June 29, 2023
Public libraries are for everyone. Throughout the year we celebrate various communities, mark special weeks and months, and create displays to inform and to welcome. A community is composed of all types of folks, and library users are also taxpayers who deserve to see themselves represented at their library branch. If there’s something you’d like to read, we do our best to track it down and get it for you. If there’s a program or something else you’d like to participate in, we appreciate feedback and seek resources, staff assistance, and community partnerships to find a way to make it happen. And Haliburton County Public Library (HCPL) is definitely on a roll, given the amount of community support we receive. We are so grateful for this.
The library is a place for fun, literacy, lifelong learning, and it’s an organization that provides universal access and promotes intellectual freedom for all. If there’s something you don’t like at the library, then it’s simple: we ask you not to choose that reading material for you or your family or attend events that aren’t of interest to you. Fortunately, there will undoubtedly be something else that does appeal to you – I can guarantee it – and so can every library worker in the country. Despite what some people may think, we don’t operate independently from other library systems. We cooperate with neighbouring communities, and their libraries, near and far. We belong to several networks of libraries across Ontario, and we have additional connections as a County library system. This spirit of cooperation means we constantly lend expertise, share great ideas, and support other communities through the exchange of information. This includes the Interlibrary Loan program, for example, whereby we do our best to find the book you want or need, even if it’s in a city several hours from here. Public libraries were created through cooperation, and it’s one of the rare places you can come and enjoy your time without the expectation of needing to pull out your wallet. You are welcome. Your neighbour is welcome.
Our staff go out of their way to reduce barriers to accessing information and to help all people on their learning journeys: whether it’s technology help to bring community members up to speed in an ever-changing digital world, or writing courses, ukulele lessons, or advising you on your next great read, we are here for you. Year round, often with personalized attention, enthusiasm, and always with care for your safety and wellbeing.
So, when we celebrate the LGBTQ2+ library patrons who enjoy our branches, those taxpaying families, individuals, and allies we know who tell us how much they appreciate our displays, reading recommendations and programs, happening during Pride Month (but also throughout the year), we aren’t just following HCPL’s Statement of Values. We’re recognizing and supporting our community, just as we do every time we open our doors.
As someone recently said on social media, “I don’t know who needs to hear this but, ‘good people’ don’t spend their time harassing marginalized communities.” Unfortunately, Pride Month at HCPL was disrupted by someone hiding and then stealing library books they didn’t like seeing on the shelves at a couple of our branches. Imagine that, taking property that a community has collectively purchased!
To be fair, we’ve had people tell us over the years that we should ban (and even burn!) DVDs or books they personally object to. A poster featured in one of our Pride displays this month was also taken. And for the past eight months, a community member or two has put photocopied sections of the Criminal Code of Canada in the book drop boxes at various library branches. I have quite a pile on my desk now, and they often include short notes such as, “You are committing a crime!” You might think library staff morale would be impacted by this criticism, but ultimately, we invest this negative energy into making our displays bigger and better – and by replacing the stolen books with an extra copy or two.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but fortunately terrible opinions don’t get to trump or control the library experience of other patrons at HCPL. We generally know who the folks disrupting our facilities might be. They occasionally surface when we present certain programming or when they discover something they don’t like in our online catalogue and point it out to us. They’re often initially straightforward with emails, calls, or visits to my office, where they express their opinion and push for some kind of censorship. But if they aren’t satisfied with answers about intellectual freedom, that’s when they seem to take a vigilante approach. There are just a handful, but they make up for their number with intensity and persistence.
We know our communities very well, and we receive feedback regularly that HCPL is a vibrant community hub that empowers residents and visitors in Haliburton County. The love for our local library system is strong. Rarely a week goes by before someone supports us in some new and exciting way. Last week a major Canadian children’s author stopped into the office. Not only did she donate some of her books, but she offered us her time. She’s going to help us by participating in Storytimes this summer that will be amazing for kids and their families.
Libraries are for everyone. Love your local library!
By Chris Stephenson