Librarians protect our right to choose what we read
Remember the magical rhymes of Dr. Suess, and the enchantment of Charlotte’s Web? The Chicago Public Library recently removed six Dr. Suess books from its shelves, citing racism. Charlotte’s Web has been banned elsewhere because it features talking animals. And in lower Michigan, a small public library is closing after residents twice voted to defund it because the library refused to remove LGBTQ books from its collection.
Librarians are facing a crisis few of them dreamed of when they chose their career: calls for book banning from a small but vocal minority that is gaining political power across the country.
Intellectual Freedom vs. Censorship
“There is a coordinated national attack on the ideals we hold most dear, which is access for all, to all,” says Kristin Fontichiaro, who teaches library science at the University of Michigan’s School of Information. “It’s important to realize that loud voices are not always majority voices. Surveys have shown that the majority of Americans do not want books banned.”
Director of the Portage Lake District Library, Katrina Linde-Moriarty, amid the books at the library, reading to children. Photo by Jennifer Donovan.
Katrina Linde-Moriarty, director of the Portage Lake District Library in Houghton, agrees.
“At the heart of librarianship has always been equitable, free and confidential access to information,” Linde-Moriarty, who prefers they/them pronouns, said. “Librarians stand up against censorship or efforts by others to control what books and other materials can be in the library. A librarian’s role is defending intellectual freedom and providing equitable access to information and resources.”
A challenge has already arisen locally, where a group of parents protested the Hancock School Library’s posting of a display of LGBTQ books during Pride Month. The Hancock library is operated under a contract between the Portage Lake District Library and the Hancock Public Schools.
Linde-Moriarty believes that library patrons can choose for themselves what books and other materials they want to engage with. So does Fontichiaro.
“Libraries have always been pro-family,” she said. “We let families decide what’s right for them. We don’t determine what every family reads, and we don’t want a vocal minority to determine that either.”
The book-banning movement has also created a new threat to librarians themselves.
“It’s heartbreaking to me to say to an LGBTQ student or a student of color, ‘You may not be safe working in a library,’” says Fontichiaro. “Nobody became a librarian because they like death threats. We just want to help people.”
“My neighbor shouldn’t be making decisions about what I can read.”
Debbie Mikula, director of the Michigan Library Association, has even heard about a prosecutor who is considering bringing criminal charges against a librarian who has refused to remove certain books.
“A library’s responsibility is to provide free access to all expressions of opinion,” she says. “No one should take that choice away from readers. We’re witnessing something that is unprecedented. My neighbor shouldn’t be making decisions about what I can read.”
The American Library Association (ALA) states: “The foundation of modern librarianship rests on an essential set of core values that define, inform, and guide our professional practice.” These values include access and intellectual freedom.
MI Right to Read is a grassroots coalition of concerned Michigan residents organized by the Michigan Library Association to fight censorship in libraries. The coalition opposes any attempts to ban books from Michigan libraries based on content subjectively deemed inappropriate. Its purpose is to educate the public and oppose any legislation that infringes upon First Amendment rights and intellectual freedom.
“Selecting materials for a public library using a professional process involving objective criteria is very different from removing material because the remover dislikes or is made uncomfortable by the content,” the organization says. “One is collection development; the other is censorship.”
MI Right to Read offers toolkits on its website to help fight censorship.
Community Resources
Librarians work in a wide variety of settings. There are public libraries like Portage Lake District Library, school libraries, university libraries, archival libraries and specialty libraries for law, medicine and various businesses.
In addition to providing books, videos, music and online resources, public libraries serve three vital community functions. They preserve the history and cultural heritage of their area, act as community centers for residents, and provide resources one would not normally expect from a library.
For example, Linde-Moriarty says that people have come to the library seeking help when their water has been turned off, they have lost a job or are facing homelessness. The library staff help them connect with community resources to address their problems.
“Emergency rooms triage for medical emergencies,” Linde-Moriarty said. “We triage for everything else. We have to have a robust skill set and knowledge across all staff members. The library is a hub of humanity. A librarian’s role is to help people make connections. We have our foot in a lot of different doors, work with a lot of partners. There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes in a library.”
Preserving History and Cultural Heritage
Preserving cultural heritage is an important if little-known activity of librarians, Linde-Moriarty says.
“We are working to capture local history and personal narrative through recordings, videos, and podcasts. That’s very exciting. Capturing more than written narratives creates vibrant archives.”
The American Library Association notes that libraries help ensure an authentic record of knowledge created and accumulated by past generations.
“Libraries are rich repositories of historically and culturally significant collections, many of which are not available anywhere else in the world,” the ALA says on its website. “In a world without libraries, it would be difficult to advance research and human knowledge or preserve the world’s cumulative knowledge and heritage for future generations.”
Diversity is another issue facing librarians today.
“Diversity has fractured communities,” Linde-Moriarty observes. “The library is a community hub, welcoming and inclusive, a central gathering place for the community.”
But librarians are predominantly white women, Linde-Moriarty noted. So is most of the library staff.
“Who’s missing from the equation?,” Linde-Moriarty says. “We need to be broadening our perspective, not only in our stacks, but on our staff.”
Despite all the challenges, Linde-Moriarty would not have chosen any other career. Their dedication to battling censorship, to preserving our cultural heritage and to making the library an accessible, attractive, welcoming center of the community holds them right where they are, and they love it that way.
