13 July—Hearty congratulations to the Board of Trustees of the Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library in Old Lyme that voted unanimously—after the resignation of one member, mind you—on Tuesday to not remove two young adult books about sex (of course, although they could just as well have been about evolution) that some of the town’s cave dwellers didn’t approve of.

“After careful consideration,” the posted notice reads, “the Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library Board of Trustees has determined that the books You Know, Sex: Bodies, Gender, Puberty, and Other Things by Cory Silverberg and Fiona Smyth and Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan meet the selection criteria as stated in The Library’s Collection Development Policy for inclusion in the Library’s Teen/Tween collection.

[Editorial emphasis in boldface follows]

“In regards to these books, The Old Lyme Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library recognizes that many materials are controversial and that any given item may offend some patrons. The Board has affirmed its policy that selection of materials will not be made on the basis of anticipated approval or disapproval, but solely on the basis of the principles stated in the policy. Library materials will not be marked or identified to show approval or disapproval of their contents, and no material will be sequestered, except to protect it from injury or theft.

“Young people must be middle school age to visit the Library unaccompanied. Parents should assume unaccompanied youth have full access to the Library and all its collections—including the adult collections. Limiting access to content is the responsibility of the parent. If you feel you need to accompany your child to the library or any particular collection, we welcome and encourage your presence.

“The Board of Trustees fully supports each member of its staff and condemns wholeheartedly the inappropriate and unwarranted censure of professionals we believe are doing their jobs with the utmost professionalism.”

Right on, guys!

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Equally hearty congratulations to Elon Musk for single-handedly reducing the market value of Twitter by about two-thirds, from the 44 billion he paid less than a year ago to the piddling 15 billion it’s worth now. But let’s temper our Schadenfreude at Elon’s bathetic folly. He’s still worth a quarter-trillion, after all, and likely will take Twitter to stratospheric profitability and value that the rest of us can’t imagine . . .