While I was on the board of the Steinbach Public library we always mildly worried about unfavourable incursions into our library by unhappy citizens. After all we were in the midst of the Bible Belt in Manitoba. As a result, we tried to arm ourselves for a future attack by creating a “Statement of Intellectual Freedom” as  we called it. It was a statement saying we believed in the freedom to read and would oppose efforts to get us to ban books.

We never had a serious attack while I was on the Board. Perhaps this was because our first requirement for even considering an objection was that we received confirmation that the objector had read the book. That might have been enough to ward off some attacks.

Today, libraries in southern Manitoba have been met with a number of attacks, mainly from the camps of extreme conservatives and ultra-Evangelicals who have been attacking books as unnecessarily supporting the LGBTQ* community or their allies.

So far, I believe each library has successfully managed to hold off those who wanted to ban books.  If they had a statemen of intellectual freedom they would be well armed to hold off those braying for censorship. It helps to be prepared.

Yet complacency is dangerous.

I certainly hope that in a pluralistic society the tokens or emblems of an open and pluralistic society, such as libraries, can be maintained and protected against assaults by the ignorant and belligerent. As Richard Ovenden said, “we have become too complacent, we have allowed ourselves to permit these institutions to become battlegrounds for other political motivations…we have to take to the barricades.”

He is right. The barbarians are at the gates and we are the defenders of the city of civilization.

And the librarians are warriors.