An Excellent Example of Public Library Leadership Advocating for School Libraries
Last week’s Literary Activism post spoke at length about the importance of speaking up and out about legislation that directly impacts libraries–whether or not your library will be the target. Specifically, it was surprising that, despite hours of research and outreach to dozens of library professionals nationwide, there were no examples of public library boards, friends of the library, or library foundation groups writing letters to the editor and/or informing their communities about the impact of House Resolution 7661. The bill, which would impose a nationwide book ban in public schools, has advanced to the House for consideration.* While it would not target public libraries, HR 7661 would have a tremendous impact on them both directly and indirectly. Not seeing public libraries standing up for their school library counterparts was surprising. To be clear, the advocacy may be out there; it’s likely there is suppression in the algorithm and/or posting on social sites, which isn’t as easy to pull up in web searches. But as last week’s Literary Activism piece was being finalized, I received …
