By supporting librarians, you’re being a helper to world of learning
As we continue to observe attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries continuing to surge, according to reports from the American Library Association (ALA), I think of what it would be like to work as a librarian threatened with legal action or violence.
Over more than a decade as a nonfiction author, every librarian I’ve ever interfaced with carefully reviews the works of literature they take into their library. Many have review teams supporting them.
Not every book makes it through scrutiny. Books bring us knowledge of the outside world that helps bring us into being.
Books introduce us to a world of imagination and provocative discussions. They help us understand our world and humankind, our similarities and differences, and inspire us to be open-minded.
Now you see across America, especially in Florida, governments replacing the wisdom of trained librarians with greater control by politically motivated constituents and elected officials who wish to thwart free access to learning.
The ALA website is rich with information on the standards for public, academic, technical, and public and private school libraries. The first paragraph under the book “Selection Criteria” outlines the beginning of their process:
“For library professionals to make informed choices, selection policies for all types of libraries — public libraries, academic libraries, technical school libraries, and school libraries (public and private) — should include criteria to guide in the resource selection process. The criteria should be a blend of general, specific, and technical to enable library staff to select materials in all subject areas and formats. In addition to criteria such as appropriateness to the age and level of the user, librarians must also consider creating a collection that reflects a diversity of ideas and authors as well as being reflective of the population the library serves.”
As the saying goes, never in world history have people burning or banning books turned out to be the good guys. Please support your local library and the librarians who dedicate their lives to helping people learn. Be a helper, not a blocker, to the world of learning.
I like to think that my writing “helps heal our world.” This favorite poem reminds us of the importance of reading in the sunshine.
“And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listening more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed.
And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.”
— Poem by Kitty O’Mera