I sent this note to the 400 Public Services staff at DCPL:
Hi everyone,
It’s been a week since the presidential election and I know many people are still processing what the change in administration will mean for D.C. and the country. I want to echo what Rich said in his Friday update—for DCPL and other libraries around the country, we continue to be committed to being a place of inclusion. This is not new to public libraries and we can see this commitment reflected in the work we do every day to create a safe space for our entire community. Many of you took the Public Library 101 training this year and I hope you see the connection between what you discussed there and our current landscape.
In this same spirit, I want to remind you of a couple of things. In order to be a welcoming place, we might have to put our own feelings about the election aside so that we can serve all people, whether we share their belief system or not. I think back to a question asked of me when I was working at the Central Library in Portland, Oregon. A gentleman asked me for books about White Power and it was pretty clear to me that he was not writing a research paper. Honestly, I didn’t want to help him find books that would help him hate other people. But I dug deep and remembered what the American Library Association Bill of Rights says,
“Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves.
Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.”
It was my job then, and it is your job now, to create an environment where all people feel welcome. And as long as they follow our Rules of Behavior, their political beliefs shouldn’t influence the service we offer them and the environment we create. Please remember that our rules say that our users are not allowed to “Engag[e] in conduct that disrupts or interferes with the normal operation of the library, or disturbs library staff or customers, including but not limited to, conduct that involves the use of abusive or threatening language or gestures, conduct that creates unreasonable noise, or conduct that consists of loud or boisterous physical behavior or talking.” This includes hate speech and if you hear something that violates this rule, please either address it with the patron or let your manager know what you heard.
You should absolutely feel however you want to feel about the future of this country and the election. But now we must all dig deep and remember why the public library is so important to the fabric of this country. As former D.C. resident (and NW1 patron) David Kipen said in his LA Times editorial last week, “librarians may be the only first responders holding the line between America and a raging national pandemic of absolutism. More desperately than ever, we need our libraries now, and all three of their traditional pillars: 1) education, 2) good reading and 3) the convivial refuge of a place apart. In other words, libraries may be the last coal we have left to blow on.”
We are quite often the only neutral place that people have in their lives. And by maintaining and honoring that space, we can make a difference. I urge you to keep this in mind as you talk with your coworkers, patrons, plan programs and displays. I have always and will always be proud to work in an institution like the public library.
Thank you for all that you do for our community,
Manya
