Richard Ovenden’s 2020 book, Burning the Books, delves into the history of destroying knowledge, but he told IDEAS that “with events like Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the book bannings now, I should be doing another edition of the book. It’s not a historic topic anymore. It’s a very current one.”

From a Florida state law that requires school librarians to remove contested books from classrooms under threat of imprisonment, to Ukrainian librarians risking their lives to save materials targeted by Russian missiles, Ovenden says “unfortunately, there are many new aspects to the threat to knowledge coming about all the time.”

Ovenden’s public lecture in Toronto outlined what he characterizes as “five freedoms that libraries defend for us, and why we must, in turn, defend libraries and archives, as they are at the heart of open, democratic societies.”

Ovenden began with this claim: “By defending libraries and archives we are defending the very idea of a free and open society.” On May 10, 1933 there was an intense attack on libraries in Nazi Germany. In Berlin a bonfire was held and in the presence of nearly 40,000 cheering people a group of students marched up to the bonfire carrying the bust of a Jewish intellectual, Magnus Hirschfeld. The bust was tossed on top of the fire created by the burning of thousands of books from the library of the Institute of Sexual Sciences. The bonfire consisted of books from Jewish and other “ungermane writers” including gays and communist. It is notable that these same groups are currently under attack in America by American Conservatives including neo-Nazis. The fascists are never permanently defeated. They are always around the corner, ready, willing, and able to blossom when conditions are ripe. The greatest fertilizer for the blossoming is always fear and hate. These are the greatest enemies of civilization.

The were eager to impress the new Nazi government in Germany. “According to Ovenden, “the book burning was a carefully planned publicity stunt.”[2]  The Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbells, was there on behalf of the Nazi government to give a speech to thunderous applause, in which he advocated Germans to say

“no to moral decadence and moral corruption; yes to decency, morality, family, and state. The future German man will not just be a man of books, but a man of character. It is to this end that we want to educate you. You do well to commit to the flames the evil spirits of the past.”

The speech was heard around the world to widespread support and also widespread fear of what was to come. These words did not seem threatening to many people. Autocrats frequently use words and phrases that comfort them. It often seems like they are speaking in favor of civilization and yet they often have a powerful deeper meaning that warns of dangers to freedom. Masses are often persuaded by the opposition to common enemies, such as communism, perversity, or immoral conduct. In our day liberal weakness. Who wouldn’t support that?

But there is an ominous underbelly to the words that makes it clear to those who pay critical attention to them that they succour powerful feelings of illiberal yearnings.

Richard Ovenden gave a talk at the Toronto Library entitled Libraries as Defenders of Open Society in February 2023 as part of its Freedom to Read Week.  His talk was called “Libraries as Defenders of Open Society.” That talk was recorded by CBC radio and formed part of an Ideas radio show hosted by Nahla Ayed who said the following in her opening statement: “Libraries are no longer just book lenders. They’re targets. In the literal and ideological crosshairs.”  During that talk, Richard Ovenden said, “That is an attack on knowledge and free expressions.” This makes it part of the attack on truth-seeking and democracy led by misguided American and Canadian left-wingers and  conservatives.

Sadly, in recent years libraries have become victims in the cultural wars of North America. Manitoba libraries have been also been attacked, but thankfully, so far have not fallen victim to the braying crowd’s assault as so far, brave Manitoba librarians and boards, have protected them and citizens have largely supported them in their battles against protesters from the right. But how long can they withstand those attacks?

As Richard Ovenden said,

“We’ve become too complacent. We’ve allowed these institutions to become battlegrounds for other political motivations. And we need to take to the barricades…Knowledge is under attack. Whether through malice or neglect society today faces profound threats through attacks on knowledge. Attacks that are happening all around us. Libraries and archives, institutions developed over thousands of years, to protect knowledge, and to help society benefit from it, are today a front line of defence against those attacks. That is why we in return must defend libraries and archives as they are at the heart of open democratic societies.”

Public support is absolutely crucial for the continued life of libraries under the present circumstances where many on the right are attacking them relentlessly. Library defenders must make sure their voices are heard when the braying attackers arrive at their library as otherwise the officials defending them may be overwhelmed. Allies must speak bravely, quickly, firmly, and loud enough to be heard by the public and officials in positions of authority over libraries. All must become cognizant that there are defenders of civilization ready to ward off enemy attacks.

Freedom to read is not only important in its own right, it is also essential to the other freedoms we enjoy. For example, they are essential to exercising the freedom to learn.

The current attacks on libraries and archives are coming from both the left and the right. The left attacks them on the basis of its woke ideology.  For example some on the left have asked for the censorship of great novels like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because of it use of admittedly hurtful language.  The right attacks libraries on the basis of its anti-woke ideology. For example, they oppose works of KGBTQ literature.

I would submit that both attacks are pernicious. We must insist that we can read whatever we want.

His 2020 book described historical examples of book burnings and trashed archives, but Ovenden notes that events involving libraries in the last few years have “been a stark reminder of the threats to institutions that most people take for granted.”

Its time for friends of the libraries to speak up.

When I was Chair of the Steinbach Public Library in the 1980s I always worried that we would be attacked by citizens for some of the books we housed. Some of them were quite radical. After all, Steinbach is the home of the eastern Bible Belt. As a result, we worked diligently to prepare a statement of intellectual freedom of which I was quite proud. But during my tenure we never once had need to use it, but it was always a comfort to know it was there so that we could always, if needed launch a principled defence of the books in our library.

Most people have a preconceived notion of what librarians are like.  Many see them as Professional introverts, dull, school marmish, and walled off behind a stack of intimidating books. Most of us grew up thinking of librarians as stern-faced  monitors of their sanctuaries and constantly shushing all who ventured into their domain, particularly young people.

Richard Ovenden is trying to get people to ditch their stereotypes of librarians. He is the 25th Bodley’s Librarian, director of libraries at the University of Oxford, one of the best libraries in the world,  and as well the author of Burning the Books: A History of the Deliberate Destruction of Knowledge. He gave a very interesting lecture at the Toronto Library which was aired by CBC radio on its flagship show Ideas. At least I think it is their flagship show. I have been listening to it for decades. In fact, I have been listening to it since 1974 when I moved back to Steinbach with my lovely bride Christiane, after I graduated from Law School. We did not own a television set as we borrowed a small portable TV set from my sister.  So I decided to listen to CBC radio because it had no commercials. I loved that.

Recently, I listened to that Ovenden talk and it brought me back to those heady days at the Library.  Since I was a wee lad I had loved to read. Reading was fun and entertaining and in the process, imperceptibly, I learned a few things.

“Richard Ovenden”, according to Nahlah Ayed, the host of Ideas. ” is quietly impassioned about the crucial role libraries play and have always played in free and democratic societies.” In recent years, libraries have been under attack. I thought the danger had long since past. I was wrong about that.

I think it is worth thinking about libraries and books and reading and intend to blog about it.