{"id":933267,"date":"2025-04-07T14:29:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T18:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/?p=933267"},"modified":"2025-04-11T10:26:15","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T14:26:15","slug":"annual-celebration-of-libraries-and-library-workers-arrives-amid-funding-threats-to-learning-and-enrichment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glaad.org\/annual-celebration-of-libraries-and-library-workers-arrives-amid-funding-threats-to-learning-and-enrichment\/","title":{"rendered":"Annual Celebration of Libraries and Library Workers Arrives Amid Funding Threats to Learning and Enrichment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Credit: ala.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 6-12 marks National Library Week<\/a>, the American Library Association\u2019s (ALA) annual celebration of libraries, library workers, and the role they play \u201cin transforming lives and strengthening our communities.\u201d With a theme of \u201cDrawn to the Library,\u201d this year\u2019s event encourages readers to \u201cchart [their] next literary adventure\u201d at the library, recognize the contributions of library workers, learn about and utilize library resources, and take action to support libraries and protect the right to read.<\/p>\n

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The theme of this year\u2019s National Library Week is \u201cDrawn to the Library\u201d (Credit: American Library Association<\/em><\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Coinciding with National Library Week, the ALA released<\/a> their annual \u201cTop 10 Most Challenged Books<\/a>\u201d list highlighting the most frequently banned titles around the country, many of which are written by or are about LGBTQ people and\/or people of color. The titles are familiar – including All Boys Aren\u2019t Blue<\/em> and Gender Queer. <\/em>What\u2019s new, according to ALA, is that 72% of the challenges are coming from organized pressure groups and politicians they work with to falsely claim inclusive books are offensive or inappropriate.<\/p>\n

According to Angie Hayden, a cofounder of Read Freely Alabama, a group that provides resources for fighting library censorship, this misrepresentation is the entire strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese groups are seeking to define who is an acceptable and valid human being in public spaces,\u201d Hayden tells GLAAD.<\/p>\n

Extremist groups<\/a> like Moms for Liberty<\/a> create outrage by mischaracterizing entire books based on single pages.\u201c They will take a sex education book with cartoon depictions of anatomy, and misrepresent it as obscenity,\u201d Hayden explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’ll find a single curse word in a 300 page novel about racial injustice, and label it inappropriate. Obviously these groups are trying to control what people can access and read, and they’re very willing to villainize and terrorize your local library staff to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The local spokespeople also misrepresent the community at large, and instead are guided by the national extremist groups and pre-selected target titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 120 titles most frequently targeted for censorship during 2024 are all identified on partisan book rating sites which provide tools for activists to demand the censorship of library books,\u201d ALA reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe movement to ban books is not a movement of parents, but a movement of partisans who seek to limit our freedom to read and make different choices about things that matter,\u201d said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Director of ALA\u2019s Office for Intellectual Freedom.<\/p>\n

National Library Week serves as an important reminder of one of our most precious resources, libraries, and the passionate workers who serve their communities. Through funding, libraries provide<\/a> people with barrier-free access<\/a> to literature, the Internet, technology, research, and employment assistance, genealogical tools, printing services, informative programming, and more. However, recent actions<\/a> by the Trump administration threaten to reduce libraries into right-wing propaganda outlets<\/a>, leading some to draw comparisons<\/a> to attacks against institutions of learning and enrichment in 1930s Nazi Germany.<\/p>\n

Following through on his campaign promise to dismantle the federal government, President Donald Trump in March targeted<\/a> the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) as part of an executive order<\/a> calling for the gutting of several federal agencies. In the days that followed, IMLS notified by email<\/a> its entire staff, some 70 employees, that they would be placed on administrative leave.<\/p>\n

\"An
An advocate for the freedom to read holds a copy of \u201cFahrenheit 451\u201d while protesting IMLS cuts. (Credit: AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Trump selected Keith E. Sonderling, his recent pick for U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor<\/a>, to oversee<\/a> the agency. Sonderling released a statement<\/a> pledging to \u201crevitalize IMLS and restore focus on patriotism,\u201d as well as to \u201cpromote American exceptionalism and cultivate love of country in future generations.\u201d Sonderling has no public record of experience or expertise in library science or education. He voted against<\/a> EEOC guidelines that would protect LGBTQ employees from workplace discrimination including access to accurate restrooms and pronouns.<\/p>\n

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the sole<\/a> \u201cfederal agency dedicated to funding library services.\u201d In 2024, the institute<\/a> \u201cawarded $266 million in grants and research funding;\u201d money used to \u201chelp staff, fund maintenance and create new programs.\u201d According to EveryLibrary, most funding for public libraries<\/a> comes from municipal taxes, a meager amount that does little more than fund the essentials. The American Library Association (ALA) noted that IMLS funding supports libraries visited by more than 1.2 billion patrons in person every year for just 0.003 percent of the federal budget.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the ALA cautioned<\/a> many library programs and services are at stake, especially those serving people in rural areas. PEN America\u2019s Jonathan Friedman warned<\/a> the IMLS cuts will hinder \u201cthe ability of all people to exercise their freedom to read and learn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The budget cuts would threaten services for nearly every community:<\/p>\n