Libraries Rise: Scott Woods

We asked Writer and Streetlight Guild Founder Scott Woods four important questions about racial injustice, inequity and libraries.

What are your thoughts on racial inequality and injustice today?

The only thing different about racial inequality and injustice today is that more people are willing to be made aware of it. Once you account for changes in political and social context, the level of inequality hasn’t drastically improved since Reconstruction. It is, in fact, worse. Racism has always been systemic, and the system has evolved over the last 200 years to not only accommodate the loss of slavery as a legal process, but to compound the dividends slavery used to provide.

Have you seen libraries respond?

Libraries have traditionally tried to be politically and socially neutral, but the reality is that no cultural institution is neutral. The collections of libraries reflect the priorities and sensibilities of who runs them. The staffing of libraries has long been determined by class-oriented gatekeeping, so they’re not diverse on the back end either. Libraries are not democratic institutions and, conversely, cannot be neutral. Libraries have only recently been willing to even admit these realities. And while many libraries are now making efforts to address what they perceive as inequality, they are only in the beginning stages of that work, and not across the board. In short, many libraries may mean well, but there is a lot to learn before taking concrete steps to address issues like injustice and inequality, and libraries are very late to the game.

Could libraries do more? If so, how?

Libraries are situated better than almost any industry outside of academia to do the early work: get educated. Many libraries already have the resources within them to begin this process. They have the books. They have the technology. They have some level of budget that can be set aside to bring in facilitators who do this kind of work (and should, since this kind of work cannot be done internally). Libraries had to reassess their purpose when sea level changes like the internet came to the table, and any earnest effort to address these issues will require the same level of interrogation. For starters.

Any closing thoughts?

[None – ed.]

Libraries Rise: Black Perspective on Libraries

Cbus Libraries asked six leaders inside and out of libraries their thoughts on racial injustice and inequality. All responses are the leaders’ personal reflections and not necessarily representative of the organizations they are part of. The six-part feature will be serialized over the months of February and March, 2021. Check back weekly on Mondays for the latest feature and follow our tag, #LibrariesRise.

About Cbus Libraries

Cbus Libraries’ mission is to champion Central Ohio libraries, library enthusiasts and the love of reading. Co-founded by two librarians, Andrea Dixon and Bryan Loar, Cbus Libraries reaches more than 9,000 online followers worldwide, features Central Ohio libraries, has raised more than $1,100 in scholarship funds for librarians of color and has gifted over 5,000 books to the community. Cbus Libraries is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.