TRANSCRIPT:
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
Luis Hernandez: Cheryl, first of all, thank you so much for joining me today.
Cheryl Space: Thank you.
Hernandez: The Senate approved legislation that would allow libraries to acquire books and other materials without limitations and protect libraries against any attempt to ban or censor access to books. Another bill would specifically protect librarians against legal action. Why are these laws necessary?
Space: So it’s super important right now because of the landscape nationwide, specifically. There’s more attempts to censor and restrict access to books than ever. Restrictions were up 20% last year than the year before – attempts to restrict and censor books. And actually, most people, according to the American Library Association, 71% of people are completely against any type of restriction or censorship. So in general, the public wants the public library to have the books that they want to be able to check out.
It’s also important because public libraries have to remain sort of a neutral ground. We have to be able to have all points of view. And most censorship attempts are attempts to remove books with LGBTQ subject matter, with sexual health or reproduction, with certain history people don’t want to have included in the library. And that’s just a dangerous place to be because we want to have democracy and the freedom of speech.
Hernandez: Why do you think there’s a growing sentiment among some people in the community that librarians are trying to impose a particular ideology on kids?
Space: That is an excellent question. I think what’s happening is that there’s this growing echo chamber around what libraries are and what librarians are trying to do that’s very unfortunate. And what I’ve noticed in listening to people talk is that they haven’t necessarily even been into their public library children’s room recently. Because when you walk in, you’ll see friendly people who are there to greet you, help kids with their homework, give them toys to play with, give them beautiful books on display. And we’re there because we care about kids. We care about families. So I’m not really sure what the disconnect is there, except that people are not as familiar with what the modern library is doing.
Hernandez: Do we have any instances in which libraries in Rhode Island have faced legal action for having books deemed harmful to kids?
Space: Not necessarily legal action, and it’s more an issue right now in school libraries. There was a notable example in Westerly where some community members wanted to remove a book called “Gender Queer” from the high school library. And it was not removed, and they attempted legal action, but the book is still on the shelf.
Hernandez: We’ve always had banned books, but is there something different now than all those other years where we’ve had people fighting to get certain books off the shelf?
Space: I think what’s different now, and this has been true for a while, is the rise of social media, the rise of everybody being sort of in a funnel in what they’re seeing. And so you hear the same thing repeated over and over again about what public libraries are trying to do, that they’re trying to instill a woke doctrine or something along those lines, and you just start to believe it because you hear it so many times. So I think that’s kind of the world that we’re in. Unfortunately, I think there’s less interaction with your neighbors, less face-to-face interaction, less chance to sort of be in that civic space where you can talk and respectfully listen to one another. So I think that unfortunate combination is resulting in people being fearful of their children, especially, being exposed to ideas that they might not be comfortable with.
But the thing to understand, also, about the library is that parents, guardians, kids can come up and say, “I’m looking for this type of book. I’m not comfortable with this particular presentation of it. Can you help me?” And the professionals are there to help guide you. They’re not there to direct you towards a specific book, but to direct you towards exactly what you are looking for.
Hernandez: My understanding is that a lot of big publishers are now charging libraries exorbitant prices to purchase e-books and audiobooks from the major publishers. Why is this happening and why is this a problem for libraries?
Space: So it’s a huge problem because libraries have very little ability to have any say over the licensing and the purchasing of e-books. So we often pay nine times as much as a general consumer would pay to purchase an e-book. And then on top of that, a lot of the licensing agreements say you can only have it available for the public to borrow for two years or for 26 checkouts. Traditional books last much longer than that. And the truth is that libraries are able to purchase most physical books for a significant discount from publishers. This is a big problem because In addition to the exorbitant costs, we’re constantly having to monitor which licenses have expired, which books need to be replaced, and also it limits the purchasing to really the bestsellers that have the highest demand instead of building a real diverse collection, which is also a problem.
Hernandez: So the legislation that exists right now that’s being proposed, how is that linked to this? In response to these concerns about high e-book prices, how does it affect that?
Space: So what it does, it attempts in the consumer protection laws for the state of Rhode Island to govern the terms in which libraries can purchase e-books. It actually doesn’t put any restrictions on the publishers. It says this is what Rhode Island libraries are going to do in order to make best use of the taxpayer’s dollars and in order to provide the best access. Because many people can’t read a traditional book, especially seniors whose eyesight might be failing or people who just struggle with dyslexia or other means. They need audio books. They need the e-books where they can adjust the size of the print. They’re just so much more flexible. So it’s really necessary to do this, but it doesn’t affect the publishers at all unless they wish to sell to the state of Rhode Island.
Hernandez: Isn’t that just where we’re going more tech anyway?
Space: It is, especially since the pandemic, we’ve seen the use of our electronic books have just skyrocketed across the state.
Hernandez: What other library bills are being considered during this current legislative session, which is ending soon?
Space: It’s ending very soon. So the other that was not mentioned was fully funding public libraries for the next fiscal year. State law asked that libraries receive 25% of what the municipality funds them or the previous two years of their endowment private funding. So fortunately, that was put in and passed by the House. So we’re just waiting [for] the final word on that from the Senate and then the governor to sign it.
Hernandez: What else is on your mind? What else do you want to add?
Space: I’m just really excited that these bills around the freedom to read and the protections for librarians and educators moved as far as they have and hopefully will pass because it gives us, as library professionals and teachers, the confidence to build the collections that we know that young people and everyone deserve.
Hernandez: Cheryl, it’s always a pleasure. Thank you.
Space: Thank you so much.
