Opinion | Libraries can help end the culture wars. That’s why they’re under fire.
Nothing threatens authoritarianism like a free, quiet place to absorb a full range of information.
For those trying to move the United States toward a less democratic, more authoritarian model of governance, there is power to be gained by sowing information chaos. Libraries, on the other hand, are free, publicly funded places that exist to clear away the fog of uncertainty by providing patrons with access to primary sources, a diversity of recorded experiences and a calm place to consider them.
In a library, people with questions can ask a librarian for help finding answers. Instead of telling a curious patron what to think, the librarian will point out titles that might help them learn enough to figure it out for themselves.
The patron’s journey through the library is guided by their own quest for knowledge.
When times get truly tough, however, it might be time for librarians to go rogue.
Pro-library activists are simply circulating the titles so that people can read them and decide for themselves what to think.
In his book “Palaces for the People,” sociologist Eric Klinenberg calls libraries “social infrastructure.” He’s referring to the way these places offer physical shelter and calm, as well as an intangible sense of social stability and community. They are material and psychological spaces that hold us together when we feel lost or curious, lonely or adventurous. Yes, the library might contain propaganda. But it contains the voices of many people, from many historical eras and far-flung places, and those voices wait quietly on the shelves to be heard. That’s because the library is a place of information without coercion.
Though book bans have been a familiar tactic in culture wars, today we’re witnessing an attack on libraries themselves as social institutions. There’s a reason for this escalation: For those trying to move the United States toward a less democratic, more authoritarian model of governance, there is power to be gained by sowing information chaos. Libraries, on the other hand, are free, publicly funded places that exist to clear away the fog of uncertainty by providing patrons with access to primary sources, a diversity of recorded experiences and a calm place to consider them.
In 1948, when an Army psychological operations expert produced a guide to psychological war, it included instructions on how to achieve postwar psychological disarmament. “The free circulation of books” was key.
In the culture war, libraries with free access to a full range of books can light the way toward psychological peace. They provide us with a mental model for a public sphere in which Americans debate each other as equals to reach a resolution or compromise.
We need to preserve our libraries and the books they hold, partly to figure out who we are and where we came from. But perhaps more pressingly, we need to preserve them as both a refuge from the culture wars and a template to rebuild a cultural life together when this war is over. Without them, we may have no way to teach our children to share ideas, instead of battling each other forever.
