Library refuses donation from atheist “hate group”
But when Mehta asked his readers to pitch in to make up the difference and they rallied their support, Park District officials flatly refused the check, saying the district “has no intention of becoming embroiled in a First Amendment dispute.” Mehta, now faced with the unusual dilemma of having a few thousand dollars and a recipient who didn’t want it, next went to the Morton Grove Public Library. The library’s rejection was even firmer. During a debate over whether to accept the money, trustee Cathy Peters cited some of the more incendiary commenters on Mehta’s Friendly Atheist Facebook page and said, “They’re a hate group,” and asked, “Would you take money from the Klan?” Mehta argued, “I get 2,000 comments a day and don’t always look through all of them. Anyone who operates a forum understands that. I stand by my own posts, but them being bothered by random comments is a weak argument.” But the library stood firm.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
View all posts by Michael Sauers
But when Mehta asked his readers to pitch in to make up the difference and they rallied their support, Park District officials flatly refused the check, saying the district “has no intention of becoming embroiled in a First Amendment dispute.” Mehta, now faced with the unusual dilemma of having a few thousand dollars and a recipient who didn’t want it, next went to the Morton Grove Public Library. The library’s rejection was even firmer. During a debate over whether to accept the money, trustee Cathy Peters cited some of the more incendiary commenters on Mehta’s Friendly Atheist Facebook page and said, “They’re a hate group,” and asked, “Would you take money from the Klan?” Mehta argued, “I get 2,000 comments a day and don’t always look through all of them. Anyone who operates a forum understands that. I stand by my own posts, but them being bothered by random comments is a weak argument.” But the library stood firm.
