Libraries hawking Obamacare

So it’s come to this: The Obama administration has drafted libraries to sell the unsellable. The Affordable Health Care Act — the unaffordable, unreadable, unrealistic overhaul of America’s health care system — has been foisted on one of the few remaining institutions of free thought.

There’s nothing wrong with making informational pamphlets available to library patrons, nor is it wrong to dedicate a couple of public computers for them to sign up for the deal. What is wrong with this is training library staff to promote Obamacare. This is the antithesis of a library’s function.

Disseminating knowledge in all its varied formats is the primary function of a library. It is not now, nor has it ever been, the purpose of a library to promote a political agenda or program.

When a patron asks a librarian for information, the answer should come in the form of a call number for nonfiction, or the author’s last name for fiction. When it comes to Obamacare, the librarian’s only answer should be, “Let me direct you to the website,” or “Here’s an informational pamphlet on the subject.”

Anything more violates the inviolable realm of the public library.

VICKIE ZOLEZZI
BLACKSBURG

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