OPINION: Libraries are safe places, they should be protected

“THE realm of literature is now being targeted,” an author recently told me over coffee. At the time, I didn’t realise how far it could go - far being a key word here.

This summer, protests have been taking place at bookshops, libraries and drag story events across the country, as far-rights protestors have been targeting LGBTQ+ reading material. 

Last week, Cork City Library on Grand Parade was forced to close to the public “due to safety concerns” after protestors linked to far-rights groups in the UK mounted a banner across the entrance of the library - without permission. Staff requested that the banner be removed, a request that was refused, which led to a tensed situation. 

In a statement, Cork City Library wrote: “Having liaised with An Garda Siochana it was decided it would be unsafe for library staff to attempt to remove the banner.”

Now, the banner that reads “There are only two genders, male & female,” is making its way to Limerick, as the protestors say they are on a “Sovereign Voyage to protect childhood on the Shannon River.”

What children need to be protected from is the plague of bigotry that has slowly been cruising down the country. 

If they’re so worried about their children being “indoctrinated”, they might want to consider not forcing outdated views and ideologies down children’s throats. And perhaps, let them browse the children's books and young adult literature sections of their local library, and let them choose what piques their interest.

At a drag story time event in Tralee Library, children were terrified after a group of protestors stormed into a reading session earlier this July. The protestors aggressively stormed into the session and shouted that it was “immoral to read filth to children.”

The “filth” protestors were referring to was the story of a prince and knight, who fall in love and slay dragons. A tale that has been told many times before. Literature represents everyone, and books should not be banned because they don’t portray love between a prince and a princess. 

Objecting against books related to LGBTQ+ issues, ripping apart pages, wanting to ban certain books - that sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Fahrenheit 451, The Story of Ferdinand, To Kill a Mockingbird, Animal Farm, The Diary of a Young Girl, Of Mice and Men - all these titles have something in common. 

They were, at some point, banned, because they approached topics that were deemed controversial at the time of their publication. These books delve into themes of censorship, racism, rape, gender, sexuality - to name a few. 

Hitler and Franco both banned The Story of Ferdinand, a 1936 children’s literature classic written by Munro Leaf. The book told the story of a bull in Spain would rather “sit quietly out under the tree” than fight in the bull fighting arenas.

Most of the titles mentioned above were published from between the thirties and the sixties, you’d think bigotry would have been left behind in the last century.

Learn from history. 

For so many, libraries and bookshops are a safe place. Some go there by curiosity, for safety or to find solace between the stacks. These places provide an emotionally safe environment for children, and they deserve better. Libraries need to be protected.