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Walter Skold explores Castro’s Library Pass, in a four-part series on the American Library Association’s pandering to Fidel Castro’s totalitarian regime. In Part I he lists 14 of the books that automatically mean a concentration camp sentence for anyone caught with one. Additionally,

. . .in Cuba, book burning is documented as a state-sanctioned answer to independent reading.

In celebration of the spirit of free expression and capitalism, I’m listing where you can acquire each of those books; some are free, some you can purchase through my Amazon Associates links; all are worth reading:

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. 1999 report by Human Rights Watch, entitled Cuba’s Repressive Machinery.
3. US Constitution.
4. Carlos Franqui’s Family Portrait with Fidel.
5. Georgie Geyer’s biography, Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro.
6. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
7. El Proyecto Varela, by Alberto Muller.
8. The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe, by Vaclav Havel.
9. The Global Resurgence of Democracy, by Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner.
10. Como Llego La Noche by Huber Matos.
11. Evidence That Demands a Verdict, by Josh McDowell.
12. El Viaje de Juan Pablo II [I couldn’t find this particular title but this book has a compilation of the late Pope’s words.]
13. A copy of the Communist Party’s own Granma newspaper and a copy of the Cuban Penal Code.
14. The devastating, massive The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, by Stéphane Courtois et al. (Also available in the original French).

Part II of Mr. Skold’s series starts by asking

Since the ALA’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OIF) website says the primary audience for their postings is the general public, and since readers are encouraged to write Don Wood with questions, I sent him an e-mail on June 25 to inquire why the news of Castro’s book burning was not included on the book burning page he edits?

You must read the rest.

Babalu Blog invites us to

Do take the time and read Mr. Skold’s article. Then, once youve finished and your stomach is turning with repugnance, come on back here and let the ALA know how you feel. You can contact the ALA and its leaders as follows:
President Michael Gorman
President Elect Leslie Burger
Immediate Past President Carol Brey
The Executive Board
Council for Intellectual Freedom
Michael Dowling, Director, International Relations Office
ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels

Parts III and IV of the Skold report will follow.