Boston’s QT Library Highlights Local Collective Organizing, Palace Project Widens Access to Banned Books, Texas Youth Organize Against Right-Wing Censorship and More!
For the People Monthly Newsletter: September 2023
For the People Data Collection Update
For The People is compiling the first-ever nationwide database of public library board seats to support leftists in running for, or seeking appointment to, office. Back in early March we launched our Data Collection Project Volunteer Task Force. Last month we established an August 31st deadline for checked-out batches that had been out for 2 or more months, and those batches have now been made available again for new volunteer checkouts. This reset is why our total percent checked-out dropped from 100% last month down to 68% this month, and it’s why we need YOU to sign up to help with research now.
"Phase Two" is also progressing. This new phase involves direct outreach to the public library systems that don't publish the info we're seeking on the web.
We really appreciate all of the amazing volunteers who have helped out with this project so far. Sign up to help if you’d like to join the fun. The prizes are incredible, as you can see below:
1st place🥇: Two items from the For the People Bonfire Store (not to exceed $70 in total value) + A signed copy of Mariame Kaba's book Let This Radicalize You (or a $10 Bookshop gift certificate)
2nd place🥈: One item from the For the People Bonfire Store (not to exceed $30 in total value) + A signed copy of Mariame Kaba's book Let This Radicalize You (or a $10 Bookshop gift certificate)
3rd place🥉: A signed copy of Mariame Kaba's book Let This Radicalize You (or a $10 Bookshop gift certificate)
The scoreboard is an opt-in situation, so volunteers are named "Anonymous Volunteer Extraordinaire" by default unless they explicitly agree to have their name or an alias included on the scoreboard.
Calling All Library Board Candidates
For The People is assembling the first cohort of candidates who are ready to run for a library board seat or seek appointment, and we want YOU to be a part of it! Our cohort will receive 12 weeks of training in three 4-week sections. You’ll learn how to run for office, identify and pursue an appointment, and govern effectively as a leftist library board trustee. This cohort is aimed at candidates who are on track to run or seek appointment between January 1, 2024, and March 15, 2025.
If you’re interested in running but not quite ready yet (or if your race is later than 3/15/25), stay tuned for our next cohort.
To apply for the 2023 Fall Cohort, complete our online application here—and congratulations on taking a huge step to defend public libraries!
Take Action: Fight Back Against Internet Censorship and Surveillance
Privacy and intellectual freedom are two core library values, but US legislators from both sides of the aisle are trying to pass a series of bad internet bills that restrict minors’ access to LGBTQ+ resources and sex education, weaken cybersecurity measures for individuals, and create new ways to surveil us and violate our privacy.
Book bans, censorship, and surveillance are all tactics of the same conservative effort to restrict people’s ability to learn and share information. Teen Vogue published a powerful op-ed from Library Defender Sarah Philips, where they explain how one of the bills, the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), will restrict queer and trans kids’ access to critical information for their health and happiness.
How to Take Action:
Library supporters must come out strong in opposition to attacks on intellectual freedom and privacy, whether it’s in the form of book bans or bad internet bills. The Bad Internet Bills campaign website has more information about each bill, and steps you can take to join the wave of opposition to these bills.
Use the skills you learned in August’s Intellectual Freedom Defense Talking Points webinar from the Library Freedom Project to explain to your lawmakers why they must oppose these bills.
Find out if your library already provides privacy education for library users, and if they don’t, ask if they’ll try out one of these programs.
Take Action: Solidarity with ALA President Emily Drabinski against Right Wing Attacks and Reactionary Policies
Last month we shared that the Montana State Library Commission (MSLC) voted 5-1 to withdraw from the American Library Association (ALA) along with this article from Jacobin that contextualizes the red-baiting and homophobia that led to this decision, and what it means for our fight moving forward. Most recently, the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) decided to officially cut ties with the ALA as well as shared via social media by a state representative. This is a part of a larger movement of reactionary right-wing attacks against the freedom of information access and organized attempts to undermine the public good. Read more about this in Samantha Riedel’s article published in them.
Take Action: If you’re as mad as we are, check out this letter of support for Emily and her ALA presidency, which has over 1,700 signatories and counting. You don’t have to be a librarian or ALA member to sign on yourself! To do more, you can register for the free Intellectual Freedom Defense Talking Points webinar (more information below) to learn how to speak up against these kinds of attacks in your community.
Spotlighting Library Wins
Boston’s QT Library Highlights Local Collective Organizing
In Boston, Massachusetts, a group of queer and trans artists and educators have launched an organizing and fundraising campaign to open a brick-and-mortar LGBTQ+ lending library and community space. The “QT Library” is “ as an act of joy and community in the face of mounting physical and legislative violence against our communities across the nation (incl. waves of book challenges aiming to erase our stories and selves), and as a direct response to a national lack of sober queer- and trans-centered spaces.”
The library aims to bring so much more than books to the community; they plan to hold programming, facilitate resource-sharing, and serve as a space that affirms, connects, and rejuvenates. All resources will be authored and curated by members of the queer and trans communities, with foundational commitments to abolition, intersectionality, and accessibility. They are about halfway toward their $50k goal and hope to open their doors in June 2024. Please visit https://qtlibrary.org/# to find out more!
The Digital Public Library of America’s Banned Book Club and Palaces Project App
The Digital Public Library of America has made available a way to access banned books across America--- wherever you are. At the Banned Book Club website, you can use location services to see which books are banned in areas near you, or anywhere in the U.S. Then, by using The Palace Project app, you can access these titles and read them on a mobile device. It can be a harrowing experience seeing just how widespread book banning is and which titles are included. The Palace Project, though, "supports the mission of public libraries by providing equitable access to digital knowledge, bolsters the direct relationship between libraries and patrons, and protects patron privacy by enabling libraries to serve content to patrons from all the major e-content providers." It contains a bookshelf of more than 15,000 open titles that are ready for access to all citizens now, at no cost to patrons or libraries. The knowledge and wisdom of books may have been cut from certain libraries, but thanks to The Palace Project, they remain accessible.
Texas Student Organizers Defend Against Book Bans, Censorship, and Reactionary Policies
A group of youth organizers in Texas called SEAT (Students Engaged in Advancing Texas) have been working hard to defend against book bans, internet censorship efforts, and other reactionary efforts across the state and especially in their local district (Katy Independent School District). You can read about some of their organizing efforts here. They’ve been busy sharing testimonies at board meetings, speaking out during past legislative sessions, and building a local coalition. This October, they hope to send student organizers to a special legislative session in Austin, but they need to raise $4000 to make it happen.
Please support these amazing students by donating here: https://www.studentsengaged.org/donate
Neighbors United for Progress Defend Against Public Library Defunding Attempts in Dayton, Washington
This article about a public library in Dayton, Washington is a great reminder that the end goal of the right wing and centrist reactionaries is not merely to censor books or silence stories of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ people, it is also to completely dismantle public goods. When the book banners in Dayton weren’t satisfied with restricting access to certain books they managed to get a petition on the upcoming ballot that attempts to entirely defund and dismantle the library. Local group Neighbors United for Progress are building the “VOTE NO!” campaign now to prevent this defund ballot petition from passing this coming autumn.
Have you or your community experienced a library win? Let us know by completing this form and you may be featured in our next newsletter!
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