IL Freedom Caucus urges Illinois public libraries to withdraw from the American Library Association

From left to right: State Reps. Blaine Wilhour, Dan Caulkins, Jed Davis, Chris Miller, Adam Niemerg, Brad Halbrook. Photo submitted by IL Freedom Caucus.

For Immediate Release – July 20, 2023

Springfield, IL – The IL Freedom Caucus is urging Illinois libraries to follow the lead of Montana and withdraw membership from the American Library Association and is issuing the following statement:

“The American Library Association, which is headquartered in Chicago, elected a self-described Marxist as the president of the Association last year. Emily Drabinski began her term as president this month. In an April 13, 2022, Tweet she wrote:

‘I just cannot believe that a Marxist lesbian who believes that collective power is possible to build and can be wielded for a better world is the president-elect of @ALALibrary. I am so excited for what we will do together. Solidarity! And my mom is SO PROUD I love you mom.’ (@edrabinski)

The idea that Emily Drabinski is not going to use her platform to advocate for her extreme ideology is laughable. Of course, she is going to use the platform to push her radical agenda. She made that abundantly clear when she highlighted her ideology and her belief in ‘collective power.’ The ALA at its core is an advocacy organization and for the next year the ALA will be led by a self-described Marxist.

The stated purpose of the ALA is to ‘promote library service and librarianship,’ but increasingly the organization has become more focused on advancing a woke agenda. Library advocacy should be about promoting literacy and better access to libraries but under the leadership of Emily Drabinski, the ALA will become even more radicalized. We will see even more sexualized content readily available to small children and even more inappropriate programs at libraries. We would never accept a male stripper dancing in front of kids at a library but when they put on women’s underwear and lipstick it is not only embraced, it is celebrated by activists like Emily Drabinski, who will use her position to push her radical agenda and undermine the rights and concerns of parents throughout the nation in the process.

We urge Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias to withdraw the Illinois Library Systems from the American Library Association and we urge all local libraries currently affiliated with the ALA to do the same. It is time to take a stand against the far-left corruption of our institutions.”