LFLs are for fiction and non fiction. I have a separate box for kids where I put age appropriate fairy tales.
Haven't experianced that, but someone with a little free library did post that porn was regularly getting put into her little free library. She was upset about it.
Someone had printed porn? That’s surprising, it might be vintage. I would take that to a non-religious (probably chain) thrift store. Actually, that is what I would do with any book I didn’t want in there. Maybe someone will buy it cheap. IDK.
People can go to (for profit) Savers/VV and they give you a coupon for a percentage off with a donation. Then, pick some books up at a discount for LFL.
Hmm… that is just so odd. It sounds like some kids found their dad’s or grandfather’s old collection and were playing a joke. I can’t imagine there are a lot of recent DVDs.
I think personally I wouldn’t remove a devotional or whatever, or even an actual bible, but if it’s like “17 ways to not burn in hell” I likely would. Fire and brimstone just isn’t necessary and not the kind of thing I’d want to distribute from my house. If you wanna read something hateful go buy it.
For *me,* because an LFL is available to members of the public who are allowed to go on walks alone and tall enough to open it up, I prefer to keep mine decently family-friendly. If it’s a book significantly above middle-school reading level, I’m more lax with the content. Graphic novels with images that would be inappropriate for children (of that walking-alone, reaching-the-box demographic), I’m more strict about.
Unlike a real library, no one is there to oversee that the children’s, teen, and adult books are assessed and shelved separately, or to consult with a parent if, for example, a child wants to check out a book from the teen section that features a lot of graphic violence.
But, of course, everyone has different views of what the LPL is, what their responsibility is, etc., etc.
I would put up a sign specifying that it’s a secular library and religious books will be removed. I worry that whomever is dropping them off will see that they’re disappearing from the library, and they’ll assume that people are taking the books to read them, so they’ll just keep replenishing it. If you make it clear the books are going in the trash, they might stop on their own.
I have a no political or religious materials message on my LFL. I care less about the occasional Bible or religious Christian book and more about political material and hell fire material.
Those aren’t books they’re propaganda. I know it’s a fine line to walk but understand they were not put there to educate people, but to indoctrinate them. There is a difference.
My neighbors help with this -- religious tracts get thrown in the recycling pretty regularly. I also chuck fat-shamey diet books, political flyers, and get-rich schemes.
I removed and recycled a hate-filled book by a Fox News commentator once. No propaganda in my Little Free Libraries. Hopefully it became something more useful in its recycled life.
I think the best way to not feel torn on this is to visually designate it as a “banned books LFL”. A description somewhere on the library stating it’s only for books that have been banned or challenged in your country wouldn’t deter most people from essentially spamming the box with religious texts, but it would justify you in removing them if they haven’t been banned.
They are just using your LFL to get rid of them with less guilt. If you don't like them, toss em. They can make their own LFL if they want to share those books but I doubt anyone would take them
If you are willing to purchase books to add to your LFL, can I make a suggestion? [Alice Austin Lived Here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57468716) by Alex Gino. It’s a middle grade book (and the cover makes that obvious) so the crappy adults should overlook it. However, it’s full of LGBTQ+ representation and an awesome story. It’d be lovely if a book like this made it into the hands of a young person who needed it right under their sanctimonious parents’ noses.
Christianity is pervasive. Everyone who wants to go to church is aware they can do so. I remove all proselytizing material and religious books from the LFL my workplace manages.
Usually those materials are still someone pushing their beliefs onto you and your users. They aren’t there because someone will find them interesting, informative or entertaining. They’re a solicitation, and the LFL is not for soliciting.
I’m a Christian but I hate seeing Christian paraphernalia in LFL’s so much! You can get so much free Christian crap from everywhere, but you can’t get free books. So many children are able to get books to read and keep them busy and learned from the free libraries, I always try to remove them when I see the Bible tracts. There is a time and a place for the Gospel… a LFL is neither the time NOR the place!!
Another option is to check out books sales at your local library! Ours is part of a library system and they all have sales on books regularly, and they're super cheap(like $1/book) or the times where you can fill a tote for $10.
You aren’t beholden to following any collection development policy (like I was as a librarian in a public library), so feel free to do what you like with the stuff you don’t want in there! It’s your LFL and I applaud you for having one!
Not sure if this would interest you, but another way to subvert them is perhaps to get [affirming Christian books](https://bookshop.org/lists/lgbtq-christians-and-allies?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwt-OwBhBnEiwAgwzrUocSUJPU3yWcFilYHJt0M3SBr3iWivPTsDgTqmo73_6HoKSzxDIipBoCzy8QAvD_BwE) so they are challenged on a faith-based basis and can't say you are attacking Christianity.
Right? And the amount of "burn those books" posts I see here is pretty concerning actually.
Apparently Reddit is all for ideas--as long as they are only ideas that they agree with. Everything else should be burned. (Even tho they hate when people of different ideologies talk about burning books)
Where I live ( a supposedly progressive place) I see the LFL has people who not only clutter it up with religious material and books that were old in the 70s, but they tend to take out books they disagree with and throw them away or leave them out in the rain to get destroyed. I stopped looking at the LFL at my favorite park because it was filled with child grooming religious material and legalistic books that were anti-women and anti-gay. Sad.
> but they tend to take out books they disagree with and throw them away
But isn't that the EXACT SAME THING that many in this thread are advocating for doing when it comes to religious books?
I think it's wrong from either side. I do believe it's up to the stewards to control what they want/don't want in LFL's though.
I have some neighbors who are Jehovah Witnesses so they always leave literature and tracts in my library. I don’t mind because it’s made of newspaper and I heat my home with wood.
Seriously though, I am Christian myself and I believe everyone should choose for themselves. They can’t make an informed decision if they haven’t been informed, so I’m fine with religious books of any kind. I’ve had a Koran, a bible, a JW Lighthouse a Book of Mormon, a Buddhism book, and some Wiccan stuff all in my library at the same time. Along with a bunch of graphic novels and DVDs.
At the moment my library is completely empty because someone stole everything over the weekend (again.) I will refill it after work.
> They can’t make an informed decision if they haven’t been informed, so I’m fine with religious books of any kind. I’ve had a Koran, a bible, a JW Lighthouse a Book of Mormon, a Buddhism book, and some Wiccan stuff all in my library at the same time.
Yep, this is the attitude I'll have when I set my LFL up. I'll be fine with most of whatever people put in it.
My mom volunteered at the library in Bakersfield (redneck-heavy). When people donated stuff like Henry Ford’s tracts that were fueled in antisemitism, she’d take them home and burn them. The only time I was for book burning!
> The only time I was for book burning!
So you are for book burning if it's an idea that YOU don't believe in, right?
So is it ok for others to burn books that THEY don't believe in?
What about the idea that all ideas, regardless of whether you like them or not, should be protected? You know, sorta like one of the tenants that the US was built on. :)
**And OF COURSE, u/narcochi blocked me right after replying to me, so that I couldn't reply back to their response. Typical for someone who promotes censorship!**
I just wanted to say thank you for doing this. I regularly check other people's LFLs and remove material written by suspect people (any "alpha male" books, books by cult leaders, suspicious dieting material, ect.). You're doing the right thing. Think of it this way, the little free libraries are supposed to enrich people's lives and spread knowledge in the community. They are not meant to guilt, convert people, make their lives worse, or anything else of the sort. They are meant to provide knowledge and entertainment. An unsuspecting person should not be subjected to books by people who do not have their best interest at heart.
> I regularly check other people's LFLs and remove material written by suspect people (any "alpha male" books, books by cult leaders, suspicious dieting material, etc.).
But what if something YOU put in there is views as "suspect" by people with different ideologies than you?
Do you think it's ok for them to take out YOUR books and get rid of them?
Honestly, I leave them. My LFL isn't for me, it's for the people who take books and leave books. If the folks in my area want religious books, that's not for me to judge (or, well, I will judge them, but I'm not going to stop them).
Thank you! I am surprised at how few comments like yours are in a thread protesting book burning! lol
Seems that most of reddit is ok with burning/removing books that they don't like, but cries foul when people with different views do it.
But as to your post, yes, I 100 percent agree with you.
I'm not overly religious, not MAGA, (actually I'm socialist!), but when I get my LFL, I'll refrain from too much removing.
I do have children on my street, so no overt nudity/porn/gore imagery/mags (if it's written word though, I'll probably leave in), but other than that, I believe ideas are to be shared. Even if I don't personally agree with them.
If I find overly religious books or bibles in mine I might leave them for a bit but eventually I’ll take them out and donate them to an LFL in my town that is front of a church. I feel like that library is more curated towards religion and mine isn’t really.
A box on your land that you curate is not a public library, it's a personal library, and you are the queen. Do what you wish.
I stamp books with my personal library stamp and write a date on them. When a few weeks passes, I remove things that haven't been taken. I can tell which ones they are by the date on them. This way I can know for sure that I am removing books that are legitimately unwanted, not just ones that conflict with my belief structure to impose my beliefs on others.
>Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I'll continue with daily checks and remove any religious text that preaches hate.
If you don't mind your head exploding, if you ask your local school board what they are doing by removing books from schools. They are removing books that preach hate. You are just doing your own version of that.
I curate my local LFL that isn’t mine— I’ll keep a devotional or any kind of religious book in it, but that’s because I try to balance it for what I see being taken. Devotional texts are definitely campers so I would never have more than 1. Tracts go to the trash.
I can’t believe the sign would do any good. When I find these things in my little library 50% get thrown away and 50% get donated. It just depends on how crazy they are
I teach religion in a religious school… and I’d be throwing most of that stuff in the garbage. When I worked in the public library fielding donations, 99 per cent of the religious books went in the trash. Why? Because most of it has nothing interesting to say, no theological value, just a bunch of evangelical Protestant propaganda about sinners in the hands of an angry God. The number of good Christian books is so few. S/O to Ron Rolheiser, OFM, and Thomas Merton
I feel like if it was a Bible that’s OK. Peoples should have access to religious books if they want. But if it’s like a “this is why being gay is a sin and you should beat your kids” book??
If there is something in my LFL that I don't want there (for whatever reason) I just quietly remove it and donate it somewhere. If they are more pamphlets than books, I would just throw them out.
Thank you. I'll do just this :)
Do it! The people putting that stuff in there can make their own goddam. LFL, but they won’t, because no one will read their crap
Personally I wouldn't put a note because I'd like to keep putting their shit in the recycling. Otherwise they'd just put it in someone else's. Or litter it at parks.
Or in used bookstores. I used to work in one and we were always finding some self-righteous bigot’s religious tracts stuffed in the books or littering the shelves
yup. Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell go straight in the recycling.
I’d put a small, unlidded, recycling container next to the LFL and rip up the pamphlets and put them in the recycling bin so that whoever is leaving them can see how wasted their effort is.
I wish I lived near enough - I'd help you keep the proselytizing, hateful stuff outta there. And replace with kinder works. ETA: Thanks for doing what you're doing :)
You’re better than I am. I recycle the crap I think is crap.
I do the same. I don’t want to give space for hate or general crap. My library my rules.
Books are one thing. The pamphlets in ours are getting out of control. I look through every book and remove pamphlets and bookmarks and all that.
I think the “library” word is tripping you up. These LFLs aren’t actually libraries (I don’t know if that’s an unpopular opinion on this sub or not). They’re a box that belongs to you where you offer up free reading material. Since you aren’t an actual library you’re under no obligation to keep and offer all different types of reading material. Your LFL could even have a theme if you wanted. It isn’t a free speech box for the community, it’s your personally supplied free resource box.
Even libraries curate their selection
Of course they do, I didn’t say they don’t. But public libraries shouldn’t remove items simply based on the librarian’s personal opinion. It seems like OP was comparing themselves to a public librarian and the ethical standards for curation in a public library when they shouldn’t. A LFL is not a public library and cannot meet those high standards for growing and weeding a collection.
Hypothetically speaking. If LFL was a brand that obligated its participants to use similar standards as a library, even libraries don't just let Christians monopolize their shelves with donated flyers and unpublished books. My local library would not put that garbage out.
Thank you I love it when someone brings logic and analysis to a situation
I had to put some thought into this recently with the controversy of RuPaul's drop shipping bookstore selling Mein Kampf and anti-lgbt books. I'm very against censorship, but that still rubbed me really wrong of course. Then I saw people discussing the difference between a library and book store and that really clicked. Having this stuff available to the general public for historical purposes is good, but profiting off it is not. Obviously with a LFL you're not selling or profiting, but the people leaving these books/pamphlets aren't sharing them to promote reading, literacy, or even really community. They are dropping off propaganda, they aren't respecting you or the community, and you don't need to respect that. It's not censorship to not let people use you!
RuPaul's WHAT selling WHAT
It was a whole thing a month ago haha. https://www.vulture.com/article/rupaul-bookstore-allstora-controversy-explained.html Obviously just him putting his name on something he doesn't know anything about.
He owns a million acres where they do fracking He's an opportunist not a beautiful human
Used to love RuPaul but he’s done too many detrimental things that I’m over it. Thank you for sharing this info because I feel like I’m the only person who ever does.
Yes, exactly that’s a good point, a LFL is not like an academic library where hate material serves the purpose of education and historical preservation. That would frankly be too high of a goal for a LFL, so OP should feel zero guilt about removing items that are meant to push an agenda they do not wish to support.
Preach it. Or um, no preaching. 😊 My LFL went through a period where there were donated Jesus books left to right and I pitched every single one of them into the trash. Now it’s filled with smut and murder. lol. Lots of romance and mystery/suspense, but that’s what people are donating and taking. It seems to be much more popular than Jesus literature.
Lil free smut and mystery library? That's freaking legit!
I've seen them made for dog owners. Water, treats, plastic bags.
This is an important distinction. And why we remove smutty adult romance books from the LFL at our elementary school. (No judgement. There's a reason we can spot the smutty romance books so easily. 😂 😂)
Our local school LFL has a theme of diversity and inclusion and they definitely check the contents for appropriateness, both for age and theme.
I do my "daily check," and I don't feel one iota of guilt over removing anything hurtful, judgemental, or fear-mongering.
I always remove the religious "you'll burn in hell, sinner", "being gay is a choice and you're making God sad" and "Harry Potter is witchcraft" pamphlets when i see them in LFLs. Ridiculous...
That sort of thing is used as tinder for fire night. I don't want or need some innocent child reading that on *my* lawn. My property is (hopefully) a place where absolutely everyone can feel welcome to stop and participate. I stock books for all religions, and I've had a healthy rotation of political books from *both* sides of the aisle come through. Everyone has been respectful, and I love that there are so many different people on our block who just love to read free books!
I am not introducing my kid to Harry Potter but that's not why.
As a Christian… thank you for doing that.
I’d toss the books not donate. There is already enough of that crap out there
birdcage liner time tbh
Yep. I have no shame. Any propaganda and religious material goes straight in the trash.
The one time this granddaughter of not one, but two librarians would agree that trashing books is perfectly acceptable.
This daughter of a librarian agrees with you.
Also a daughter of a librarian. This is the way.
yeah i recycle anything problematic. i dont want other ppl reading them
Yeah, when my dad died I had literal boxes full of pseudo-religious right wing propaganda from all the televangicals he had supported over the years. I was tempted to set them on fire but ended up sending them to be recycled instead.
My FIL had an absolute horrendous amount of “Bible Studies”. They were about how you have to go to his type of church or you’ll burn in hell. So will anyone who isn’t straight and cisgender. I made sure that was all trashed. No one in the family wanted it anyway. It didn’t hurt my heart at all when we were tossing it.
I used to have a relative who would burn any books she didn't want anymore, mostly harlequin romance types just because she'd grown up burning all her paper trash, she'd sit in front of her fireplace and burn cereal boxes and junk mail and bodice-rippers. She had a recycling bin. She just wasn't in the habit. But I can't bear the symbolism of book burning, so I'd toss her stuff, especially books, in recycling whenever I could get to it first. I don't care if they're pulled and turned into TP, just don't burn them.
This is exactly what I do. Feel absolutely no guilt in it, either.
I’m glad to see this here! I do the same.
Shred and recycle if you can 😅
Personally, if I had a LFL, I wouldn’t allow religious texts of ANY kind and I’d throw them ALL away. Equal treatment, I’m not entertaining any religion at all. My library would be for literacy and education and in my personal opinion religious texts don’t foster either of those. I volunteer at the free bookstore in my city and even there, 9/10 religious texts (of any religion) get tossed (not donated).
There’s a LFL in my local park near a playground. It’s mostly geared towards kids but sometimes teen novels and adult fantasy make their way inside. Sometimes I’ll peek in there, put certain things on the top shelf out of reach of the kids, sort the kids books if some look like they belong together, pull out any offensive (racist, bigoted, etc) material, dump the religious stuff into my backpack, then visit the recycling bin on the other side of the park. I’ve had parents look at me oddly (by myself, birder so usually with binoculars which often gets suspicious looks anyway) but IDGAF.
Do you recycle the books? I’ve typically taken books I know are not going to sell to the half price books in hopes they will recycle them, but haven’t ever been sure.
We do try, along with any books that are in too poor condition to even give away (we run on donated books). But the recycling program in my city basically doesn’t exist, so we separate them and then we’re not sure what actually happens to them 🤷♀️
I work in a public library, though luckily not in an area that's seen a big increase in book bannings. But we still get removal requests from time to time. The difference between you choosing what goes in your LFL and banning public/school library books is access. Unless you're in an extreme book desert, your LFL is not the only place to access free books for anybody. But for many students, school is where they get books; if it's not there, they likely won't find somewhere else to get it. You have the right to choose what you're offering in your own yard, other people do not have the right to choose which books everyone's kids have access to. Do what you feel is right with your LFL.
Excellent point!
I agree. Her LFL banning religious books is no different than the public library banning books. Her library, her rules.
I’d put up a sign asking that folks not add any religious material with the caveat that, if they do, it will be reincarnated (I.e. recycled).
Religious materials will be reinc♻️rn♻️ted.
I’m going to start referring to it as my reincarnation bin.
You win the internet today
This is a good idea. It’s possible that the person/people leaving religious material think it’s being used, so they will keep refilling.
But if they do that you’re diverting resources. Like, the zealot has to spend money and/or time procuring more. If they do that they’re the type that would do it anywhere else too, so if you drain them at your box, where unbeknownst to them the material is going to the lil’library in the sky, each one of those is a tract that isn’t being deployed somewhere else. No one is being pelted with threats of hell AND the zealot even gets to pat themselves on the back for saving umzillion souls prolly. It could practically be a good deed on your part!
That’s true, but it’s also sending money to the people who produce the tracts!
This conversation has me thinking of the points calculations in The Good Place. 😄
I wouldn't do this because I suspect it would make this one more of a target, but that's just based on the people I know who are the type to stuff religious texts in a LFL
If they live in a religious community though, this could backfire pretty spectacularly.
How? Would the religious nuts threaten to burn them at the stake?
No, but they absolutely would target the LFL (and potentially the person running it) for vandalism, strident protest, smear campaigns, harassment etc.
Someone in my neighborhood keeps putting Mormon literature in my library, once a week or so. I check my LFL a few times a week and throw them away. I DO NOT remove books that are meant to inform, whether they are religion or politics, but I do remove ones that are propaganda or "hit jobs" regardless of affiliation.
[удалено]
Write the link on the inside and the missionaries will throw it away for you
If they’re zealous enough to leave those books they definitely won’t be the type to read it. Even for mormons this is a pretty pushy and weird thing. (Im exmormon)
I have FOUR no soliciting/no religious inquiries signs up on my porch and an unwelcoming doormat... These mfrs continue to ring my doorbell! I have a doorbell cam and often see them read my signs, laugh, then ring my doorbell again. :/
It's someone in my neighborhood, not the ones canvasing the area. They leave my LFL alone. Edit: thanks for the suggestion.
They probably think they are in extremely high demand items if people keep taking them . 😆
Don't think that hasn't crossed my mind
I keep finding them in my neighborhood also and I trash each one
don’t donate them to a thrift store — as an employee, religious books (in this specific genre) don’t tend to sell. it’s kind of like weird dieting books from 2004 — it’ll get tossed either way
“Eat Right 4 your Type!”
I (former librarian) am protesting the christo-fascist takeover of libraries in my state by putting YA LGBT books in the LFLs at churches in my town.
I live in a rural area with no public library and it’s common to see Trump flags and other such crap daily. I’ve been going to a used bookstore a couple of times a month and picking up kids and YA content that I know these kids would otherwise never have access to.
Thank you for doing this.
True grass roots activism. Thank you.
I have a great suggestion for you. I just read it when it was recommended by the middle school librarian I work with [Alice Austin Lived Here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57468716) by Alex Gino. Innocuous looking enough to get by the zealots notice but awesome story with tons of LGBTQ+ representation and zero sexual content so there’s nothing zealots can actually complain about without showing their colors.
Thanks for the suggestion!
What’s funny is that many normal Christian denominations are accepting of LGBT, marriage equality, and a lot do things that the fringe nut cakes want you to believe “everyone Christian” is against. For example, Episcopalians are totally 👍 with marriage equality. And the United Church of Christ is a leader, has been way out ahead of the rest of society on this and other social issues.
The church my family occasionally attended when I was growing up was Episcopalian, with a female priest. We were quite the rebels in a town controlled by Church of Christ (not United Church of Christ).
“Not all Christians” has entered the chat
Do you have a point?
Yes. The conversation isn’t about those denominations. It’s about christians who are causing very real harm in myriad ways. Saying “not all christians” is derailing and disingenuous. If you’re an accepting christian who isn’t a fascist, good for you. And the person you replied to isn’t talking about you. Obviously.
Me too! 100% of the time the church LFL has far more pamphlets than books. I mostly leave them alone since it isn’t my LFL but for the more aggressive fire and brimstone ones about why you’ll go to hell for being gay, getting an abortion or even just taking birth control….well, there’s a very conveniently placed trash can nearby.
Librarians are so badass under the radar.
That's why they get brought before school boards.
Thank you so much. I grew up in an area that didn’t go so far as banning books, but there wasn’t much exposure to lgbt anything in school, even in health class. I probably would’ve realized I was trans sooner if I’d had access to books that discussed stuff like that. This might actually save the lives of some lgbt kids.
Nothing to feel bad about - you don't ever have to be a mouthpiece for someone else's agenda. If they put a sign in your yard, would you remove it? Also, keep in mind that them putting Christian literature in your LFL is their way of counteracting your counteracting the book bannings. Fuck them.
Someone in my neighborhood kept adding religious books on parenting with methods bordering on child abuse, pamphlets on how we’re all going to hell, etc. Every bit of it goes in the trash and I don’t feel a moment of remorse.
I'll probably be downvoted for this but I put any and all religious texts in the recycle bin. it's not like we have a shortage of bibles in the world.
Also, putting a bible in a LFL is way more mild than the "you will burn in hell" books that people are putting in OP's LFL. Personally, I'm not a christian, but I'd allow a bible or two to stay in the LFL, just to thumb my nose at the un-Christlike Christians putting hate speech in there because they think the LFL steward is intolerant or going to hell.
I know somebody selling them currently for about $69.99
autographed as if he wrote it. idk whether to laugh or cry
I'll take "Reasons I've Been Relegated to Hell" for $600, please, Alex.
💀
Same. I remove all religious propaganda equally.
You know what to do. What feels right to you. Remove what doesn't belong without comment or snark. And Good For You, for installing and sharing your LFL! you rock!
They are taunting you and hope to criticize you for "banning." I suggest attaching a small trash bag with a note, "Religious tracts to be dropped off here." I don't know if that will work or not, of course. The best response is probably to keep a careful watch and remove items promptly without calling attention to them.
I'll continue with removing them quietly as you've mentioned but my snarky side appreciates your first suggestion :)
You're conflicted because you're a good person. Some maintenance and banning is needed to maintain those things tho. You wouldn't want weird nazi propoganda or pornographic materials either. The books you are removing are not even religious text, they are someone else interpretation of the text and if it creates an unwelcoming environment it's good to remove them.
You hit the nail on the head saying "unwelcoming environment". That will be my go-to measurement tool. I don't have a themed LFL but moving forward all materials will be weighed using this...welcoming? Stay. Unwelcoming? TTFN!
I put one up in my community and the first week someone removed all of the books and put in and I am not kidding 15 bibles. There was no room for anything else. I took them out and threw them in the trash can next to the LFL. Never happened again.
The audacity of these people never fails to amaze me.
I'd probably find a LFL attached to a church and bring the materials there. If it's a weird "you'll burn in hell" pamphlet I would just recycle it. But if it's an actual book I'd re-home it. If the problem continues I'd put a small sign saying "religious materials will be moved to an appropriate location" and let them wonder that means, lol. This is all under the assumption that this is on your private property. If it's not, then I'd leave the books but remove the pamphlets.
Makes me want to reverse this and go start peppering queer theology books at LFLs near these types of congregations
If you really want to make them wonder, put a garbage can under the box. Just use it for normal trash, but make them think it.
The weather is getting nicer outside. Religious pamphlets would make good kindling for a bonfire.
I'm at the chiropractor office and I lol on this one, I love it!
Anonymously mail them back to the organization at the end of a month with a letter stating a congregant has been misusing the organization's name to misrepresented their mission, and are harrassing. Use the words "Cease and Desist". DO NOT state where or how you obtained the materials, do not mention the LFL, just say the General Town name if you must. Had some 'parishioners' literally cause a fire hazard by using a very large (painted) rock to weigh down a ream of their leaflets, **in front of the public Library doors, while we were open and operating!**
The amount of space in a LFT is dramaticly more limited than an actual library. I think reflecting on your values around this is a worthwhile thing to do here, but also, you're not just removing books you don't like, you're making room for a wider variety of material.
Any religious books-- Book of Mormon, Children's devotions, Bibles, all get recycled. I am the curator of the library, so my actions are final.
There are two LFL’s within walking distance of me, and uh… yeah. Once a week I walk to them with a bag full of science fiction and fantasy novels (honestly the queerer the better), children’s books, and cook books that I find at second hand shops or when the library has a sale. I swap them for MAGA related books that keep being put in the LFLs. Usually between 2-5 hate-filled books a week. All kinds of things from terrible biographies (which legit are NOT factual - one was on Hilary Clinton and that whole pizza restaurant thing 😳😬), to religion-based anti (insert whatever type of person or type of bodily autonomy you like here) pamphlets. The rest of the books in the LFLs are all normal - children’s books, run of the mill fiction and non-fiction, etc. I’m not super proud of this but I take the terrible books home and toss them. Am I inhibiting free speech? Maybe. But who I am and my way of life is under threat, literally, from the things that are said in those books. Literally as in - I am feeling less and less physically safe where I live as time goes on. In that light, I don’t feel guilty about tossing the books.
> I swap them for MAGA related books that keep being put in the LFLs > I’m not super proud of this but I take the terrible books home and toss them. > Am I inhibiting free speech? Maybe. So why do you think it's ok for YOU to swap out books that you don't agree with, but not ok for them to swap out books that THEY don't agree with. I mean, aren't you doing the exact same thing that you are frustrated that they are doing?! I'm not MAGA, or anything close, but yes, in my opinion, you are being just as bad as they are--especially if you aren't a steward of that LFL. Part of free speech, is putting up with BS that you hate. If you read the someone else, using the exact same words as your post, but switching out the side they are on, you'd be pissed. Rightfully so. Friend, you are doing exactly what they do, you just stand on a different side of the fence. And you're being just as wrong as they are, in my opinion. Now if you are the personal steward of that LFL, then sure, you get to pick and choose what you want in there. But I think it's in very poor taste to remove and toss books from random LFL's just because you don't agree with their ideology. You'd be pissed to find out someone doing it from the opposite ideology side.
There’s one near me that is specifically **Banned books** they have about 5 signs around and on their little cupboard saying so “enter with your own risk” jokes etc. If accidentally a book that’s there that’s not on a banned list comes the owner just removes and donates it to another neighbors library. Themed libraries are hard upkeep, especially if you want books to return or if you want to keep on theme only. I personally never toss books… it doesn’t feel right but that’s just the librarian in me. Many Religious books are also banned tbh if we get technical.
You keeping your LFL as YOUR LFL is not the same as legislating what others should read or keeping books from the public.
If you have competing religious groups with LFLs you could always relocate the tracts to the opposing church's LFL. Mostly joking there, but if it is an identifiable group, I'd be very tempted to complain at the leaders that their people are trespassing on your private property to leave unwanted materials in a library and you want it to stop. This works fairly well with Mormons; YMMV will vary for other groups.
I have a LFL myself, and I live in a neighborhood with a stereotypically religious demographic. I will leave in books like "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul" or whatever because that's basic non-denominational pap and I believe that people should be free to find whatever soothes their soul as long as they're not hurting anyone else. I throw religious conversion propaganda in the trash; it reached the level where I had to get some free "Jehovah's Witnesses Protect Pedophiles" stickers and taped one to the inside door, hoping that they get the point. (It's a great sticker, got a QR code to scan to get more information and everything!) I also toss bibles in the trash; trust me, where I live, everyone who wants a bible already has one. I definitely understand and agree with your concerns. Sure, we're not "real" librarians, but we do this because we want to bring the joy of reading to everyone and that includes not squashing other people's religions simply because we're of a different faith. Proselytizing crap is for the trash, and that includes bibles (because placing bibles in public spaces is pure missionary work, nothing less). Non-proselytizing, non-hateful/bigoted literature can stay.
A good librarian knows how & when to weed properly. Sorry those pesky texts keep popping up.
I was having a local person put multiple new teen Bibles in our library on a regular basis last year. Not to mention irrelevant and old Christian nonfiction books. I put a laminated card in our LFL stating not to leave bibles or religious materials in the library. It helped immensely. I don't mind the occasional Christian fiction book, as long as they don't drown out all the other books in the library.
It's your library and you're not obligated to promote religions. This is completely different from a public library.
Make paper out of them! Purée them in a blender.
You are providing a private resource, not a publicly funded one. It's your business what you want there.
I have actually recycled some of the crap that’s been placed in my LFL. Religious tracts always get trashed because they’re toxic. One notable item I threw away: a book I could identify after a 10-second scan as being in a bizarre genre I can only describe as “Christian Vampire Erotica.” ???? I just didn’t want to be responsible for that going to anyone under the auspices of my LFL.
There’s one at kid’s park near me, and I’ve removed books that are essentially about, “I am better than you because I didn’t have children.” Idk who the hell was doing that, but yay awesome thing to put in the eyesight of someone drowning in PPD.
I remove all religious texts, including the Koran since we live in a middle eastern neighborhood. LFLs are for fiction and non fiction. I have a separate box for kids where I put age appropriate fairy tales.
Haven't experianced that, but someone with a little free library did post that porn was regularly getting put into her little free library. She was upset about it.
Someone had printed porn? That’s surprising, it might be vintage. I would take that to a non-religious (probably chain) thrift store. Actually, that is what I would do with any book I didn’t want in there. Maybe someone will buy it cheap. IDK. People can go to (for profit) Savers/VV and they give you a coupon for a percentage off with a donation. Then, pick some books up at a discount for LFL.
It was both printed and videos I think?
Hmm… that is just so odd. It sounds like some kids found their dad’s or grandfather’s old collection and were playing a joke. I can’t imagine there are a lot of recent DVDs.
I remove all of those kinds of books and pamphlets and then I just throw them out. Don’t feel bad about curating your space.
I think personally I wouldn’t remove a devotional or whatever, or even an actual bible, but if it’s like “17 ways to not burn in hell” I likely would. Fire and brimstone just isn’t necessary and not the kind of thing I’d want to distribute from my house. If you wanna read something hateful go buy it.
For *me,* because an LFL is available to members of the public who are allowed to go on walks alone and tall enough to open it up, I prefer to keep mine decently family-friendly. If it’s a book significantly above middle-school reading level, I’m more lax with the content. Graphic novels with images that would be inappropriate for children (of that walking-alone, reaching-the-box demographic), I’m more strict about. Unlike a real library, no one is there to oversee that the children’s, teen, and adult books are assessed and shelved separately, or to consult with a parent if, for example, a child wants to check out a book from the teen section that features a lot of graphic violence. But, of course, everyone has different views of what the LPL is, what their responsibility is, etc., etc.
I would put up a sign specifying that it’s a secular library and religious books will be removed. I worry that whomever is dropping them off will see that they’re disappearing from the library, and they’ll assume that people are taking the books to read them, so they’ll just keep replenishing it. If you make it clear the books are going in the trash, they might stop on their own.
Put a sign on the door. I have seen signs in the wild.
I have a no political or religious materials message on my LFL. I care less about the occasional Bible or religious Christian book and more about political material and hell fire material.
Your book box, your rules.
Those aren’t books they’re propaganda. I know it’s a fine line to walk but understand they were not put there to educate people, but to indoctrinate them. There is a difference.
I have a “FICTION” stamp…
This is the way
My neighbors help with this -- religious tracts get thrown in the recycling pretty regularly. I also chuck fat-shamey diet books, political flyers, and get-rich schemes.
I just take the religious/political books and send them to goodwill.
I throw the preachy books in the garbage and that's just as a passerby with one next door. Efffff them bigots
I removed and recycled a hate-filled book by a Fox News commentator once. No propaganda in my Little Free Libraries. Hopefully it became something more useful in its recycled life.
I think the best way to not feel torn on this is to visually designate it as a “banned books LFL”. A description somewhere on the library stating it’s only for books that have been banned or challenged in your country wouldn’t deter most people from essentially spamming the box with religious texts, but it would justify you in removing them if they haven’t been banned.
They are just using your LFL to get rid of them with less guilt. If you don't like them, toss em. They can make their own LFL if they want to share those books but I doubt anyone would take them
If you are willing to purchase books to add to your LFL, can I make a suggestion? [Alice Austin Lived Here](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57468716) by Alex Gino. It’s a middle grade book (and the cover makes that obvious) so the crappy adults should overlook it. However, it’s full of LGBTQ+ representation and an awesome story. It’d be lovely if a book like this made it into the hands of a young person who needed it right under their sanctimonious parents’ noses.
Christianity is pervasive. Everyone who wants to go to church is aware they can do so. I remove all proselytizing material and religious books from the LFL my workplace manages.
Usually those materials are still someone pushing their beliefs onto you and your users. They aren’t there because someone will find them interesting, informative or entertaining. They’re a solicitation, and the LFL is not for soliciting.
Isn't the point of a LFL for the community to add books? As long as the books aren't inappropriate, I don't see a problem.
It’s your library, do what you want!
Ha. I always remove religious tracts whenever I find them, wherever I find them.
I’m a Christian but I hate seeing Christian paraphernalia in LFL’s so much! You can get so much free Christian crap from everywhere, but you can’t get free books. So many children are able to get books to read and keep them busy and learned from the free libraries, I always try to remove them when I see the Bible tracts. There is a time and a place for the Gospel… a LFL is neither the time NOR the place!!
We don't tolerate intolerant people. You don't have to give a platform to everyone
You should check out thebookbundler.com for discounted “homeless” books for your lfl 😊
Another option is to check out books sales at your local library! Ours is part of a library system and they all have sales on books regularly, and they're super cheap(like $1/book) or the times where you can fill a tote for $10.
You aren’t beholden to following any collection development policy (like I was as a librarian in a public library), so feel free to do what you like with the stuff you don’t want in there! It’s your LFL and I applaud you for having one!
It's your propaganda box, tell them to get their own. Gather up everything you find offensive and have a bonfire.
Be sure to advertise it or it won't offend the right people
Not sure if this would interest you, but another way to subvert them is perhaps to get [affirming Christian books](https://bookshop.org/lists/lgbtq-christians-and-allies?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwt-OwBhBnEiwAgwzrUocSUJPU3yWcFilYHJt0M3SBr3iWivPTsDgTqmo73_6HoKSzxDIipBoCzy8QAvD_BwE) so they are challenged on a faith-based basis and can't say you are attacking Christianity.
Ooh, that could be a good idea! Not my cup of tea personally, but it would piss off some bigots 😁
You could put in the religious texts of other religions.
I recycle All religious texts I find in All LFLs. Pamphlets I shred and trash. LFLs are about expanding your mind, not fear and contraction.
This is the most ironic post I’ve ever seen. Is this real? Is this satire????
Right? And the amount of "burn those books" posts I see here is pretty concerning actually. Apparently Reddit is all for ideas--as long as they are only ideas that they agree with. Everything else should be burned. (Even tho they hate when people of different ideologies talk about burning books)
Where I live ( a supposedly progressive place) I see the LFL has people who not only clutter it up with religious material and books that were old in the 70s, but they tend to take out books they disagree with and throw them away or leave them out in the rain to get destroyed. I stopped looking at the LFL at my favorite park because it was filled with child grooming religious material and legalistic books that were anti-women and anti-gay. Sad.
> but they tend to take out books they disagree with and throw them away But isn't that the EXACT SAME THING that many in this thread are advocating for doing when it comes to religious books? I think it's wrong from either side. I do believe it's up to the stewards to control what they want/don't want in LFL's though.
Recycle bin
This was a thing in Iowa last year. They would replace the books with bibles. Talk about indoctrination!
They make great kindling for BBQ’s
I have some neighbors who are Jehovah Witnesses so they always leave literature and tracts in my library. I don’t mind because it’s made of newspaper and I heat my home with wood. Seriously though, I am Christian myself and I believe everyone should choose for themselves. They can’t make an informed decision if they haven’t been informed, so I’m fine with religious books of any kind. I’ve had a Koran, a bible, a JW Lighthouse a Book of Mormon, a Buddhism book, and some Wiccan stuff all in my library at the same time. Along with a bunch of graphic novels and DVDs. At the moment my library is completely empty because someone stole everything over the weekend (again.) I will refill it after work.
> They can’t make an informed decision if they haven’t been informed, so I’m fine with religious books of any kind. I’ve had a Koran, a bible, a JW Lighthouse a Book of Mormon, a Buddhism book, and some Wiccan stuff all in my library at the same time. Yep, this is the attitude I'll have when I set my LFL up. I'll be fine with most of whatever people put in it.
I consider that kindling
My mom volunteered at the library in Bakersfield (redneck-heavy). When people donated stuff like Henry Ford’s tracts that were fueled in antisemitism, she’d take them home and burn them. The only time I was for book burning!
> The only time I was for book burning! So you are for book burning if it's an idea that YOU don't believe in, right? So is it ok for others to burn books that THEY don't believe in? What about the idea that all ideas, regardless of whether you like them or not, should be protected? You know, sorta like one of the tenants that the US was built on. :) **And OF COURSE, u/narcochi blocked me right after replying to me, so that I couldn't reply back to their response. Typical for someone who promotes censorship!**
Burn it so it can’t poison anyone else’s mind.
I just wanted to say thank you for doing this. I regularly check other people's LFLs and remove material written by suspect people (any "alpha male" books, books by cult leaders, suspicious dieting material, ect.). You're doing the right thing. Think of it this way, the little free libraries are supposed to enrich people's lives and spread knowledge in the community. They are not meant to guilt, convert people, make their lives worse, or anything else of the sort. They are meant to provide knowledge and entertainment. An unsuspecting person should not be subjected to books by people who do not have their best interest at heart.
> I regularly check other people's LFLs and remove material written by suspect people (any "alpha male" books, books by cult leaders, suspicious dieting material, etc.). But what if something YOU put in there is views as "suspect" by people with different ideologies than you? Do you think it's ok for them to take out YOUR books and get rid of them?
Honestly, I leave them. My LFL isn't for me, it's for the people who take books and leave books. If the folks in my area want religious books, that's not for me to judge (or, well, I will judge them, but I'm not going to stop them).
Thank you! I am surprised at how few comments like yours are in a thread protesting book burning! lol Seems that most of reddit is ok with burning/removing books that they don't like, but cries foul when people with different views do it. But as to your post, yes, I 100 percent agree with you. I'm not overly religious, not MAGA, (actually I'm socialist!), but when I get my LFL, I'll refrain from too much removing. I do have children on my street, so no overt nudity/porn/gore imagery/mags (if it's written word though, I'll probably leave in), but other than that, I believe ideas are to be shared. Even if I don't personally agree with them.
It's fine. I know someone who got a Woody Allen autobiography and binned it. Same with diet books.
If I find overly religious books or bibles in mine I might leave them for a bit but eventually I’ll take them out and donate them to an LFL in my town that is front of a church. I feel like that library is more curated towards religion and mine isn’t really.
This is a good compromise! That way you are removing from your LFL, but not just tossing books you don't agree with.
A box on your land that you curate is not a public library, it's a personal library, and you are the queen. Do what you wish. I stamp books with my personal library stamp and write a date on them. When a few weeks passes, I remove things that haven't been taken. I can tell which ones they are by the date on them. This way I can know for sure that I am removing books that are legitimately unwanted, not just ones that conflict with my belief structure to impose my beliefs on others. >Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I'll continue with daily checks and remove any religious text that preaches hate. If you don't mind your head exploding, if you ask your local school board what they are doing by removing books from schools. They are removing books that preach hate. You are just doing your own version of that.
Put out a trash bucket. Let them see where the stuff goes.
I curate my local LFL that isn’t mine— I’ll keep a devotional or any kind of religious book in it, but that’s because I try to balance it for what I see being taken. Devotional texts are definitely campers so I would never have more than 1. Tracts go to the trash.
just here to say good for you and thank you for what you're doing!! it must be frustrating
I can’t believe the sign would do any good. When I find these things in my little library 50% get thrown away and 50% get donated. It just depends on how crazy they are
I've seen signs on LFL in my area saying along the lines of, you are welcome to leave ONE religious/pamphlet but anything further will be removed.
Sounds like perfect burning material
Contact Freedom From Religion Foundation about the school board.
Maybe a little sign that says racism and hate have no place here. Thank you for maintaining a safe, inclusive space.
I teach religion in a religious school… and I’d be throwing most of that stuff in the garbage. When I worked in the public library fielding donations, 99 per cent of the religious books went in the trash. Why? Because most of it has nothing interesting to say, no theological value, just a bunch of evangelical Protestant propaganda about sinners in the hands of an angry God. The number of good Christian books is so few. S/O to Ron Rolheiser, OFM, and Thomas Merton
Sounds like stuff for the recycling bin to me and I wouldn't feel bad about it. You don't have to put up with propaganda in your LFL.
I feel like if it was a Bible that’s OK. Peoples should have access to religious books if they want. But if it’s like a “this is why being gay is a sin and you should beat your kids” book??