I was disappointed to see Representative Fisher’s letter to the editor using fear to criticize his constituents who wanted to protect the funding of local libraries.

The bill he advocates for wants to bully local libraries into dropping membership in the American Library Association and the Iowa Library Association by cutting off their funding if they pay dues to those organizations. I suspect they pay the dues because they believe they will gain benefits in terms of shared expertise and advocacy.

I find particularly offensive his invocation of “Iowa values.” The ALA’s basic principles were codified ninety years ago by an Iowa librarian, Forest Spaulding. The current ALA president is an Iowa librarian. As an Iowa historian, I can attest to the Iowa values of toleration, respect, and the value of education. We may not agree with you, but that doesn’t give us the right to cut off your funding – -that’s more of an Iowa value than the one Rep. Fisher touts.

In the 1990’s, Republicans criticized “the nanny state.” But now that they are in charge in Iowa, they seem to be not only nannies, but doctors, teachers, librarians, and bedroom monitors.

I take heart that Rep. Fisher’s constituents are more alarmed at the threat to our libraries than he is, for ultimately, in a democracy, the power lies with the people.