While we all have multiple — and sometimes conflicting — motivations and aspirations for most of our decisions, a strong factor driving my own affection for libraries is having found various forms of sanctuary and safety in public and academic libraries over the course my life.
I believe libraries can and must be a home for diverse and dissenting ideas, voices, peoples. With the twentieth anniversary of 9/11 approaching, I — being a bearded brown man who is the child of immigrants who arrived from South Asia — am particularly cognizant and grateful for the explicit voice of the American Library Association in advocating for basic freedoms, as described in this article:
- Anthony Ross, A., & Caidi, N. (2005). Action and reaction: Libraries in the post 9/11 environment. Library & Information Science Research, 27(1), 97-114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2004.09.006
While domestically 9/11 has provided an excuse for the erosion of civil liberties, internationally the two-decade US-led global war on terror is estimated to have displaced 37 million people. In the UK and Ireland, a movement to support migrant communities has found expression in Libraries of Sanctuary.
In the US today, many of our migrants come from Central America, often driven to flee by forces encouraged or put into motion either directly or indirectly by our own policies and choices. I believe it is incumbent upon US-based librarians to continue to grapple with “libraries as sanctuary spaces” — and I hope I can be a part of such conversations and movements in the years to come…
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3 replies on “INFO 203 – 02 TASK C”
Hello Sourav,
Thank you for sharing this heartfelt post. I also believe in the power of libraries as sanctuaries as well as feel they are places to fight hate and ignorance. I learned a lot from your post, such as the estimated 37 million people displaced from the global war on terror. Libraries can be a great place for people of all sorts of opinions and backgrounds to come together, learn, discuss, engage in the community, gain, and share information.
-Michael
Hi Sourav,
I agree with you about the importance of libraries as being safe spaces and sanctuaries. Libraries are one of the few places in the United States where the public can come in, for free, and use services (with some low-cost exceptions). I am aware of a growing movement in the library field to reduce or eliminate as many costs to the public as possible.
Thank you for also sharing some of your personal thoughts regarding the ramifications of 9/11 and the US-led war on terrorism.
Is the image you posted a self-portrait?
Hi Mari,
Thanks for reading and replying.
Although this isn’t exactly what you were getting at, I think I have mixed feelings about some of the expansion into social services, particularly at urban libraries. On the one hand, I think it reflects holistic, inclusive thinking and a welcoming orientation. In my current city of residence, the public library staff are even trained in administering Narcan to address drug overdoses, which I think demonstrates a deep recognition of humanity and an ethic of caring and mutual responsibility.
On the other hand, I think that the ever expanding role and responsibilities of contemporary urban libraries also reflects that our fundamental social contract and formal safety nets have failed and that libraries are being forced to step in and expand beyond their core competencies. Is there a breaking point where maybe libraries are being asked to do too much and being stretched too thin? What do you think?
As for the image at the bottom of my post, it’s not a self-portrait, just a random creation I made out of construction paper while bored at home during the pandemic times. I thought it would make for a unique signature to sign-off the conclusion of my posts.