ATTACK ON LIBRARIES: ‘About social control’

I appreciated the Coeur d’Alene Press covering the chaos of the last Community Library Network board meeting. However, it left open the idea that all sides were instigators, which is not true. As I was repeatedly interrupted, I’d like to share my comments here.

I’ll be blunt. Those leading this attack on libraries, locally and nationally, are directly linked to patriarchal white Christian nationalism. Didn’t we get enough of that violently exclusionary ideology here 30 years ago? I can’t think we want library board meetings that require police presence.

Banning books is about social control. When we celebrate reading banned books, we celebrate freedom to explore our world. Perhaps we can still purchase the books, but isn’t that saying that only those with money deserve to be able to sidestep control? The entire purpose of libraries is to open pathways of possibility to everyone, level access to knowledge, history, science, literature.

That includes opening horizons to adolescents. There are indeed YA books that directly acknowledge teenagers have and deal with sexuality and gender and explore what that means for them. Somehow, acknowledging that in a book is enough for these folks to slap on a ‘pornographic’ label, contrary to legal and reasonable understandings of the term.

People deserve to exist, be seen, accepted, valued as whole, beautiful human beings, no matter race, gender, sexuality, religion/no religion, disability, economic status. Libraries are crucial to maintaining accessibility, from a variety of often contradictory but valid viewpoints, beyond one restrictive understanding of one particular religion.

JOSIAH MANNION

Coeur d’Alene