I’m tired of being called the aunt of culture and being singled out for children’s management activities – The Work

In the first party leaders debate of the year on the SVT agenda, SD Democratic leader Jamie Oakeson wanted to stop what he calls inappropriate culture. This includes Drag Queen Story Hour, which are stories for children in public libraries read by drag queens.

In an interview on Saturday with Ekot, Åkesson was asked what he thought of fellow party member Björn Söder’s remarks that parents who take children for story time should be reported as concerned because he believes drag artists are pedophiles in cultural politics.

Akesson replied that there had been a long discussion about “drag artists and their different needs to interact with children in different ways with different sexual innuendos and there are clearly many who find it strange and inappropriate”.

arm’s length

In the same programme, the Tidö Convention and the distance distance to culture were discussed. This means that politicians set frameworks with money and regulation but do not invest in the artistic content of cultural policy.

But Jamie Oakeson said he does not disagree with the politicians responsible for how tax money is used.

I have worked for many years in both school and public libraries. Children and young people are a priority group in the Library Act.

This means that all library workers, whether in schools or in public libraries, must think about how to attract young people to our facilities and activities.

Alert reports when reading

There have long been alarming reports that children and young adults are reading less and less fiction and nonfiction texts.

They have emerged on social media where gifs dominate. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it becomes problematic when they can’t tell the difference between facts, lies, and fake news.

There, school librarians have the important task of taking lessons in source criticism and information seeking, as well as showing how and above all why information looks the way it does.

For their part, public librarians have a large and important task to have an activity and media choice that attracts children and young people to the world of fairy tales and books.

And then drag the queens

What does this have to do with reading drag queens to kids? Well, young children are an important group that we must catch early so that they will want to come to the library when they are older.

By working to reinforce reading in different ways, they will look for books when they can read them themselves. When they grow up, we have already lost them.

This is why the Drag Queen Story Hour is so important. Aside from the obvious, that kids will engage in relaxing story time with positive queer role models reading normative creative stories that challenge gender norms.

When we librarians arrange events, there is a clue behind which speakers to invite and why. We discuss back and forth in the group of people. Find out who the people are.

We also have a set of values ​​to adhere to that seem similar in most municipalities and that focus on equality and gender equality. Other passwords are diversity, inclusion, and respect for one another.

Decisions based on experience and knowledge

So no, we librarians are not fans of pedophile, but rather a profession that promotes reading, educates the public, and struggles despite short staffing and low wages.

Especially children’s librarians who put in unpaid hours off work to find that special book or story for an 11-year-old who can’t stop reading. Or for the 6-year-old who is just starting to read on their own.

I am sick and tired of being called “Aunt Culture” and singled out for doing perverted activities for children in libraries.

Librarians have taught for many years at university and have the knowledge and skills to determine what is appropriate.

Our decisions are made on the basis of research and experience. Politicians should step away from culture and let us culture experts do the job.