Tania Galiñanes

Disclaimer: Unedited AI transcription

Announcer (00:06):

You are connected and you are listening to specifically for seniors, the podcast for those in the Remember When Generation.

Announcer (00:16):

Today's

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Podcast is available everywhere you listen to podcasts and with video at specifically for seniors YouTube channel. Now, here's your host, Dr. Larry Barsh

Larry (00:39):

Book Bans have reached a record high. Over the past two years, books targeted have overwhelmingly been about people of color and L-G-B-T-Q individuals, and nowhere has that been more evident than in Florida. Our guest today on specifically for seniors, Tanya Galiñanas, had to face Florida House Bill 1467, head on as a school librarian in Florida. Now House Bill 1467 was signed by Governor DeSantis on March 25th, 2022 became effective on July 1st, 2022. It requires school districts to be transparent in the selection of instructional materials and library and reading materials. This legislation sought to preserve the rights of parents to make decisions about what materials their children are exposed to in school. Tanya's here today to tell us her story and why she had to leave a job she loved. Welcome to specifically for Seniors Tanya.

Tania Galiñanes (02:02):

Thank you so much for having me.

Larry (02:04):

So, prior to March, 2022, you were working in the Osceola County of Florida Schools district as a librarian.

Tania Galiñanes (02:17):

Correct. You

Larry (02:18):

Were pr pretty happy with the library. Tell us about it.

Tania Galiñanes (02:22):

Absolutely. I loved my job. I loved my students. I still love my students. Um, it was a way for me to see almost every student in the school. Um, sometimes when, when you're in the classroom, you affect those 30, you influence those 33 3 students, and you only, especially in a high school when you have so many teachers and students. So it, it's a limited number of you're in the classroom and it's a limited number of your colleagues that you interact with. Being the librarian, I was able to interact with everybody and help teachers from different departments. So it was just an amazing job.

Larry (03:01):

What were your responsibilities?

Tania Galiñanes (03:05):

Well, um, my responsibilities were, and these are ongoing, curate our collection. So basically your, um, librarian looks at their collection almost in a daily basis because you wanna look at what the kids are reading, what are, what they're requesting. I've always had input from the students, even the parents, teachers, like, Hey, do you have this book? Do you think you can get it? Um, so you're always curating your collection, you're always looking at your books. Is this book in good condition? Do I need to get another copy of it? Oh, this book hasn't been checked out in four years. Maybe the kids are not interested in it. So you, we do what we, you call weeding the collection, which is you just take stuff that's not out, that's not working, and you replace it with new things, you know? And I was responsible for the budget. Um, I did lessons with students, lessons on, um, website validity, um, research, um, how to, um, spot fake news on the internet, um, just to make them better digital citizens and responsible users of internet.

Larry (04:17):

And your love for books goes back to your own childhood?

Tania Galiñanes (04:23):

Absolutely, yes. My family has always been a family of readers. Um, I remember the first, um, my dad was a jack of all traits and he liked constructing stuff, and the only thing that worked <laugh> that we liked was a huge wall, um, wall unit. And it was specifically for his books and my mom's books, and then we could add our books to it as well. Um, and of course, music. He was a music lover, so he also, but my love for books is I guess, hereditary and it was passed on to my siblings and myself.

Larry (05:03):

What, what books did you like to read as a kid?

Tania Galiñanes (05:06):

As a kid, pretty much anything that I got my hands on, but, um, my, uh, my oldest brother, I'm the youngest of eight, so my old oldest brother, we never lived together because of the age difference, but he came one day for a visit and I was probably in third grade, second, third grade. And he saw that I liked to read and that I was grabbing pretty much anything that I could find my hands in. So he went back to Jersey where he lived, and about a week later I get this box of, um, books and it, it had, um, black beauty, um, peepee Long Stocking and a host of other books. He just went to a local bookstore and he just gathered books and put 'em in a box and sent them to me. So, um, for the longest time, PPY Long stalking was my favorite one, but it was more of an emotional attachment than anything else.

Larry (05:58):

And you're married and have kids? Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>. Did you restrict the books your kids read, or did you pretty much open it up?

Tania Galiñanes (06:09):

I pretty much opened it up. Um, there was, um, because I was such a reader and I always read to them, we always had that conversation. What are you reading now? What are you doing? Um, and I remember when Twilight was all the rage and they were interested in that series, and I was like, okay, fine. You know, not, not a problem. I went ahead and I read all the books in the series, and when they were in middle school, I did ask them. I'm like, Hey, I know you guys like that series. Um, it's okay. It's not a big, um, it's not a big deal. But I did ask them, I was like, Hey, can you wait until you're in high school to read the last book? And I told 'em, like, because it talks about their wedding night, and right now might go over your heads.

Tania Galiñanes (06:49):

You probably would understand it better if you're wait until high school. And because we had that conversation about the books and about, um, pretty much anything that they were reading, they were like, yeah, sure. By the time they got to high school, they actually lost interest in the series. So I don't think they've ever read the last, um, book, but it's not that I restricted it to them. I just asked them, Hey, you know, you might wanna wait until, but Weal always had those conversations. Like, I remember when I was reading it and they were reading it, we were talking about Bella's dependence on Edward. I was like, never depend. Like we, we just talk about the characters and, and it, it was, it's still is a great relationship.

Larry (07:34):

Did you always want to be a librarian?

Tania Galiñanes (07:37):

So, no. <laugh> <laugh>, um, I loved reading and, um, I'm a little feisty, so for the longest time I wanted to be a lawyer. And, um, I did my, but I also loved literature. So my undergrad was in English literature because from there, like I knew with law you had to read a lot and, um, I took, you know, argumentation and debate, nonverbal communication and preparing to go to law school. Um, but then I met my husband and, um, I knew, like, I know myself, I, I give myself 110% to everything. And I was like, yeah, I don't think law school's gonna work out. So in my mind, I was gonna be a college professor. And, um, so I just, you know, I finished my, oops, sorry. I finished my, my undergrad in English literature. And, um, then I got married, had kids, the whole thing, the whole thing, so that my master's kind of was delayed.

Tania Galiñanes (08:40):

And by that time I started in the school district of county as a fourth grade teacher. So I ended up doing my master's degree in education with an emphasis in reading. I was gonna do it in library science, but at that time, back in 2010, there were no librarian jobs available. People would retire from those jobs. And I was like, I'm not gonna do my master's in something so specialized that I can't, I can't find a job on that. Like if I do it in education, I can always go to the library when it opens up, or I can be a reading coach. So I knew it was gonna be focused on literature and reading, but my love was a library and I wanted to do my master's in that. But thinking about how much it cost and whether I could find a job as a librarian, that's why I was a little, I don't know if I'm gonna do that. But yeah, once I started teaching, I knew I wanted to be in the library.

Larry (09:43):

So you started teaching and became a librarian, as I said, at Osceola County School? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Let's fast forward now. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> from 2010 to a school board meeting in April of 2022. And let's fast forward to the governor becoming Ron DeSantis.

Tania Galiñanes (10:12):

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.

Larry (10:14):

What happened at that school board meeting?

Tania Galiñanes (10:17):

Well, at that school board meeting, um, some parents were, um, and we have a pretty divided at that point, more so than now, a pretty divided, um, school board. And there's a specific school board member that his soul, he has ties to Monsters for Liberty. And his So purpose in life was to give them a platform to, to talk and to, and I, I'll be honest, I was not at that specific school board meeting. I saw it later because I heard about it. Um, and the way I heard about it was through Facebook. The, um, current, not the current, but the president of the union at that time basically posted on the Facebook Union page saying, and the teacher's union page saying, oh, there's some books that apparently there's some books in our libraries that are not appropriate, that is not cool. Some of the things that I heard last night would make my grandmother blush.

Tania Galiñanes (11:23):

And if you look for that post now, it's gone. They deleted it from the Facebook page. But I remember I was incensed and I didn't have to watch the meeting to know that that was an inaccurate statement. Um, so I basically told him, um, I was like, this is not accurate. Um, if you think there are books that are not appropriate, um, first of all, that's not true. Second, your job is to actually stay neutral and talk to librarians. Have you talked to librarians about this? Have you talked to the teachers about this? Who told you this? You're making a statement that is not, um, accurate, and I think it's because you don't have enough information. And at that point, the attack attack started. Some parents were like, oh, who are you to say something like that? And I was like, well, I'm a librarian and I believe students should see themselves in books.

Tania Galiñanes (12:16):

Books should be mirrors, books should be windows, and so they can see into somebody else's life. Um, and that's when I had people saying that I shouldn't be around kids, that they were glad that I wasn't their kids' librarian or teacher. Um, it got pretty bad off the right off the bat. So when I saw, because every, um, every one of those meetings is recorded. It's on YouTube, so if anybody wants to look for it, it's April 5th, 2020, 22, Osceola County School Board meeting. And, um, when I finally saw it, I was like, this is ridiculous. One of the things that they were really, um, pushing was like that. We had the book Gender in our schools. We didn't, we didn't have the book Gender. Um, it was in a record, but it wasn't in publication. Because here's what happens when you have a budget of 10,000, $12,000 to spend on books once a year, and you have a limited amount of time because they tell us, Hey, you have to do this before, um, October 31st or before December 1st, something like that.

Tania Galiñanes (13:23):

So you have to spend this money, or you lose it, and you're like, oh, okay. There's no way I can read enough books between the time that they give me my budget in October till December to spend $12,000. So you rely on peer review journals, you relied on School Library Journal, ki Kirk reviews and the like, so that you can make an accurate decision. We receive the books and we look over the books. I don't know a librarian that just gets the books and puts 'em on the shelf. Mm-Hmm. We look over the books just because again, we haven't read 'em. I mean, I've read some of them, not all of them. So I'm looking through them. And I never ordered gender because in my opinion, it didn't go with my population. But every school's population is different. You know, in a rural community, you might have more books on adventure and rural life because that's what the kids can't identify with. So, um, and that's part of the professionalism of the job. You are tailoring your, um, collection to your community. So that librarian had ordered gender, because the reviews were amazing. It has won I don't know how many awards. So when she looked through it, she was like, yeah, I don't think I wanna have this in my library. So she kept it aside to return, because we can do that since they know the publish the book, jobber read the books.

Tania Galiñanes (14:52):

So this was already in the process. It was never accessed by any student. So they took that little bit and they took one page from that book to say that we had inappropriate things in the library. Then they took one page from, um, looking for Alaska. They took one page from me, Earl, and The Dying Girl. And they took it out of context. It didn't evaluate the book as a whole. And that's what happened at that meeting. They just created an uproar out of one page in each book.

Larry (15:25):

So it sounds like a, a, a legislation that seemed to be logical, giving parents some rights to Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> choose what their kids Are Gonna Learn became more of a political issue than, than an actual, uh, educational issue.

Tania Galiñanes (15:53):

Agreed. And here's what happens when, when you legislate for every parent, it stops being a parental, right? That, that's the thing a parental right, is having each parent decide what they're going to allow their kids to read or have those conversations with them, which is what I encouraged before I was at a high school, I was at a middle high school combined school in Osceola County, and I made it my business, every open house to be there and explain to the parents, I don't have a spot for middle school and I don't have a spot for high school. Every kid is different. Every kid is at a different level. It is your job as a parent to have those conversations with them and to say, Hey, this is what I feel comfortable with. This is what I don't feel comfortable with. And to kind of help them and guide them through those decisions.

Tania Galiñanes (16:43):

I never had a challenge when I was at that school because I made it very clear, I am for parental rights for your child, not for somebody else's child. And I wasn't gonna make that decision for somebody else's kid. Like, I would've been furious if somebody would've told my kids, oh, you can't read that divergent when you're in middle school because it's YA like, I I would've been furious with that because I'm the parent and I should be the one who had that conversation with my kids. So I am all for parental rights. This is more of a control. I don't want my, I don't wanna parent my kid effectively, therefore, I'm gonna make it a rule so I don't have to parent my kid effectively. Yeah.

Larry (17:25):

It sounds like you got pretty emotional about this whole thing.

Tania Galiñanes (17:28):

Oh, yeah. Um, <laugh>, and I apologize if I'm getting like really worked up, but I am really against censorship. And that's one of the things that I really appreciate from my parents. Um, my dad grew up during the depression. My mom was born during the, the Depression, and my mom only has a high school diploma, and she did very well for herself. My dad didn't finish high school, and he ended up owning his own business, though they were both avid, avid readers, and they instilled that on us. And I talk with my siblings all the time, like, I was talking to my brother last week, and we both agreed, our parents really didn't, they gave us that freedom to make those choices for ourselves. And that's something that we passed on to our own kids. So I, yeah, I do get, um, I do get emotional about it because I shudder to think that there's a generation out there that's not gonna be able to empathize with other people, that are not like them. That they're not gonna be able to have that understanding. They're not gonna have compassion for somebody who's not like them because they haven't been allowed to read books about people different than them.

Larry (18:52):

Hmm. Let, let's talk about, because not everybody is familiar with what really House Bill 1467 says. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>,

Tania Galiñanes (19:05):

Okay.

Larry (19:07):

School books must be reviewed by a district employee, and that district employee has to hold a valid educational media specialist certificate.

Tania Galiñanes (19:23):

I agree with that in the sense that schools in the media center should be, like, every media center needs to have a certified media specialist. Because even though my, my master's degree is not in library media specialist, I did have to take, I do take continuing education. I did have to take a test to certify, and I am the professional in that school, in that media center. The big problem is that not because it wasn't a law, not every county had a certified media specialist in their libraries, and that's a problem.

Larry (19:58):

And these media specialists were to ensure that the books were free of pornography and certain race-based teachings. Now, here's where a problem comes in. Who defines pornography and who defines what, uh, a race, race-based teaching race-based teaching is

Tania Galiñanes (20:31):

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So once again, um, you tailor books to your population. You, um, I had a very diverse population, um, in my high high school. Um, half the kids were Hispanic, Latino. Um, the, um, again, I guess probably 30% were African American and 20% were white. So I had books for everybody. And one thing that I always told the kids, even at every school that I have been, if you're ever reading a book and you feel like, I don't like it, um, it makes me uncomfortable because I don't think my parents should be, then just put it down. You are not married to the book <laugh>. Just put it down, get another book. That's it. Something that you enjoy. It's okay not to finish a book. But I also told 'em like, sometimes it is okay to be uncomfortable because you don't know what you don't know.

Tania Galiñanes (21:37):

You don't, you know, if you are, and let's be honest, if you are a, a white kid, blonde, blue eyed, and you get stopped depending on where you're at, sometimes your experience is gonna be different than a Latino kid getting stopped at, you know, when they're, they're driving. Or an African American kid when they're driving. And I know it makes people uncomfortable, but it is the truth because it's happened to my kids. And it, you know, I've never had an issue. My kids have never had an issue. But you can see it like when there was somebody else, or where somebody else's experience, you're like, oh, wow, that didn't happen to me. You know, I have friends who don't, they, they, they don't drive while black in a neighboring county. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And I was like, wait, what? Because I hadn't thought of that. But again, books give you a window into that experience.

Tania Galiñanes (22:36):

And yes, some, some books are gonna make you uncomfortable, and that's okay. You know? And as far as pornography, who defines it? I can tell you right now, there's no playboy, no penthouse, no playgirl, nothing like that in any of the media centers. Um, and that, this is one thing that I, I wonder because parents have no problem giving their kid a smartphone. Like this year it was law that in schools, the kids were not gonna have their phones. And parents were on an uproar. What if my kid is sick? What if my kid needs me? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They have access on those phones to more pornography than you can find in any media center

Larry (23:18):

To actual pornography.

Tania Galiñanes (23:20):

Exactly. To

Larry (23:21):

Real hardcore pornography.

Tania Galiñanes (23:23):

Exactly. And apparently that's not an issue. The issue is when you read a book like Forever from Judy Bloom, and they're talking about kids having sex, well, you know, in a perfect world, they wouldn't. But from the beginning of time, hormones are crazy. And kids do have sex. Not all of them, but some do. So it, it's relatable to them, you know, because of some books, I I, I'll give you my example, if it weren't for Judy Bloom, my childhood would've been totally different because my mom never talked about getting my period. My mom never talked about sex. My mom, here's the thing, if it weren't for Judy Bloom, I wouldn't know what to do When I got my period, honestly, I'm the youngest of eight. My sisters were my, the sister that was closest to me had already graduated college. I was by myself. So books that make you uncomfortable are actually helpful sometimes. So it's, sometimes we're afraid of the truth. And I, I think that that is a very sad mindset.

Larry (24:39):

What confuses me is how do you select a series of books available for a diverse population that only have one theme and the theme approved by a state?

Tania Galiñanes (24:59):

So that's why you would need diverse books, not just one, like, I don't have an African-American section, I didn't have an L-G-B-T-Q section, I had books of everything. Everything. I mean, Asian, Asian American kids, African-American kids, Latino kids, white kids, everything. You need a a diverse and brought selection. So the kids can choose, choose. One thing that I've always been against is, even when I was a media specialist at a elementary school, you need to read on your level. No, actually you don't. You don't go to a bookstore and go, oh, my level is a blue dot. Let me find books with a blue dot. You read what you're interested in. So if I had a friend, I'll, I'll be honest with you, for example, I went through, um, a phase in middle school that I was obsessed with Anne Frank, and I still am.

Tania Galiñanes (25:57):

I come from Puerto Rico. There's really not a huge Jewish community there. So I am not gonna have that, those conversations with the people in my, um, in, in my peripheral, like in, in my world. So where did I get my information from? Books like, I, I devoured anything that had to do with the Jewish community with and Frank Biographers with World War ii, because I wasn't gonna have that in my, in, in, in my peripheral. So I, I, I went ahead and I indulged in what I wanted to learn. So yes, I wanted to learn about people that were different from me. I wanted to understand what had happened. I, it's just, just a lot of value that you have about reading not only about your own experience, but people with different experiences. So you try to have representation of everybody in the school, and that's why you also want stakeholder input.

Tania Galiñanes (27:00):

Even before it was a law, I would meet with our school advisory council and say, Hey, these are the books that we are ordering. Um, I would have a data, uh, a little petition on our website for the kids. Hey, you're looking for a specific book? Post it in here. When I get money, I'll be happy to see if I can buy it for you. You know? And yeah, and sometimes they wanted books that were totally not appropriate for high school, and I would email them back and say, sorry, hun, you know, that's a book that you or your parents are gonna have to buy later on. But I kept that conversation open with the kids, because ultimately the kids and the parents are your stakeholders. So yes, you want that conversation to happen. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>,

Larry (27:49):

The thing that scares me the most about Florida House Bill 1467 is what happens if you choose to violate the bill, it becomes a third degree felony. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, uh, because it's stacked on another statute that makes it a third degree felony to knowingly distribute to a minor on school property, any material that is, again, an arbitrary term, sexually explicit.

Tania Galiñanes (28:32):

Exactly. Um, it is scary. Unfortunately, I had no sense of self-preservation, which drove my husband crazy because I kept choosing books based on reviews that I read, or books that I had read, my population and kids requesting the books. So I, I kept as usual, because like I said earlier, the media specialist, certified media specialist in your library, that's the professional who's doing that. And quite honestly, I have no control over what's gonna excite a kid, <laugh>. So, you know, you never know. So I, I can't let that be a hindrance if it's appropriate for high school. And if it's something that I think my kids would enjoy or would benefit from, I would order it. Did I put myself on the line numerous times? Absolutely I did. Would I do it again? Absolutely. And it got really bad. It got to a point that I basically, I have a friend who works for a bail bondsman in the county. And <laugh>, I, um, when all these laws were coming to pass, I gave my husband my friend's number, and he is like, why do I have her number? I'm like, in case anything happens, because I will continue to do what's best for the kids no matter what.

Tania Galiñanes (30:05):

So the stress for that, that was a lot on me and my family, but I kept doing it.

Larry (30:15):

My kids and my grandchildren, my grandchildren are already in the working world. So I, I don't remember too much about them being in high school. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. But I remember that they knew a lot more than we thought. They knew some of it. Right? Some of it wrong. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and I, I, I'm just not sure whether parents who are making the comments are really aware of how much their children already know.

Tania Galiñanes (30:54):

I don't know. Okay. So sometimes it's easier to bury your head in the sand and just say, my kid would never, and you see it a lot in parent-teacher conferences when they go like, oh, my kid doesn't act like that at home. Yeah, they probably do. You're just not aware of it. Um, I had a student, her mom was incensed because she was reading a book about zombies. It was, it didn't even have sexual content. It was just a book about zombies. And her mom was livid. And even the student looks at me and she goes, I have to return it. My mom doesn't want me to have this book. And she goes, but I don't understand because she has no problem with me watching zombie movies. I didn't get into that argument. I just said, that's okay, sweetheart. And I re, you know, I checked the book back in. Not a problem. Because that's her parental. Right. But even the kids are confused because they're like, this is a problem, but this other thing is not a problem. So

Larry (31:59):

What do you think was the reason for passing the law? Do you have any opinions?

Tania Galiñanes (32:08):

I do. Um, it might not be a popular opinion, but I think one of my, here's the thing, books make you think. And if you're controlling what people are think or reading, you control what they think. And we saw that happen in World War ii. And actually, if you look at the Library Bill of Rights, the library Bill of Rights came about because of what happened in World War ii and the book Burning. Um, I had a student last year, a senior, and he came in with this class, and this was all happening, and he was checking out a book, and he looks at me and he goes, I'm glad I can still check out this book. And I can't even remember which book it was. So I was like, yeah, sure, no problem. And he goes, what's going on with the book, banning? He goes, I'm all, and he was being facetious. He's like, I'm all for uneducation the masses, but this is ridiculous. And I think that's what's behind it. If you control what people are reading, you control what they're thinking. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And you control their political views.

Larry (33:09):

So you decided to leave the profession?

Tania Galiñanes (33:13):

Yes. Did Tough decision. I did. Oh, very tough. Very tough. It was something that, it was probably in 2022. I knew I had to, but I didn't want to because I felt that the kids needed me. And my view of that was, I, I don't fight for them. Who will, if I don't make these books accessible to them, who will Then, I had a colleague leaving at the end of last school year. The reason they left is because they changed their pronouns, and they kind of knew what was coming, because this year it is illegal. Like a teacher cannot say, my pronouns are they them in Florida. So they came over and we're talking about their decision to leave. And I, as all these laws were coming down the pike, and I'm highlighting and I'm looking at, okay, so what, what can I do to continue doing my job with fidelity and not get fired? Let's put it that way or not go to jail. And he came in and we were talking, and then he looked at me, he goes, you have too much integrity and you're too good at what you do to compromise who you are. And that just hit me, not because he said I was, uh, I was good at what, what I did, but because staying was compromising who I was.

Tania Galiñanes (34:51):

And that just really hit me. And at that point, leaving the profession became more of a real conversation. Um, it was already in the works because I already had plan B and plan C. Um, I'm a certified Pilates instructor, so I was in the middle of finishing my certification. So in case I got fired, I had something to, to fall back on. Um, but I just, at that point, I was like, you're, they're right. I'm compromising who I am. This is tearing me apart. I wasn't sleeping. Um, I broke out in hives. Um, I had a conversation about a, a book, um, with my principal because it came up in a, in a school board meeting. And it was the day before my birthday that the school board meeting was. And on my birthday, I went over to him and I said, Hey, just so you know, this book came up in the, um, in the meeting last night.

Tania Galiñanes (35:53):

I read this book, this book has value. And unless it goes through the proper channels, and it goes through the whole challenge process, I will not be removing it. And I told him, I was like, it's my birthday, it'd be nice. And he basically said, I love what you do, and I love having you in the library, but if the superintendent asked me to remove the book, I'm gonna ask you to remove it. I said, and I'll not do it unless it goes through the process. And at that point, he said, are you sure? Is the risk, look at the risk versus the reward. Is it worth it? And I said, absolutely. It's worth it because you're talking about intellectual freedom, you're talking about the First Amendment, right? So you're talking about a book that is, could save somebody's life. So yes, I'm absolutely sure what I'm telling you. And he said, I hate to tell you this, but if the superintendent asked me to remove you from the library, I'm gonna have to. And I said, you do what you have to do. And then I went home and I cried for two hours. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, because I felt like I was crazy. I was like, this, how, how is nobody else seeing this?

Tania Galiñanes (37:05):

How is this okay? And this is nothing against my principal. I love the man. I still talk to him. Um, we're friends. But it was the whole, am I the, am I crazy? Am I the only one who's seeing the danger that you are treading when you're telling people what they can and cannot read? And I, I legit, for my birthday, I cried for two hours. My oldest daughter was on the phone with me going like, mom, you're not crazy, <laugh>, you're okay enough. And that's when I said, I

Larry (37:38):

Had enough. You certainly enough,

Tania Galiñanes (37:39):

<laugh>, thanks. And, but at that point, I was like, I've had enough. I'm, I'm not doing this to myself anymore.

Larry (37:49):

And now you're the co-owner of a bookstore.

Tania Galiñanes (37:53):

Yes. Yes, I am. Tell us,

Larry (37:54):

Tell us about it.

Tania Galiñanes (37:56):

So this came about because my, my friend and my business partner Erin, she had a online bookstore forever. And I actually bought books from her for my kids and for myself. And, um, about a year ago, I was like, Hey, have you ever thought about a opening a brick and mortar store? And she's like, yeah, but I don't have the money and I can't do it by myself. And I was like, okay, fair enough. When all this started happening after one of the meetings that we had back in February of March of this year, I, and it was, it was February. Um, I texted her because I was talking to my husband. I'm like, I'm so mad. I want to take a school bus and set it up as a, um, band, books bus, and I'm gonna take it to every football game. <laugh>. So pe so kids can get their, their, um, their books, and the parents can get the books and everybody can get books.

Tania Galiñanes (38:53):

And, um, but that's another thing. There's nobody who does, um, book fairs for high school. As a high school librarian, I was not able to get anybody to do book fairs for high school to come to the school. So I had to find other means of funding my library. So, and that's another thing that I was like, and nobody does book for first, I, I'm just gonna open. And then I was like, I need to talk to Erin. So I texted her and I was like, are you still thinking about doing the brick and mortar? And she was like, yeah. And my husband was like, go for it. You are so unhappy right now. Just go for it. So I talked to Erin and she was like, are you serious? And I'm like, I am absolutely serious because I cannot do another meeting like this for much longer.

Tania Galiñanes (39:34):

Um, because it, and still, I just talked to a few of my library friends, um, media specialist last week, and they said the same thing. They're like, the meetings are so depressing because everything that comes from tele has to use depressing. Um, so, uh, we start, we just incorporated during spring break, like we talked about it, we incorporated during spring break, we were online and we started doing popups. And we realized that our community needed an independent bookstore. The closest bookstore, independent bookstore to our county was 40 miles away. And we're like, there is a need in our community for an independent bookstore. So we did a popup with Main Kissame Main Street for three days, and it blew our minds how people were thirsty for a place. So we started looking for a place, and, um, I'm a woman of faith, and I remember praying and I was like, you know, if it's, if it's your will open the doors, if it's not close, the doors and all the doors were open. Even the, we have a prime location in downtown historic downtown Kissemee, which we didn't even think was gonna happen. I mean, we wanted it to happen maybe a year from now, but we didn't think it was gonna happen that fast. When I went to my admin the day before pre-planning, I was like, I'm leaving in a couple of months. And this was not on my Bingo card for this year, <laugh>, I was gonna give you these news next year, but everything just fell into place. So here we are.

Larry (41:13):

The name of the bookstore, you didn't mention it yet.

Tania Galiñanes (41:17):

It is White Rose Books and more. Um, originally, like I said, I wanted the band books bus, so I wanted the band books bookstore. And Erin was like, oh my god, Tanya, that's just a little too on the nose. And I was like, okay, fine. So we started looking and she had read a book about the youth, the French youth resistance of the Nazis called White Rose. And the moment she told me that I was like, attorney White Rose, um, we decided on books and more because we wanted to help other small businesses, other artists. Like our dream was to have locally sourced, um, products in here. And we actually right now already have a shelf of, um, there's a teacher in our county who does beautiful polymer jewelry. She sells her jewelry and bookmarks, and she made this specifically white rose earrings for us <laugh>.

Tania Galiñanes (42:17):

Um, and she does very well in our store. Um, we have another teacher who does body glitter, and her students come to our store and buy it here. Um, so we are helping local people. We have somebody who makes candles and soaps, and they're local. They're in our county. They don't have a space. We have been blessed with a big space. Like we thought our first store was gonna be half of what it is now. So we have dedicated spots for local artists. And, um, so that, that was another thing we wanted to give to the community. We wanted a place where students and teachers would get 10% off at least, because we wanted to make sure that they had affordable books. We wanted to be able to do new and used books so they could find affordable books. Like right now I have, I can have two copies of the same book. One is brand new, the other one is because somebody else read it and it's half price off. So we wanted something for everybody. We wanted to make books accessible.

Larry (43:21):

So House Bill 1467 apparently is not meeting with universal approval in Florida.

Tania Galiñanes (43:32):

No, it is not. And it is, there's so many things in this bill, and I actually have it with me. Um, a lot of things, I'll be honest, would've been unnecessary if a lot of the counties that have decided to go without a media, a certified media specialist, would've actually done what they were supposed to do and get a certified media specialist. Um, I was very blessed in, in my county, in Osceola County, we've always had certified media specialists. Um, we've had a challenge procedure in place since 2002. So a lot of this, I was like, you know, this should have been done before because it wouldn't have been an issue. I am specifically opposed to, um, that felony, um, that threat of felony and, um, something that is not common knowledge. But one of the things that, um, what that library training that was supposed to be ready for January 1st, which it was ready for January 1st, nevermind that, um, the final meeting had to be done after school let out in December, and people had to drive to Tallahassee to do it because they refused to do it on a Zoom.

Tania Galiñanes (44:52):

The reason I know this is because a lot of library, um, supervisors around the county were part of that committee, and they had to get out of their own dime, go up to Tallahassee, Tallahassee during the holidays to get this ready for January 1st. And, and some of the training, every time that they said there was a felony, a few moms for Liberty, people that were on the committee wanted to put pictures of prison and cells so that we could actually understand that this was a felony, we could go to prison. Um, I'm also opposed to the whole, you have to have a list of books that have been challenged in the state. Why, once again, what works in Central Florida might not work in Miami, might not work in the panhandle. The kids are different, the communities are different. Why do we need, why do we need a, a list of band books? I mean, as a bookstore owner, I appreciate it because those are the ones that I buy for my band books, um, shelf. But as an educator, that makes me upset.

Tania Galiñanes (46:00):

Because once again, you know, for example, Dogman Dogman has been challenged in, um, Brevard, no, Collier County, and was removed in Collier County for a while. Dogman is a graphic novel for middle school. Like, I don't even have it in high school. It's totally harmless. But that was challenged. So now that goes on a list. So now a librarian in, in, um, another county who their kids might enjoy dog man, and their parents might not have an issue with it. Mm. That's, that's a book on the list of Van books. You really can't do that. So I'm, I'm terribly opposed to that list. Among other things. <laugh>,

Larry (46:57):

Should I ask you how we ensure intellectual freedom for our kids and grandkids?

Tania Galiñanes (47:04):

Yes, please vote. Because part of the problem is that people don't vote in the small elections. Yeah. They go vote for the president. They go vote for, um, the governor. These small elections where you're choosing your representatives, you need to go vote, because right now there is a Florida legislator, legisl legislature that just timestamp, like, they just stamp everything that comes their way. The mi the minority of the legislators are the ones that are like you guys. This is, look at the implications. And I've seen some of these discussions and I had to stop watching it because I was breaking out in high, because once again, like my, my body reacts very violently distress. But I was seeing a legislator from Tampa talking about the pronoun bill, which it ultimately passed, and talking about how, um, defining marriage only between a man and a woman.

Tania Galiñanes (48:13):

And she's like, you're telling me that my marriage to my wife does not count. And there were other legislators in front of her just talking, ignoring her, being rude as can be, because they knew it was gonna pass. So whatever she was saying was not important. And those are the things that if people vote and they do their homework and they talk and they talk to your legislators, send them. Don't wait until they're elected. Email them, ask them, you know, what are your thoughts on this? What do you stand for? School board people don't vote for school. And and I'll be honest, my, some people do this like, mom, mom, I'm sorry, but my mom sometimes, because if they have a Hispanic name, she'll go ahead and vote for them. And I'm like, you don't understand. Not necessarily because they're from your own ethnic or, or heritage. They have the same, they have your, they, they have your, your, um, best interest. Yes. So you need to do your homework. You need to ask questions. What do they stand for? And then go vote. Go vote. I'm not somebody who votes party lines. I'm an independent registered, and I, I have to do my homework before I vote.

Tania Galiñanes (49:33):

And I encourage my kids to do the same thing. And my husband does the same thing. And I encourage everybody to do that. Go vote in every single election. Every single election is important and every single vote is important. And Oh, and go to, please go to your school board meetings, even if you don't have kids in school. <laugh>,

Larry (50:03):

Tanya, this was wonderful. Enlightening. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Tania Galiñanes (50:09):

Thank you for having me. I I really do appreciate it. It's, it's been a learning experience. It's been heartbreaking, but at the same time, um, it's been, it's been freeing to be able to, to let people know what's going on in Florida.

Larry (50:28):

Your story just had to be told in a longer version than the Washington Post article. So again, thank you so much for coming on specifically for seniors.

Tania Galiñanes (50:41):

No, thank you for having me. We appreciate, I appreciate it.

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