{"id":35228,"date":"2022-09-28T15:02:55","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T20:02:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/?p=35228"},"modified":"2022-09-28T15:02:55","modified_gmt":"2022-09-28T20:02:55","slug":"signs-pop-up-in-oklahoma-city-encouraging-people-to-close-the-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/2022\/09\/28\/signs-pop-up-in-oklahoma-city-encouraging-people-to-close-the-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Signs pop up in Oklahoma City encouraging people to \u2018close the library\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mysterious signs have been popping up in the Oklahoma City metro this week calling on residents to vote to \u201cclose the library,\u201d on election day and attend a \u201cbook burning party,\u201d the following week.<\/p>\n

They direct passersby to visit a Facebook page<\/a> with no information about what to vote on or when or where a party could be held.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear what the aim of the signs is, but there is nothing related to Oklahoma City\u2019s Metropolitan Library System on the November ballot.<\/p>\n

At least a half dozen signs have been spotted in North Oklahoma City, Edmond and the Village, said the library system\u2019s Director of Communications Angel Suhrstedt.<\/p>\n

And she said there\u2019s no reason to fear losing libraries in Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n

\u201cLibraries are here to provide intellectual freedom for communities,\u201d Suhrstedt said. \u201cWe represent the entire community, no matter what you think.\u201d<\/p>\n

The signs have certainly generated buzz on social media with pictures popping up on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.<\/p>\n

They appear to borrow language from a 2012 blitz advertising campaign<\/a> in Troy, Michigan.<\/p>\n

That campaign was run by Chicago advertising agency Leo Burnett<\/a> and was an exercise in reverse psychology to drive voters to the polls in support of a local tax increase to ensure the library stayed open.<\/p>\n

The referendum did pass in support of the library, though one library employee criticized it for creating more divisiveness in the community, according to Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If \u2013 in the likely case \u2013 that\u2019s what\u2019s happening here, Suhrstedt said, it\u2019s not helpful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a confusing time,\u201d she said. \u201cI don’t want to make anyone any more confused by not having all the information.\u201d<\/p>\n

StateImpact sent a message to the page to ask for more information and to request an interview with organizers and got this response:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re a group of \u2018Patriots,\u2019\u201d an anonymous administrator of the page wrote. \u201cTime to do what\u2019s right for America. All these weak \u2018woke\u2019 people aren\u2019t good for our county! [sic] We aren\u2019t organized that way. We\u2019re just people we don\u2019t do TV. We don\u2019t want anybody pushing their personal agenda on TV!\u201d<\/p>\n

In a followup message the person wrote: \u201cIf you vote in the superintendent race for the right guy. We can get these libraries closed.\u201d<\/p>\n

That appears to be a reference to Republican candidate and Secretary of Education Ryan Walters, the only male candidate running for state superintendent<\/a> against Democrat Jena Nelson.<\/p>\n

When asked about the similarities between the campaign to \u201cclose the library,\u201d in Oklahoma City and Michigan, the page responded:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been to Michigan. I don\u2019t know what they do in Michigan. They sure have a good football teams!\u201d [sic]<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mysterious signs have been popping up in the Oklahoma City metro this week calling on residents to vote to \u201cclose the library,\u201d on election day and attend a \u201cbook burning party,\u201d the following week. They direct passersby to visit a Facebook page with no information about what to vote on or when or where a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":209,"featured_media":35229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/209"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35230,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35228\/revisions\/35230"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/oklahoma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}