🚫 Proactively removing books

NOTES FROM LIBRARY LANDImage courtesy of the Association of Rural and Small Libraries In an era of escalating book bans and coordinated attacks on public libraries, it’s more important than ever to champion access to diverse and inclusive literature in those spaces. This is true whether a library is a massive urban system, a well-funded suburban institution, or a tiny rural library. But even with tight budgets and sometimes challenging situations, small and rural libraries are doing the work to ensure their collections both meet the needs of the community and showcase the diversity in their backyards–and beyond. “Small and rural libraries face these challenges with a fraction of the staff and budget of their urban counterparts,” explains the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL), who asked their members what building a diverse collection actually looks like in their communities. Of the member libraries that responded, most of them serve fewer than 5,000 people, and a few serve fewer than 1,000. More than half (56%) named budget as a direct barrier to building a diverse collection. 42% percent pointed to something harder to solve with money alone: local demand that simp...