The following letter was published in the Herald Journal on Tuesday, 20 September 2022:
To the editor:
I have been a proud member of the library profession for 27 years, working at academic and public libraries, providing reference, running public programs, and buying materials. It has always made me happy that when I tell people I am a librarian, they often smile and respond by telling me about fond memories of their childhood library or how much they love reading books. However, more recently, people have been responding by asking if I have heard about the spread of legislation and activism geared toward attacking librarians and their collection development decisions.
Sadly, our country is growing ever more polarized, and libraries are increasingly facing challenges to the materials in their collections, with the American Library Association (ALA) documenting 729 challenges last year alone. This is so perplexing to me as an information professional who understands the time and consideration that librarians put into developing their collections for the wide variety of readers and researchers they support, generally relying on well-defined collection development policies.
There is a popular quotation among librarians: “A truly great library has something to offend everyone.” I would also like to evoke James LaRue, the former director of the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom: “A really good library has something to support everyone” — whether that is the Christian homeschooler who needs access to curricular materials or the crafter looking for new ideas or the transgender teen who should be able to see themselves represented in the collection.
This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of Banned Books Week (Sept. 18-24), which celebrates the freedom to read. Each September, librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, and teachers mark this week by emphasizing the importance of the free flow of information that allows our society to thrive. In fact, books help our citizens engage deeply with complex topics. Banned Books Week challenges the belief that the censorship of ideas protects people from the complexities they encounter in the world around them. The whole notion of promoting the freedom of speech and ideas so that we can all individually make our own judgments is a pillar of this country’s founding. To echo another commonly expressed saying among librarians, those who ban books have generally not landed on the right side of history. During Banned Books Week, please support your librarians and your libraries and know that we are supporting you too.
Jennifer Duncan
President, Cache Valley Library Association
