Libraries

India’s Free Library Movement Counters Caste Discrimination

January 3, 2025 Emily Drabinski, Truthout. Strategize! discrimination, India, Libraries, Popular Education

Outside the Khirki branch of Delhi’s Community Library Project, a signboard details the day’s programs, including scheduled story times and art activities. Children bounce and buzz as they wait in line to check out their books. Patrons take advantage of clean public bathrooms, drinking water (in short supply in many of Delhi’s unplanned communities) and internet-connected laptops. This library feels more like my home Windsor Terrace branch of the Brooklyn Public Library than it does the Delhi Public Library a few kilometers away. The biggest difference?

The Library Is A Commons

July 15, 2024 Emily Drabinski, In These Times. Strategize! Libraries, Socialism, The Commons, Worker Rights

The Montana State Library Commission voted 5-1 (with one abstention) in July 2023 to rescind its membership in the American Library Association because of the ALA’s then-president: a self-proclaimed Marxist lesbian, which is to say, me. Despite their claims, that does not mean the entire field is socialist, nor is the professional association, which is nonpartisan and dedicated to advocating for libraries and the professional development of library staff. Who knows how many of us are card-carrying socialists (probably not too many, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a total 140,000 library workers while membership in the Democratic Socialists of America stands at about 80,000, most of whom likely don’t work in libraries — yet), but there’s a reason the Right is suspicious of libraries as an institution.

Queer Louisianans Are Fighting Book Bans And Winning

January 3, 2024 Katie Jane Fernelius, In These Times. Resist! Book ban, LGBTQ Rights, Libraries, Louisiana

St. Tammany Parish, LA.— The governing board of St. Tammany Parish Library is meeting one August evening in the squint-inducing fluorescence of council chambers. The agenda includes the summer reading program, the latest financial reports, and whether a young adult novel about two teenagers seeking to break a world record for kissing should remain on shelves. There has been a public complaint. “We’ll move on now to the statement of concern regarding the title Two Boys Kissing,” says Rebecca Taylor, board president of the library, which is in southeastern Louisiana. “As a reminder, your public comment must directly relate to this agenda item.”

File Under ‘S’ For Solidarity: Union Members Defend Local Library

October 3, 2023 Stephanie Luce , Portside. Resist! LGBTQ Rights, Libraries, Right-Wing, Solidarity, Unions

When teens and librarians planned a Drag Make-Up Hour at the Peabody Institute Library in Danvers, MA (a small town about 25 miles north of Boston) they drew fury from a handful of right-wingers—and heartfelt support from the community, including dozens of union members from the North Shore Labor Council. Holding rainbow signs that read “North Shore Labor Council: Where No Worker and No Union Stands Alone,” they joined hundreds of others from LBGTQ+, faith, peace, and environmental communities. Altogether, more than 350 counter-protestors formed a “wall of love” outside the library at the May 2023 event, greatly outnumbering the 10 protestors who held signs reading “Make America Great Again: Vote Republican” and “Straight Pride.”

Largest School District In Texas Eliminates Libraries

July 29, 2023 Kylie Cheung, Jezebel. Educate! Education, Libraries, Public schools, Texas

The largest public school district in the state of Texas is converting libraries in 28 schools into disciplinary centers and eliminating school librarian positions, local news outlets reported on Thursday. The alarming change comes as part of a sweeping reform program led by the Houston Independent School District’s (HISD) new superintendent Mike Miles, who oversees 85 schools. Of the remaining 57 schools with libraries, the district said each will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, indicating more libraries could be closed. Under Miles’ New Education System (NES) program, libraries in the 28 schools will become “Team Centers,” where “kids with behavioral issues will be sent,” per the Houston-based NBC affiliate, KRPC.

Punching Down On Libraries

May 17, 2023 Katie Pruden, The Indypendent. Organize! Budget Cuts, Education, Libraries, New York City (NYC)

New York City, New York - There’s a public library in every single neighborhood in the city, across all five boroughs. More than 200 locations altogether. Whether it be Queens (QPL), Brooklyn (BPL) or New York (NYPL), which encompasses The Bronx and Staten Island, the library’s employees, resources and physical spaces serve the public beyond providing books, free wifi and nice architecture. If you fill out a form, librarians at BPL will personally pick out recommendations for you based on what you like. Using the new Queens Name Explorer, you can find out about the history behind the names of local parks, streets and schools.

Bike Libraries Are Boosting Access To Bikes Across The US

November 12, 2022 Cinnamon Janzer, Next City. Create! Biking, Education, Libraries, Wisconsin

Madison, Wisconsin - At Madison, Wisconsin’s nine public libraries, residents can check out books of all kinds, from hardbacks and paperbacks to ebooks and audiobooks. They can check out movies as DVDs and Blu-rays. And since last year, library card holders can also check out electric bicycles. Madison’s public libraries are part of a growing number of bike libraries in cities and towns from coast to coast. A list of U.S. bike lending libraries curated by StreetsblogMASS reporter Grecia White documents 35 such programs, from Vermont to Texas. While they all look a little different and work a little differently, they all do the same thing — increase free access to bikes.

A For-Profit Company Is Trying To Privatize Public Libraries

December 22, 2021 Janine Jackson, Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting. Educate! Education, Libraries, Neoliberalism, Privatization

"Even if we don’t see a written-out master plan, the banning of books, the attacks on teaching real US history, the efforts to push out professors with views that transgress official US policy: In their myriad forms, these actions tell us that it’s important to powerful people to restrict what ideas people can access. It’s the land of the free and the home of the brave—except if you want to know what’s happened, and happens, here, or to tell people about it. It all shows us the power of ideas. As infuriating and sad and enervating as it all is, it reminds us that knowledge is power."

Public-Private Partnerships Are Hollowing Out Our Libraries

November 12, 2021 Caleb Nichols, Truthout. Educate! Education, Libraries, Neoliberalism, Privatization

“This library is full of losers,” an HR person said to me as I signed my letter of resignation from my public library job. “A bunch of losers who just take, take, take. Good for you for moving up in the world.” I was truly shocked by her disdain for my coworkers. The HR person approved of my resignation because I was leaving an assistant position to take a professional one at another library, joining the ranks of other degreed librarians after graduating from library school. But her comment dripped with scorn toward all the people who simply showed up to work each day, collecting their modest paychecks and serving the public. Indeed, her comment reflected a more widespread attitude that I’ve found among administrators (members of the professional managerial class) within the public sector: Many are capitalist groupies who see unionized employees working for the government as leeches.

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