Chime In Why Democracy Needs Libraries Stories You May Like Bestselling Children’s Author Weaves Tales of Wonder Meet the University Librarian What’s Tiny, Bookish, and Made of Bricks? Lego Olin Library! With censorship on the rise, the University Librarian weighs in on the critical role these institutions play in civic and educational life By Elaine Westbrooks Democracy is not a perfect system of government—but it’s the best one we have. Based on the fundamental principle of human equality, it operates via the mechanism of community decision-making through individual choice. Today, more than 80% of Americans report being concerned that democracy is under threat. And interestingly, when people are asked which political party poses the bigger risk, it’s nearly a tie: Democrats believe that Republicans are responsible, and Republicans believe that Democrats are. So we have one point of bipartisan agreement: the ship is sinking, and we blame each other for it. The bonds of social trust that serve and support democracy are deteriorating. For the past 40 years, Gallup and Pew have measured the level of confidence in U.S. structures. (Lindsay France / Cornell University) Trust in government is declining, as is confidence in institutions across the board, including our healthcare and criminal justice systems, journalism, and Congress. But one institution that remains trusted by Americans is our libraries. In fact, libraries always rank in the top two, along with the military. Libraries are not in the business of making money, or of peddling ideas and getting people to think a certain way. What we do is collect, and not in just one area or from one perspective. It’s not up to us to decide what you read, but it’s our job to make it available to you. Libraries are not in the business of making money, or of peddling ideas and getting people to think a certain way. Yes, we have materials that any particular individual might find offensive—and that’s exactly the way libraries should be. This brings me to one of the symptoms of our unhealthy democracy: censorship. These attacks on our freedom to read should trouble everyone who values liberty and our constitutional rights. A democratic society operates best when information flows freely and is freely available. Book bans place politics over the well-being and education of young people and everyone’s right to access libraries. Westbrooks reads her essay aloud in Uris Library's A.D. White Reading Room. Stories You May Like Bestselling Children’s Author Weaves Tales of Wonder Meet the University Librarian As the American Library Association’s “Freedom to Read” statement notes, it’s in the public interest for librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or even considered dangerous by some. Last year (2023) marked the highest number of challenges in the U.S. that have occurred since the American Library Association began compiling data more than two decades ago. In fact, a novel by a Cornellian—The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison, MA ’55—is the third-most-banned book in the U.S. today. Book bans place politics over the well-being and education of young people and everyone’s right to access libraries. Now, I’ve just laid some really heavy stuff on you—but I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think that libraries had a solution, or at least ways to alleviate these problems. Libraries serve people of every age, income level, location, ethnicity, and physical ability. We provide a full range of information resources needed to learn, govern, and work. There are four things that libraries do particularly well that build resiliency in our democracy: We support education. We empower people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use, and create information to achieve their personal, social, occupational, and educational goals. We preserve and steward facts. We provide a fixed reference point, allowing truth and falsehood to be judged through transparency, verification, citation, and reproducibility. We champion intellectual freedom. Democracy is dependent on the lawful dissemination and rigorous protection of speech from all political perspectives. Not everything will withstand rigorous scrutiny in the marketplace of ideas—but our free society requires that we have the right to make up our own minds. We support truth. It’s difficult to know what’s true on the Internet. Information is abundant—but with that abundance comes a lot of junk. Libraries play an important role in imparting critical thinking skills to help distinguish the good from the bad. Librarians are often painted as passive purveyors of information—but the mere act of collecting is powerful. Through our work, we empower people to imagine a more just and equitable world focused on humanity, learning, and mutual care. Libraries are the guardians of diverse perspectives for today, for tomorrow, and for future generations. Elaine Westbrooks has been the Carl A. Kroch University Librarian since 2022. This essay was adapted from a series of talks at Cornell Clubs throughout the U.S. Published April 26, 2024 Comments Celia E. Rodee, Class of 1981 6 May, 2024 what SHE said! Thank you Elaine Westbrooks for your leadership of the Cornell Libraries at a time when libraries have never been more iimportant to our society! Reply Melissa Yorks, Class of 1975 15 May, 2024 I have a sweatshirt that says on it “Celebrate freedom – read a banned book”. It has a list of banned books on it and when I bought it I had read all but two of them. I promptly went to my local library and checked them out. Most of the books I can’t even figure out why they were banned. The Martian Chronicles? Must have missed the problem when I first read it when I was 13. Librarians are my heroes. Actually I have a degree in library science but I never worked in a public library (so I don’t count myself in this praise) but the National Library of Medicine is full of books that would probably be banned if the censors had ever been here. Reply Leave a Comment Cancel replyOnce your comment is approved, your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *Comment * Name * Class Year Email * Save my name, email, and class year in this browser for the next time I comment. Δ Other stories You may like Chime In Remembering David McCullough, a ‘Tour Guide to the Past’ Quizzes & Puzzles How Much Do You Know about Africana Studies on the Hill? Quizzes & Puzzles Eek! How Much Do You Know About Creepy-Crawly Big Red History?