Open Letter to Hawaii State Librarian

December 10, 2018

To Stacey Aldrich, Office of State Librarian:

It seems almost daily, though it’s probably closer to weekly, that another book promoting pseudoscience, superstition or nutrition/medical fraud appears on the new-books rack in the Makawao library. No doubt it’s the same in other branches. The latest is Handbook of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda by Bridgette Shea. But I have yet to see a new book on that rack that questions, critiques or debunks the pre-science, anti-science nonsense.

Looking through the system’s catalog I count roughly twice as many astrology titles as astronomy titles; at least ten times as many titles about or promoting religions as those about or promoting atheism; ten times as many titles promoting the delusion/fraud of alien abduction as those debunking the madness; about 60 titles promoting acupuncture and none debunking it; 80 titles by con-artist Sylvia Browne and dozens more by other “psychics” and only a handful casting doubt on them; and scores of titles promoting assorted questionable diet and nutrition theories and none debunking them. It’s as if the library system takes direction from the tabloid The Weekly World News.

I’m afraid reforming the system and bringing it into the 21^st Century so it helps prepare young people for the real world is not something we can realistically hope for, at least not in the near future. I think most librarians responsible for book acquisitions are postmodernists who don’t value science, critical thinking and rationalism. Nevertheless, I am submitting a list of titles that, I believe, most scientists and other rational people would agree should be in every branch to provide some balance and serve as a partial dike against the flood of hogwash. E-book versions are available for some of these.

I suggest that those responsible for acquisitions also consider titles reviewed in the periodicals listed below and peruse the catalogs of Prometheus Books, the foremost publisher of rationalist titles.

I see that the system does have some of the titles I recommend, but not nearly enough, and not at enough branches, to balance the pseudoscientific and superstitious titles. For example, all the branches have several astrology titles, so they should also have titles skeptical of astrology such as Roger Culver’s Astrology, True or False; A Scientific Evaluation.  

Many of the excellent titles are at the main branch only. Yes, patrons at one branch can request books from other branches. But very few people browse the catalog looking for titles than might interest them. They are much more likely to browse the shelves and the new books sections. The inferior titles have a strong advantage in this respect. 

Finally, I suggest that all branches get rid of signs like the one in the Makawao branch that give special status to astrology (or other superstitions/pseudo-sciences) and replace them with signs designating science in general or a specific science. Signs such as the former are an embarrassment and a disgrace for a modern library.

Suggested Acquisitions (* These should be priorities)

Alien Abductions: Creating a Modern Phenomenon

By Terry Matheson

An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism

By Gordon Stein (Edited by)

* Astrology, True or False; A Scientific Evaluation

By Roger Culver

Atheism: A Reader

By S. T. Joshi (Edited by)

* Autism's False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure

By Paul Offit M.D.

* The Believing Brain: From Ghosts and Gods to Politics and Conspiracies---How We Construct Beliefs and Reinforce Them as Truths

By Michael Shermer

The Bermuda Triangle Mystery –  Solved

By Larry Kusche

Chemical Sensitivity: the Truth about Environmental Illness

By Stephan J. Barrett

Chiropractic: A Victim’s Perspective

By George Magner

A Consumer's Guide to Alternative Medicine

By Kurt Butler  (Note: I am considering donating copies of this one to several branches. I’m trying to get a good deal.)

Critiques of God: Making the Case Against Belief in God

By Peter Adam Angeles (Edited by)

* The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

By Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan

Encounters with the Paranormal

By Kendrick Frazier

* An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural

By James Randi

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading)

By Charles Mackay, David J. Schneider (Introduction by)

Extrasensory Deception

By Henry Gordon

The Faith Healers by James Randi 

* Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions  

By James Randi , Isaac Asimov  

* God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist

By Victor J. Stenger, Christopher Hitchens (Foreword by)

God and the Folly of Faith: The Incompatibility of Science and Religion

By Victor J. Stenger, Dan Barker (Foreword by)

* God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction

By Dan Barker and Richard Dawkins

The Health Robbers

By Stephen Barrett and William Jarvis

* Natural Causes: Death, Lies and Politics in America's Vitamin and Herbal Supplement Industry

By Dan Hurley

The New Atheism: Taking a Stand for Science and Reason

By Victor J. Stenger

Psychic Sleuths

By Joe Nickell

* Qigong: Chinese Medicine or Pseudoscience?

By Zixin Lin

Quacks and Crusaders: The Fabulous Careers of John Brinkley, Norman Baker, and Harry Hoxsey

By Eric S. Juhnke

The Real Roswell Crashed-Saucer Coverup  

By Philip J. Klass

Reincarnation

By Paul Edwards

Science and the Assault on Democracy: Defending Reason in a Free Society

By Michael J. Thompson (Edited by), Gregory R. Smulewicz-Zucker (Edited by)

* Science Meets Alternative Medicine

By Wallace Sampson, MD

* Secrets of the Supernatural

By Joe Nickell

The Skeptic's Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions by Robert Todd Carroll

Skeptic: Viewing the World with a Rational Eye

By Michael Shermer

* Snake Oil Science: The Truth about Complementary and Alternative Medicine

By R. Barker Bausell

* Therapeutic Touch

By Carla Selby and Bela Scheiber

The Transcendental Temptation; A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal  

By Paul Kurtz.  

The Truth about Uri Geller by James Randi

* Trick or Treatment: The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine

By Edzard Ernst , Simon Singh

UFO-Abductions: A Dangerous Game

By Philip J. Klass

* UFOs: The Public Deceived

 By Philip J. Klass

Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation

By Bill Nye and Corey S. Powell

The Vitamin Pushers

By Stephan J. Barrett

Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time

By Michael Shermer and Stephen Jay Gould

Periodicals

At least one of these should be in every branch. I recommend Skeptical Inquirer as the most topical, comprehensive and readable.

Skeptical Inquirer, The Skeptic Magazine, Free Inquiry