Hello, everyone. Your Fairy God-Librarian here, and below is the letter I submitted to EveryLibrary in the hopes that they will help get it published in my local newspapers, which are The Montgomery Advertiser, The Wetumpka Herald, The Prattville Progress, The Luverne Journal, The Alexander
City Outlook, The Clanton Advertiser, The Greenville Advocate, The Tuskegee News, The Tallassee Tribune, and The Selma Times-Journal.
Enjoy!
“As a public librarian who has experienced first-hand the hostile takeover of libraries by bad
actors with more political power than sense, here are just some of the reasons why everyone
should value their libraries: 1) Free access to books (print, audio, or digital) and DVDs. This
includes truckers who listen to digital or physical audiobooks on long hauls. This includes the
kids struggling to read. This includes the homeschool family. This includes just anyone who
loves reading 2) Free access to computers and Wi-Fi with friendly technical support 3) Super
cheap printing, faxing, and copying services 4) Fun, free, educational programs for all ages
including story times, summer reading programs, homework help, lo-fi nights, poetry readings,
writing clubs, knitting circles, ESL classes, etc. 5) Safe spaces to be where no one is expected to
buy anything if all you want is to relax, use the bathroom, charge your phone, etc. This includes
the houseless population 6) Meeting spaces and study rooms 7) Access to genealogy services,
research, archives, Interlibrary Loans, etc. in person or digital 8) Well-educated, well-trained,
friendly staff 9) Any of your most random-but not illegal or creepy-questions can be asked
without judgment 10) Materials, kits, resources, and pamphlets are available for learning or
studying in print or digital, like Library of Things or Tech Lending 11) Other free resources like
tax documents, voting registration, and solar eclipse glasses 12) Some libraries will have
programs where they give free menstruation kits, non-perishable food for houseless people with
pets, diapers, etc. 13) Free access to newspapers and magazines in print or digital 14) Some
libraries will have at least one person on staff who already knows or learns another language,
including ASL, to assist patrons whose first language is not English. Assistance is also given to
blind patrons, including audiobooks and books in Braille.
“Must I go on? This attack upon our libraries is all supposed to be under the banner of “for the
children”. This is a lie. This is cover-up for far-right nationalists whose true aim is to infringe
upon the rights of the LGBTQIA and BIPOC communities. This is the same old story in
American history.
“Here are some kernels of wisdom: An adult has the right to make choices for themselves and
their children, but NO ONE has the right to say what someone else can or cannot read. Also, if
someone does not like something on the shelf (or on display or in a program), DON’T READ IT.
The library-whether public, school, university, or special-IS FOR EVERYONE. Lastly, if
someone is not a librarian and/or does not have the education for library science, they are not
qualified to make decisions for a library. People have the right to include their input with their
library, but once that’s done, the trained library professionals will do their jobs.
“Furthermore, librarians do not care if a patron is straight, LGBTQIA+, Black, White, Asian,
Latino, Middle Eastern, Indigenous, Biracial, married, single, divorced, young, old, hearing,
Deaf, sighted, blind, able-bodied, disabled, literate, illiterate, experiencing houselessness, owns 3 homes, educated by homeschooling/private/public, a drop out, has 3 PhDs, Republican,
Democrat, third party-affiliated, a follower of any religion, does not follow a religion, native-
born, an immigrant (legally or illegally), speaks English, doesn’t speak English, never been
incarcerated, currently or formerly incarcerated, or whatever! ALL ARE WELCOME. JUST
DON’T SPILL LIQUIDS ON THE CARPETS. AND RETURN THE BOOKS BEFORE
THEY’RE DUE.”
Love,
Lacie 🙂
