Protecting America’s Public Libraries Discussed on WBUR’s “On Point”

From WBUR Radio:

Public libraries in the U.S. are under increasing scrutiny.

Last year, the American Library Association reported a record number of book challenges, topping nearly 1,600 books.

“How a book on a shelf could be a threat to anyone is beyond us. Libraries are for voluntary reading. Libraries are for choice. They’re a resource we should fiercely protect and preserve.”

Efforts are also more aggressive. Several communities have voted to stop funding their public libraries. In others:

“There’s been a few instances where there have been physical threats or, for example, the library in Montana that found books in their book dropped that had been riddled with bullets.”

Today, On Point: Protecting America’s public libraries.

Guests

Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. She works on projects “addressing censorship and privacy in the library.”

Patrick Sweeney, political director of EveryLibrary, the first and only national political action committee for libraries. He is also the former Administrative Librarian of the Sunnyvale Public Library in California.

George M. Johnson, author of All Boys Aren’t Blue. The book is a young adult non-fiction memoir about Johnson’s journey growing up as a queer Black man in America. It’s the third most challenged book of 2021 out of nearly 1,600 books. It has been targeted for removal in at least 14 states. (@IamGMJohnson)

Also Featured

Kimber Glidden, director of the Boundary County Library in Idaho.

Listen to the Program and Access Transcript

Filed under: Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries