It’s National Library Week. It will culminate with DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) Day which just so happens to coincide with my birthday on April 12th. Fitting, no? In an ideal world, or perhaps just a better one, I’d be making fun, cozy content about how awesome our local library is. Yet, like most nice things in today’s anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti-education climate our libraries are again under threat by the party of “small government.”
I think sometimes we forget that libraries are not just spaces to bring our toddlers for story hour but are also archives, vaults for some of our nation’s greatest treasures. They preserve and protect our history as well as our entertainment. This is why events like the burning of the Library of Alexandria are not just widely considered to be unfortunate historical events but setbacks for human civilization.
From the top down the overreach and defunding of these revered institutions has begun. It began with the entire staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) being put on leave despite the fact that federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of library budgets compared to city and county funding. Immediately, concerns about the loss of critical programs began to surface like in Virginia and Georgia.
The nonsense continued with the firing of the Archivist of the United States from the National Archives and from that followed the resignation of the second-in-command. Then, in an attempt to ban any whiff of DEI (huh?) the United States Naval Academy Library began purging books from its shelves that it deemed, I don’t know, too inclusive? These included books like Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and books about the holocaust. Though the situation looks incredibly bleak organizations like the American Library Association are not going down without a fight.
And the insanity continues down to the local level with Ohio Republicans proposing a revised budget that strips public libraries of $100 million in funding. In an effort to mimic the bigoted, anti-science positions of the federal government the new “budget” bill also ensures Ohio will recognize only two genders and instructs libraries to comply with restrictive shelving of ANY LGBTQIA+ materials (even those meant for children) by hiding them where they can’t be seen by kids. You can read more here, here, and see the full bill here.
My goal here isn’t to scare anyone, but I can’t pretend like I’m not scared. This attack on our beloved institutions isn’t the first and probably won’t be the last but I believe that if we all do everything that we can to fight against it, like our brave librarians are doing, we might just be able to hold onto these incredible places and programs that we love. I hope that by corralling all of these links in one place I can provide some assistance to your resistance.
What could your resistance look like? Here are some steps you could take today:
- Research what’s going on in your state. Inform yourself about any changes to budget, shelving, staffing, etc. at local libraries. If you’re in Ohio, contact your representatives by phone or email and let them know that you will not stand for this.
- Join local and state protests. I think there’s a protest by librarians happening at the Ohio Statehouse today, but I found out about it too late to do much with the information. Which is why you should…
- Share, share share! When you see information about protests, budget proposals, or anything that would affect public libraries take two seconds out of your day to blast that information to your social network.
- Contact your local library. Ask them what they need. How can you best support their work? And listen to what they have to say.
- Check out books! The library tracks which books are checked out and that information is used to update their collections and make purchasing/shelving choices. Check out banned books, books on LGBTQIA+ topics, books about anti-racism, any book that you are concerned may be targeted.
- Update your personal library. I know this is a scary one to think about but we are living in scary times. It can’t hurt to, within your budget, keep an eye out for classic books that may at some point become hard to find or even banned from circulation completely. We’re not there yet but the next time you see a copy of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings at Goodwill, pick it up.
Right now our family is grateful that we live near an incredible library with passionate, hardworking staff. If you follow me on TikTok you’ll see some of the clips I’ve taken of all the incredible work they do and programs they offer. If you’re an adult who hasn’t had a library card in years, I get it. This may not seem like a big deal to you but I’d encourage you to think about all of the many things that libraries offer your community even if you don’t personally benefit from them. Things like:
- Free entertainment (CDs, DVDs, video games, books, magazines, etc.) for people on a budget.
- Free children’s programs which help grow early readers and prevent summer reading loss in children.
- Free health clinics, blood drives, and health resource materials.
- Free engagement opportunities for local writers.
- Free internet access for patrons who need it.
- Free resume coaching, and job assistance programs.
- Access to household tools, bakeware, project supplies, etc. from those that offer non-book checkout programs.
- Naturalization materials for immigrants studying to take their citizenship tests.
- Free homework assistance for kids and teens.
- Free adult education classes.
- Help with voter registration.
- Mental health/family crisis resources.
- Socialization opportunities for people of all ages.
Thank a librarian this National Library Week by helping to protect all that they have built.
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