Directors Dilemma: Facing the Communities They Serve

Directors Dilemma: Facing the Communities They Serve

Library directors worldwide have a target on their backs regarding anything happening at the library which community members don’t like. From risque titles being on the shelves to drag queen story hours and religious books being available which contradict other religions. Directors are the targets of communal and sometimes even board outrage as the library policies and hiring choices come under fire.

An article on libraryjournal.com discusses this in detail and provides examples of situations in which library directors found themselves in the cross-hairs. Much of the angst is related to community members being upset about LGBTQ people and items in the public library. One such issue occurred in Vinton Public Library, IA, where the director was accused of having a political agenda because there was a transgender clerk and a gay children’s librarian.

In another location, Crook County, the director was accused of operating with an agenda. “Where were our antiabortion children’s books, or books with a biblical perspective on gender, the group asked? If we were truly being equitable, they argued, we would have books on topics they described as “woke” and conservative values alike. We ordered additional titles from Christian publishers and shared our recently updated collection development policy, but these actions weren’t given much weight in the greater argument that we were harming children by continuing to intershelve LGBTQIA+ titles within the children’s collection.”

Many people in the general community know little to nothing about collection development policy and how all interests should be represented. Regardless, verbally attacking any library director just because a book on the shelf offends someone else is highly inappropriate. That’s like getting angry with a store director because a magazine by the checkout counter has LGBTQ people on it. Granted, the director is the face of the library, and part of their job is ensuring the library remains cohesive with the community. However, when the community, or people within it, I should say, present their concerns in an abrasive manner, it only creates more animosity and stressful situations for everyone.