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Library adds Christian magazine for check-out
By SARAH BLASKOVICH, Community Editor
Next year, the shelves of a Carrollton library will be graced with a new magazine, meant to rival National Geographic and “open the eyes” of some readers.
Answers: Building a Biblical Worldview, is a quarterly evangelical publication that bases its articles on the teachings of creationism, said Pam Sheppard, national editor for Answers.
The advisory board for the two Carrollton libraries was split Friday on whether the magazine should be put on the shelves, but Chairperson Marilyn Roppolo changed her mind a day later, tipping the vote.
Advocates of the magazine say that creationism has been downplayed and should be more available in public libraries.
“If you go into any library, in the science area or the children’s area, and look at the host of magazines offered, most will present an evolutionary world view,” Sheppard said. “Evolutionary thought has infiltrated our schools, our museums, our educational systems, the culture. It’s been called a culture war.”
But some members of the library’s advisory board weren’t sure that the magazine was a necessary addition or would be read by residents, Roppolo said.
Evolutionary thought — which Sheppard says is illustrated throughout National Geographic and other popular publications — is a theory from Charles Darwin that man evolved from earlier forms of animals, surviving through a process of natural selection.
Creationism, in the form that Answers magazine supports, explains that man’s existence stems directly from the book of Genesis in the New Testament of the Bible. Details of how the Earth was formed, where “original sin” came from and why people are born of differing races can be explained through that first book — and not through an evolutionary science — Sheppard said.
One Carrollton resident, Bobby Davis, brought the magazine up for review in mid-November, according to city documents. Davis originally offered the library a free subscription, but Cheri Gross, library director for the city, declined the offer.
“We really don’t want donated subscriptions, because they’re very hard to track,” Gross said.
Carrollton libraries use a subscription agency to track all of their magazines and renew them when necessary. When a magazine is donated, the subscription agency may not know when the renewal date is, Gross said.
The Answers magazine that will be available in January has an astronomy theme and will discuss fallacies experts have found in the big bang theory, Sheppard said.
“It will hopefully open a lot of people’s eyes. For the Christians, it will be refreshing,” Sheppard said. “We’re showing that we both have the facts — creationists and evolutionists have the same facts — but it’s how you interpret the facts.”
The magazine costs the library $22 a year for the subscription. It will be available for check-out one month after it hits the library shelves. The city will have one copy of the magazine per quarter.
“We can look at the circulation. We will be able to see if it’s being used,” Gross said. “We do value citizens’ opinions and what they want in the library. That’s how we run things here.”
Contact Community Editor Sarah Blaskovich at 972-628-4074 or SBlaskovich@acnpapers.com.
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