A Library Worker's Call to Action in the Age of Misinformation

A voice not made for yelling is making some noise

Hi, I’m Amelia.

I’m a really quiet person. I often have to repeat myself because I have a very soft voice and people struggle to hear me. And, in a way, it’s fitting because I work in a library. The title “librarian” usually conjures up a stereotype: a matronly grandma with a tight bun and a glasses chain, who wheels her dusty wooden book cart over to shush anyone who dares to even breathe too loudly in the library.

But here’s the thing - and those of you who spend time in a library know this to be true, libraries are anything but quiet. Libraries are community spaces, often filled with the sound of children playing and laughing, groups of like-minded people meeting for a book or knitting club, and neighbors chatting over the newest movies they want to borrow. But it’s the librarians (and library workers - more on that distinction another time) who are usually the loudest of the bunch, connecting with patrons and discussing what is happening in the world. The stereotype I described earlier is pretty far from your average library employee. I’ve found that often my fellow library employees look more like punks with tattoos, piercings, and neon-colored hair. But even those who aren’t as expressive in their looks still usually have a spirit that goes against the grain of society.

Despite my physical limitation to speak at a loud volume, as a library worker I would consider myself anything but quiet - especially at the time when I’m writing this. Right now, I’m left wondering what I can do to participate in not just my local community, but the national community of mutual aid and information sharing. This is the reason why I felt called to contribute my skills and expertise in the form of this Substack.

I started my library career in public libraries. For years, I invested my energy into community-focused programming and resources. I connected with other organizations that provided free services to people who needed them most. I sat down with people with wildly varying personalities and backgrounds and helped them with things like job applications, accessing VA benefits, and finding legal and medical support. I taught literacy skills to young children and their parents, and created programming and activities to instill a love and curiosity around reading. I helped people access literature and non-fiction materials, as well as entertainment, and highlighted works by marginalized voices to help build empathy and understanding among the community. I can’t even begin to list all the ways that the public library system is deeply crucial to the betterment of communities beyond the small fraction that I was able to contribute to: library employees are a force.

I eventually left public libraries to work in higher education, where I now work in an academic library and focus on supporting student success. I invest my energy into encouraging and supporting the young adults preparing to enter the American workforce. I support providing access to educational materials to remove financial barriers to things like textbooks and class supplies. I help teach students how to navigate information resources, research and think critically about how to analyze the information they encounter. I also employ Federal Work-Study student employees and develop career-readiness programming to empower them to leave college prepared and confident. And this is only my tiny contribution within a department filled with passionate and motivated people doing so much more.

I say all this to highlight the power and importance of libraries and the people working in them. Libraries are beacons of access and they are under the threat of being gagged and stripped away from the people who depend on them. Higher education is in a similar dire position. With my position and expertise, I cannot be silent. What I know and how to use is what I can contribute right now.

I want to share what I know so you can share it too

Misinformation spreads quickly, and to combat that we need to be informed and understand how to recognize it. We need to beat the individuals who are putting false information into the world to the punch by having a foundation of what is reliable, how to recognize what’s false, and make sure that more people don’t fall victim to the deceit.

“An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people”

- A spurious quote attributed to Thomas Jefferson - a deeply problematic person. While he sucks, I still find these words to be pertinent to our present age.

Source: “An Educated Citizenry Is a Vital Requisite for Our Survival as a Free People (Spurious Quotation).” Monticello. Accessed January 23, 2025. https://www.monticello.org/research-education/thomas-jefferson-encyclopedia/educated-citizenry-vital-requisite-our-survival-free-people-spurious/.

I want to share recommendations for voices who are also Doing The Work

The volume of and instantaneous access to media available to us is a double-edged sword. We are so fortunate to have more diverse voices contributing to the publishing world and online platforms. But it can still be tricky to navigate through reputable sources without slogging through media with ulterior motives - namely lining the pockets of billionaires or disingenuous influencers. In my network of library folx and experts, I have a litany of books and resources that reflect the lived experiences of marginalized voices; I want this to be a place where I can uplift and amplify those resources, and denounce purveyors of hate and fascism.

I want to connect folx and build community

America is facing a surreal feeling of dystopian overwhelm. There is an intention to distract and confuse us, before we even really know what’s happening. But if we ground each other, stay calm, focused, and informed, we can protect each other. And I hope that I can find others who want to contribute to this little protest. For now, join me if you like. This newsletter will always be free and accessible to everyone.

Photo by Polina Zimmerman from Pexels

And as an added “fuck you” to the man, at the end of these newsletters I’ll leave you with some tracks to inspire your punk playlist.

First Up, X-Ray Spex & the Dead Kennedys:

“Concerned with issues of consumerism and disposability, reflected in the name [Poly Styrene] soon adopted, she wrote "Oh Bondage Up Yours!" shortly after seeing the Pistols for a second time the following month. The lyrics combine a depiction of contemporary capitalist materialism as a brand of servitude with a "feminist [...] rallying cry". Styrene later described it as "a call for liberation. It was saying: 'Bondage—forget it! I'm not going to be bound by the laws of consumerism or bound by my own senses.' It has that line in it: 'Chain smoke, chain gang, I consume you all': you are tied to these activities for someone else's profit."

Quote source: “Oh Bondage Up Yours!” Wikipedia, October 2, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Bondage_Up_Yours!

“The song is a blunt indictment of the rise of far-right punk subcultures such as Nazi punk or the white power skinhead movement, which had begun rioting at punk shows in the late 1970s. The appropriation of fascist iconography had been common in punk for some time, often ironically, but the irony was not always clear to the extent that it began attracting the organized far-right to punk concerts. Jello Biafra's lyrics condemn the infighting among punks for weakening the prospect of rebellion and hold of the far-right agitators that ‘in a real Fourth Reich, [they'd] be the first to go.’“

Quote Source: “Nazi Punks Fuck Off.” Wikipedia, November 8, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Punks_Fuck_Off.

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