Petition to Support our Libraries and Stand Against Censorship

Libraries in Parishes across the state are being targeted for censorship by political special interest groups and we need your help to stop them here in St Tammany. 

 

St Tammany Parish is a welcoming community to all and we stand firmly against banning books.  As such we endorse the following statements:

  • We believe that all people in our Parish deserve to see themselves reflected in our library’s collection.
  • We know a large majority of Americans (75%) across the political spectrum oppose book bans.
  • We stand in opposition to special interest groups seeking to limit access or remove books from our libraries. These groups include the St Tammany Parish Library Accountability Project, Citizens for a New Louisiana, and AG Landry. 
  • We believe parents should decide for themselves what their children read and that individuals and groups from our community should not dictate what other parents let their children read or what books are available in our library. 
  • Limiting access to or banning books from public libraries is a slippery slope to government censorship and a violation of our first amendment rights.
  • We hold our library director and our librarians in high regard and trust them to do their jobs.

We are united against book bans and we ask that our Parish President and Council pledge to act to protect the rights of members of our community to access a variety of books, magazines and other media through our public libraries.

Information about what brought this petition about can be found here.

3,526 signatures

Will you sign?

  • Jessica Bean
    signed 2022-12-01 18:27:35 -0600
  • Michelle Donaldson
    signed 2022-12-01 18:25:44 -0600
  • Colette Tanner
    signed via 2022-12-01 18:25:07 -0600
  • Suzanne van Duym
    signed 2022-12-01 18:24:13 -0600
  • Bernadette Pasek
    signed 2022-12-01 18:24:07 -0600
  • Jo Hackl
    signed 2022-12-01 18:18:28 -0600
  • David McLaughlin
    signed 2022-12-01 18:06:29 -0600
  • Debbie Levy
    signed 2022-12-01 17:59:12 -0600
  • Ellen Steigman
    signed 2022-12-01 17:55:27 -0600
  • Anne Chernoff
    signed 2022-12-01 17:55:20 -0600
  • Teresa Minnaugh
    signed 2022-12-01 17:48:45 -0600
  • Karen Depp
    signed 2022-12-01 17:40:17 -0600
  • Carmen Diaz
    signed 2022-12-01 17:37:25 -0600
  • Tamara Murray
    signed via 2022-12-01 17:31:22 -0600
  • James Ballot
    signed 2022-12-01 17:30:25 -0600
  • Bill Arceneaux
    signed 2022-12-01 17:26:46 -0600
  • Paul Mattio
    signed 2022-12-01 17:20:17 -0600
  • Mary Stevens
    signed 2022-12-01 17:11:09 -0600
  • Swati Shah
    signed via 2022-12-01 17:11:01 -0600
  • Patrick McElligott
    signed 2022-12-01 17:05:05 -0600
  • Arthur Thompson
    signed 2022-12-01 16:57:22 -0600
    How dare a group of mothers pick on the libraries. They should be concerned with the schools indoctrinating these children
  • Nancy Perla
    signed 2022-12-01 16:51:31 -0600
  • Elizabeth Blankenship
    signed 2022-12-01 16:44:02 -0600
  • Shannon DeSantis Gile
    signed 2022-12-01 16:42:08 -0600
  • Shana Nagy
    signed 2022-12-01 16:42:03 -0600
    no books should ever be banned
  • Annie Spell
    signed 2022-12-01 16:26:33 -0600
    Banning books violates our First Amendment rights. Please protect our right to read. Don’t take books off our public library shelves.
  • Adrienne Celt
    signed 2022-12-01 16:09:05 -0600
  • Jamie munaco
    signed via 2022-12-01 16:04:42 -0600
  • Barbara Band
    signed 2022-12-01 15:53:52 -0600
    As a professional school librarian, I support the freedom to read and oppose people imposing their views on others.
  • Kristi Baird
    signed 2022-12-01 15:52:31 -0600
    Censorship, in all forms, sucks. Banning Books is the worst.