On June 1, the first day of Pride month, drag queens set a Guinness World Record when 263 people came to Philadelphia to hear one of their infamous story times. On August 24, one of the hundreds of Americans who host educational story times in nearly every state in the country hopes to beat that record on See You at the Library Day.
You shouldn’t have much trouble. After over 50 libraries refused to allow actor and author Kirk Cameron to provide public spaces for age-appropriate children’s storytimes in 2022 and 2023 – even though many of those spaces were used for drag queen storytimes – Cameron and his team rented private spaces. The venture was a smash success, with more than 300 storytimes in total across the United States. The very first storytime Cameron hosted in Indianapolis attracted thousands of people.
This year, Cameron is partnering with Brave Books again to organize storytimes where hundreds of patriotic Americans host events in their hometowns. Some of the hosts – like a Christian firefighter, an immigrant from the Soviet Union and a homeschooling mother – have been there for the past year, while others are participating for the first time.
According to Brave Books, 39 story times are planned in Texas alone starting Friday night, with 16 planned in deep blue California. Cameron told The Federalist that he and Pastor John Amanchukwu plan to attend some story times in the Washington DC and Virginia areas.
“We don’t want to let these states down,” Camon said of the “suffering” areas that are “crying out for change.” “We want to be part of their revival and revitalization.” The Brave team even invited Governor Gavin Newsom to a story time in California, “in the hope that he will learn about the values that will bless his state.”
Children and parents who come to See You at the Library Day can expect to “learn about gender identity from God’s perspective,” Cameron said in an interview with The Federalist. “It’s a book called Elephants are not birdsand Culture the Vulture tries to convince Kevin the Elephant that he would be happier as a bird because he loves to sing. But Kevin discovers the truth and becomes a local hero when he accepts who God made and made him.”
In another story, children will also learn about Sky Tree, “a small acorn that grows into a big, strong tree that provides a home and food for all the animals on Freedom Island,” Cameron said. They will also “learn that every life is precious… including unborn life, including the lives of the disabled and especially the lives of the elderly.”
“These are books that are fun and imaginative, but at the same time reinforce the worldview and values that parents so desire,” Cameron added.
Photo creditCourtesy of Brave Books
“See You at the Library Day” has not been without opposition from the left, especially angry local activists. In Huntsville, Alabama, for example, where Cameron visited with conservative swimmer Riley Gaines last year, left-wing community members organized a protest, he said, calling the family-friendly library movement “Kirkpocalypse.”
“The hypocrisy is at level 10,” Cameron said. The people who shout “book ban” when parents try to keep pornographic books from their children are the same people who try to prevent edifying reading.
However, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. Cameron said many libraries remember last year’s event and are even more excited this time, which has led to higher participation.
The hosts are also enthusiastic, and some have been there since last year because “it takes the actions of brave men and women to free us from our cultural decline in this country,” as one host from Camp Verde, Arizona, said. And he is right.
“The most important thing we can do to win the war is not to shout and scream or vote for whoever we vote for,” said Cameron, who just became a grandfather. “Nothing works if we don’t raise our own children. We have to be the gatekeepers to make sure nothing bad happens to them, and we have to strengthen their immunity to evil. And we strengthen the good in them.”
“I want to build a library for children and grandchildren across the country with things that will inspire their imagination and instill in them a love of truth and an understanding of right and wrong.”
Find a story time near you here. If there isn’t one, take your children to your local library on August 24 to read books based on traditional biblical and American values, and pray for America.
