Old Fox Books, Annapolis, Md., and a retired Navy commander are working together to provide access to many of the 381 books recently removed from the U.S. Naval Academy's Nimitz Library after an order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office resulted in a purge of titles, many related to race or gender.
Jinny Amundson, owner of Old Fox Books, was one of many Annapolis-area residents and Naval Academy alumni who were upset about the situation. The Washington Post reported that recently "the group formed a coalition to counteract the Navy's decision by making the targeted books as available as possible to Naval Academy students. The project is called 'Operation Caged Bird,' an homage to Maya Angelou's autobiography, which was one of the works on the removed-books list."
The effort began when retired Navy commander William Marks, a 1996 Naval Academy graduate and former spokesperson for the Defense Intelligence Agency, launched a GoFundMe campaign on April 5 to purchase the books for the students. The initial fundraising goal for the project of $3,810 was reached in less than a week, and that figure has grown to nearly $50,000.
The day after he started the fundraiser, Marks called Amundson and asked if she would help, not knowing that she had already begun ordering the books--about $1,500 worth--to provide to Naval Academy student shoppers for free.
"These are dedicated young men and women who we're trusting, some within a few months, to go out and lead our Navy and lead the Marine Corps," Marks said. "I think this is about suppressing knowledge, erasing history and limiting opportunities for education."
Old Fox Books functions as an unofficial bookstore for the Naval Academy, Amundson told the Post, noting: "Our students very much think of this as a safe space, especially our younger mids--the plebes. They don't really have a lot of time off the yard, so a lot of them find solace here."
The bookstore displayed its first batch of the removed books on a decorative staircase propped up against a wall. "The idea is that midshipmen will browse, select books and have their total zeroed out at the cash register when they present their IDs. Amundson plans to place a sign there to signal to the academy students that these are the removed titles," the Post wrote.
Marks said he is working with other small businesses in Annapolis to display and distribute some of the books. He also plans on showing up with volunteers to major Naval Academy events to set up tables with the books on display.
"I do think it's important to be visible for anyone resisting [authority]. A lot of this is encouraging freethinking," he noted, adding that in the military, "we don't want blind followers. We want freethinkers."
Marks told Capital Gazette: "My wish is to not only make sure midshipmen have access to these books, it's to inspire people. People need to know there is a resistance, there are those who oppose book bans and there are those who oppose overreach by the executive branch.... It's not about protecting anyone, midshipmen don't need protecting. This is about suppressing knowledge, about limiting education, about diminishing viewpoints."
Amundson added: "We knew we wanted these books, especially when we noticed fiction titles and books that there was just really no reason for them to have been taken off. There's no discernment, rhyme or reason for the books that have been chosen."