In this time of compounding crises, the future is a hazy thing. Inevitable because of time but conceptually shapeless. Change has occurred and will continue to occur, but it’s very difficult at times to believe things are moving forward and improving. And now, with the re-election of Donald Trump, time seems to have stopped altogether. I can only speak for myself, I suppose, but everything feels particularly stagnant these days. The future seems to consist of a variety of grifts and disruptions, changes nobody but a handful of CEOs and entrepreneurs really want. The latest, “artificial intelligence”, is creating more worry and concern about how exactly the technology will be used to destabilized already destabilized institutions than any genuine hope for a brighter, easier future. There is a reason “mental health” earns its own section in the 2024 EDUCAUSE Horizon Report.
So, when I think about new horizons for the library, I think about ways we can restore hope in a better future. Right now, libraries around the country, to varying degrees, are all on the defensive. Book bans are the most obvious and most advertised of the challenges libraries currently face but the concerted effort to erode the public’s trust in public institutions represents the most existential threat. How can you serve a community that believes you shouldn’t exist?
To answer this question, libraries need to move beyond their faith in the value of neutrality. While extremely valuable and important in a collection development policy, maintaining neutrality as an overall ethos in the current political climate will only leave libraries vulnerable to political attack. If the endgame is to dismantle an institution entirely and shunting the various services the institution provided to a handful of private, for-profit industries, endlessly conceding to their demands will only and always lead to ruin. Obviously, in the short term, libraries must do what they need to do to survive, so concessions will necessarily need to be made. But looking ahead, long term, towards new horizons, libraries must form ideological and political alliances with like-minded organizations, institutions, and community members.
This means collaborating with local labor and tenant unions. Organizations who work with immigrant communities and who aid the undocumented. Local LGBTQ+ centers. Progressive political candidates, on the local and national level. Local school systems, community colleges, and universities. In other words, it means taking a political stance and forming political alliances who can not only help design and promote pro-library policies, but also unite a community around shared economic, social, and political concerns.
2 Comments
November 9, 2024 at 1:01 am
I really needed to read your post today- so thank you. You had mentioned the feeling of how time has stopped, and that describes how I’ve been feeling for these past two days.
I work in a high school and while officially I’m supposed to keep politics out of the workplace, I had to have several conversations with students yesterday who felt let down by their families, communities, and nation.
I overheard a discussion around a group of freshman (full disclosure- one of them is my child) and they were trying to figure out what they could do. I asked them if they were trying to start a revolution, and several of them yelled “YES!” While I was teasing, I was given hope. These kids are 14 years old, but they are already aware that they have to do something in this world to help.
So yes. Collaborate. Connect to the right organizations and make sure that we take a stand for what is right.
November 14, 2024 at 9:16 pm
Louis – I so appreciate your honesty and thoughtfulness about this post. The last week plus has been difficult in many ways. I feel like I’m grieving your last paragraph resonates and I hope and I will always have hope that this will be the way forward.