Hey guys so if you are from Indiana, now is a REALLY good time to get a library card and start supporting your local library. If you think libraries are important I need you to start participating and I need you to do it loudly.
You see the Indiana Senate just passed SB8 which, among other things makes library funding beholden to local political bodies rather than its board. If this bill passes in the house, and it's likely to do so, any library in the state looking to increase their budget by 3% or more a year will have to have that budget approved by local fiscal government.
Uni, you say, why that bad? Shouldn't libraries have some oversight in their spending? sure!
Except that our current governor Mike braun- a Trump tody and all around terrible guy- took a ton of money out of the pockets of local governments already under the guise of "tax breaks"( they weren't tax breaks, they just left someone else holding the tax bill)
That means that local governments aren't going to approve library funds if they feel they have more important things that need that money. And in communities like mine, which are very rural and DEEPLY red, a number of our elected officials not only don't see the value if libraries, they are actively hostile to us. They see us as uncontrollable hotbeds of liberalism. If these people are in control of our budgets it means potential cuts, budget uncertainty or - and this one is my biggest concern - that they can put stipulations of our funding. They could tell us we have to remove things from our collection or that we can't provide certain service. And that's not a bug, it's a feature. It's what this bill was designed to do. To make libraries choose between censorship or existence.
This legislative session we watched them pass bills that gutted conservation efforts, stripped dignity from trans people. They even tried( and thankfully failed) to reintroduce firing squads as a method of execution. We have a loud fascist leading our state and he created multiple new high level positions across multiple agencies that he filled with his loud fascist friends and he's empowering Trump-loyal law markers. Fascists don't want you to have access to information, this is just their newest version of burning books.
As I said I am from a small, rural community in Indiana, a very VERY red state. But even our little town library has a pretty vast collection of lgbtq+ books, black authors, indigenous authors, books on feminism, transness, the environment. Civics. History. Religion. We are one of the only places our growing homeless population can go during the day. Every day I print legal papers and help people get assistance if they need it. The bulk of my job has nothing to do with books, it's research. The library is where people when they don't know where to find answers. Which means we are dealing with a lot of people who are in situations where they have no where else to turn. And if the people holding our purse strings decide they don't want that( and trust me, they don't. they are very loud about it.) our community and many others like it could loose a vital resource.
But here's the things: You can help. First of all, by supporting your library. Take the time to actually look through the collections they have access too, both physical and digital. My library has a huge number of queer fantasy and romance books that people are constantly surprised about because we don't post on social media that we have them. We learned a long time ago that most book banners are lazy and they won't do the work of picking through the collection to find things to be offended about. Chances are your library is similar. Think about going to a program, almost all public libraries offer some kind of programing and it's generally free! Also look at our digital resources! Most libraries have access to the Indiana digital library which does audiobooks, ebooks, tv series, movies, music, all sorts of stuff.
The other thing you can do, and I'm holding your hand when i say this, you gotta be loud and you gotta show up. We are funded by your tax dollars which means when these assholes have meetings they don't think you're going to show up to to talk about our funding, you need to prove them wrong. This bill hasn't passed in the House yet, so find your state reps for your Indiana district and blow up their phones. You also need to be regularly bullying your elected officials, whether this passes or not. Your city and/or county councilmen especially. Do not ever let theses people forget they work for you, not the other way around. The ONLY reason this state didn't cave to Trump's redistricting pressure, was because the population was Loud and Angry about it. If you're not from Indiana, keep your eyes out, because other states are trying to do this too.
It's rough out there guys and it's about to get rougher, but this is one small thing you can do to help. Communities need libraries. Help yours stay afloat, if you can.
