As a librarian I know that a lot of people get scared or embarrassed about telling us that they damaged a book, but I need everyone to know that it actually has a really important reason, particularly for water damage, like if you got the book wet. Tears and such are relatively mild problems depending on the rarity of the book, but wet paper molds very easily, so if you get a book wet and we don't know, it can mold and that mold can spread to other books and potentially become a health and safety hazard.
So when librarians tell you to report any damage, please don't be too scared to! We're not going to yell at you, there are actual reasons why we need to know!!
Putting books on hold at the library has the same thrill of ordering books online, but with the added benefit of not losing any money over titles I might not enjoy.
I don't see enough people mourning over the slow death of physical media. And I don't just mean TV shows, video games, or movies--which don't even get me started about how we don't really 'own' anything anymore. It includes notes, journals, and letters to one another...so much of our history is lost when we lose a password, a website goes down, a file/hardware is corrupted, or a platform disappears. History that doesn't seem important until you no longer have access to it. Physical media does a lot for memory recall. How many memories will we lose because we don't have something tangible to tie it back to? Something to hold in our hands and stir up those memories we thought were once lost? Sometimes I wonder what the difference between burning a book and losing access to physical media is when someone can pull the plug and remove your access so easily.
librarians are fun because you'll go and ask for a book no one has read for one william years and they'll be like 'it's not on the system but the neighboring system's neighboring system's neighboring system's uncle's cousin's baby's laboratory professor's favorite crystal provider's alma mater has a copy'
hey hi hello so as the US goes through this ~ hostile government takeover ~ Trump signed an executive order last week to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). On Thursday (3/20) DOGE attempted to quietly raid IMLS but staff there posted to reddit and the unwanted media attention led them to put a pause on the takeover, for now. Trump replaced the director of IMLS with Keith Sonderling, who very openly stated that his goals are to "promote patriotism" and "American exceptionalism". We worry grants will be more dependent on whether your institution supports DEI [or anyone who isn't a white hetero cis man].
A lot of libraries depend on IMLS grants! If they go away we will lose librarians and libraries may close, or at least significantly decrease their services. This will affect funding for technology classes, free resources for the blind, summer reading, databases, free internet access assistance, and interlibrary loans among other things. As the administration also targets social security, immigration, and other safety nets, libraries are attempting to fill the gap for the public, and things will get much harder without reliable funding.
This is also IN ADDITION to the administration calling book bans "fake" and some states attempting to pass laws to criminalize librarians, with fears in the library world that they will also try to make it a federal crime to promote or otherwise provide access to "inappropriate materials" which have included books that promote "gender ideology" or basically any character that isn't a white hetero cis man. That is one of the cornerstones of Project 2025. This IMLS takeover will only make things worse, and make it harder for people to access information.
Personally, we have been told by our director to be very careful and not talk about this while at work because of fears of retaliation, we have had several calls from the public to remove books with gay characters (we didn't), and as an adult services librarian, I am already seeing an impact on databases I help the public use. Medline Plus, the only free and easy-to-use medical encyclopedia for the public I have been able to find, is a US government website and already has warnings above certain pages about the "harms of gender ideology". This warning can be seen above pages on health disparities and abortion.
If you're so inclined and live in the US, the ALA put together a portal that makes it easy to email your reps with a script. You can find the portal here. I would also recommend investing in your local library, post on social media what services you use, sign up for a library card and see how many resources you can access for free. Many state library associations collect user stories of libraries so they can show their stakeholders they matter. Like my library, it is likely that staff have been warned not to discuss this at work because of fears of retaliation, so try not to talk to librarians about this at work.
General advocacy page:
Join us and Show Up #ForOurLibraries.
Article from NPR about the takeover:
Keith E. Sonderling is the new acting head of The Institute of Museum and Library Services, the main source of federal funding for libraries
What happens if IMLS goes away:
On Friday night, March 14, President Trump issued an Executive Order that called for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library
A report on how much museums give back to the US economy:
Museums play an essential role in cultural and social life across the US. They tell our stories, preserve our heritage, interpret the past,
I love libraries a little too much for my own good. Like yes PLEASE do let me hang out in this place full of books, movies, and DVDs/CDs for two straight hours. Let me pick out my silly little books and check them out (FOR FREE?????!!!!!???) and take them home and read them for two weeks. Yes I will talk to the librarian about life for thirty minutes because yeah. Yeah I will sit at a table and read the first chapter of a book to see if I like it before checking it out. I LOVE THE LIBRARY!!!!!!!!!
