Here’s what we believe.
As public libraries become increasingly centered in political struggles, we hope to show up to the fight with a thorough analysis of what it is we’re fighting for and what it is we’re fighting against. Lots of people “love public libraries”, but what must be done?
Questions to ask as a follow up to loving libraries include: what are we going to do about it? Who should we be mad at, and which of their tactics are distractions versus actual end goals? What lessons can we learn from previous struggles in this area?
Most importantly, we need to ask ourselves, what is our vision for public libraries and what beliefs about public libraries should we center as we work towards that vision? This document helps answer some of these key questions and situates the struggle over public libraries within a larger picture.
Establishing this shared understanding can help us stay on track as we work towards transforming public libraries to be truly for the people. This document is a work in progress which we plan to continue updating as we sharpen our analysis.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
INTRODUCTION
For the People (FTP) is fighting to transform and strengthen public libraries. We’re working to create a more just vision of what public libraries can and should be, and taking action to bring that vision to life. We seek to protect and expand what is already good about public libraries, and dismantle the structures within the institution that serve white power and the ethnostate. We recognize that our struggle is interlinked with that of other movements for social change and justice. This effort is an explicitly non-sectarian leftist one. Our struggle fits within the larger fight against the death machine that is the prison industrial complex (including policing), global capitalism, colonialism, militarism, imperialism, borders, ableism and other forms of oppression. We are working toward an abolitionist future built on the foundation of racial, gender, economic, environmental and disability justice. We’re working toward a society governed by and for the people.
For the People is an open formation, and a container for action. We have no funders. We hope to inspire individuals and communities to take action, and there’s no need to ask for permission. To borrow a phrase from Colours of Resistance we aim to function as “both a think tank and an action tank… a network for us to share support, ideas, and strategies with one another.”