[ad_1]
Despite the calm and the quiet, libraries are also dangerous and subversive places. They exist to pass on not just pleasure and information but new ways of thinking and viewing the world. Books, especially novels, ask the reader to people-travel, to take on the skin of another person and imagine the world through their eyes. By doing so, books and stories create empathy for the “other” – those who are different, unusual and outside what we regard as the norm.
Loading
When men ask me how they can be a good feminist ally I always suggest they read books written by and about women, and watch films, plays and TV series that do the same. Identifying with a protagonist who is not like you is the best way to learn to empathise with others.
Perhaps that’s why authoritarian politicians are so keen to attack libraries. They instinctively recognise that they are the repositories of the misfits, adventurers, risk-takers, critical thinkers and daydreamers who change the world. Authoritarians of all flavours want to control not just what we think, but what we do. Libraries want you to break the bonds of everyday life and think widely and differently, to question authority and empathise with those who do not conform.
Banning books is an attempt to ban thought. Banning an event such as Drag Story Time is an attempt to prevent any celebration of exuberant, confident non-conformity. By refusing to do either, libraries are the guardians of our liberty, our right to retreat, to read, to imagine and to think for ourselves. In the age-old battle between authors wielding questions and authoritarians wielding answers, I am on the side of the authors.
[ad_2]
Source link
