Arlington Public Library

Director's Blog

Stand Up for Books

Director’s Message

"Don’t let the bastards grind you down.” 

– Margaret Atwood, banned book author of "The Handmaid’s Tale."

Established in 1982 by the late Judith Krug, then director of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office of Intellectual Freedom, Banned Books Week (September 18-24, 2022) promotes free and open access to ideas and information.

Hardly a week goes by when there is not a news story about a book challenge happening somewhere: "The Bluest Eye," "Maus," "Gender Queer," "The Hate U Give." Frequent targets are fiction and nonfiction about people of color, LGBTQIA+ protagonists, and books dealing with Jewish and Muslim religious/ethnic themes.   

Several Arlington Reads authors have been banned book listed: Kiese Laymon, Jacqueline Woodson, Judy Blume, Alison Bechdel, Tim O’Brien. And this year marks the 100th anniversary of the publication in the US of James Joyce’s "Ulysses," the standard bearer for book censorship.   

Challenges are on the rise. 

According to an article in the Washington Post (March 22, 2022), "School book bans are soaring. Although the vast majority of challenges go unreported, the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom counted 330 incidents of book censorship in just the three months from September to November 2021 — marking the highest rate since the association began tracking the issue in 1990.”

And the rhetoric is getting hotter. 

Earlier this year, one Oklahoma lawmaker compared librarians to cockroaches. Less comically, we have been called groomers and pedophiles for having LGBTQIA+ books on the shelves.  Closer to home, two members of the Spotsylvania County School Board in Virginia advocated for burning certain books, and a lawsuit filed against two authors and a book seller in Virginia Beach hopes to prohibit the sale of books deemed obscene. Not great.

Books are transformational.

They challenge our beliefs and biases, expose us to different experiences and cultures. They help us learn to think for ourselves and not follow the group think of public opinion. Yes, they can be dangerous and offensive.  And that is how it should be.  Indeed, there is a book in every library that offends someone somewhere.  And if there isn’t, librarians are not doing their jobs.   

How can you help celebrate Banned Books Week?

Here are a couple of ideas:

  1. Become informed on the topic.  These are resources we have found particularly useful: https://pen.org/banned-in-the-usa/ and https://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/oif.
  2. Commit to reading at least one challenged book.
  3. And if you have a child at home, ask your child to commit to reading one, too. The family that reads together, thrives together.

"Let the wild rumpus start.” 

– Maurice Sendak, banned book author of "Where the Wild Things Are."

Signatue of Library Director Diane Kresh.

Diane Kresh
Director, Arlington Public Library

Reading Between the Lines: Year Two of Reading in a Pandemic

For me, 2021 was marked by reading. A lot of reading. I read classics, I read detective, I read NYT Best Sellers, I read non-fiction. I read print and on my iPhone. I fell in love with audio books. And most of what I read was borrowed from the library.

At the beginning of the year, I set an arbitrary Goodreads goal of 65 books and surpassed that number months ago. Yet I kept going and am now closing in on 100. A personal best. But for me, the record signifies more than bragging rights on Goodreads.

Photo of book shelves in the library.

Let me explain.

I read widely because I can.  That is not the case everywhere in the world.  Books can be banned, press freedoms restricted, internet limited, if available at all. Disinformation is rampant and difficult, if not impossible, to check.  Censorship is not a new thing nor are attempts to ban and burn books.  Serious threats are raging just a few miles down the road from where we live in Arlington.

When America’s Founding Fathers were drafting the rules for a new government, they did not get everything right. What they did get right was understanding the value of free access to information.  All information — not just information officially sanctioned or promulgated by self-appointed arbiters.  And they backed up their belief with actions: Benjamin Franklin established the first lending library in Philadelphia and Thomas Jefferson’s gift of his personal library created the Library of Congress.

The shelves of Arlington Public Library are filled with books someone, sometime, is bound to find upsetting, ugly, false.  And that’s by design.  We purposefully build our collection to be both broad and deep. Whether one is looking to be entertained, informed, comforted — it’s all here and all free.

One of the most rewarding and most challenging responsibilities of a public librarian is our ethical obligation to provide access to materials that cover a wide range of viewpoints and opinions, even those with which we do not personally agree. We do not know the specific reasons why members of our community might choose to read a book, nor do we question their right to do so. Some might want to read a book because they agree with its perspective. Others might want to read it because they disagree. They might read it to gain a better understanding of one viewpoint in a national dialogue. In every case, we defend their right to read it.

We are thankful Arlington Public Library patrons have made us part of their reading journeys. And we appreciate their working with us to keep our collection diverse, welcoming of many viewpoints, and, yes, occasionally discomfiting.  Nobel Prize winning author Toni Morrison, whose “Beloved” was the subject of a recent local school controversy, had some things to say about banned books and censorship. This quote has stuck with me.

“The thought that leads me to contemplate with dread the erasure of other voices, of unwritten novels, poems whispered or swallowed for fear of being overheard by the wrong people, outlawed languages flourishing underground, essayists' questions challenging authority never being posed, unstaged plays, cancelled films — that thought is a nightmare. As though a whole universe is being described in invisible ink. Certain kinds of trauma visited on peoples are so deep, so cruel, that unlike money, unlike vengeance, even unlike justice, or rights, or the goodwill of others, only writers can translate such trauma and turn sorrow into meaning, sharpening the moral imagination.”

Stay safe, stay hopeful.  And keep reading.

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Diane Kresh, Director, Arlington Public Library

Too Cool for Yule, 2021

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Since 2008, I have created a holiday playlist variously known as “Don’t Touch that Dial” or "Too Cool for Yule." (There is even a movement afoot to change the name to the “Ding a Ling Thing,” but I digress.)

Many years ago, I made mixtapes for my friends, my siblings, my work colleagues, and often, just for me. For those of you under the age of... fill in the blank... who might not have had the pleasure of methodically mining for nuggets in an LP collection, or waiting patiently by the radio for the hourly replay of the one tune that truly captures the essence of the person you are making the tape for, the mixtape can be a work of art. Each tape tells a story, and the best ones contain an eclectic blend of edgy and whimsical, happy and sad; a little silly, a little snappy and occasionally, a little sappy.

A couple of notes about this year’s edition. Each year I honor a few of the musicians who have left us. Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues, Mary Wilson of the Supremes, and Don Everly, the last surviving member of the Everly Brothers, sadly made it to the list. (I wanted to honor Nanci Griffith but could not locate a suitable holiday song.)

Open playlist in Spotify

Listeners will find pop, jazz, instrumental, New Orleans, country, bluegrass, R&B, old school pop, The Chipmunks, and more. Perhaps my favorite is a bluesy tune by the inimitable Fats Domino, who wants to “Stop the Clock.” Wouldn’t we all.

The last words and notes go to Dave Frishberg, brilliant jazz pianist and satirist, musical mainstay of Schoolhouse Rock (“I’m Just a Bill"), who died November 17. His talk-singing of “You are There” touchingly sums it up for anyone who misses special someones.

As Year Two of the pandemic winds down, take a moment (or 5760 -- thank you, Alexa), grab a beverage, any kind will do, and enjoy “Too Cool for Yule 2021.”

And above all…

Stay safe, stay hopeful.

Diane Kresh
Director
Arlington Public Library

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Message from the Library Director on Masks and Social Distancing

Effective Wednesday, Aug. 18, all individuals, age two and older, who enter Arlington Public Library buildings will be required to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status.

We are taking this action to protect our community’s health and well-being due to the recent spike in cases of COVID-19 in our area. We also ask that you continue to maintain 6 feet of distance between yourself and people who don’t live in your household. These steps are consistent with actions being taken in Loudoun County, Fairfax and Alexandria library systems.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), and the Arlington County Public Health Division, COVID-19 continues to pose a risk, especially to individuals who are not fully vaccinated.

As always, thank you for your patience and cooperation as we strive to provide safe library services in this difficult time.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Diane Kresh
Director
Arlington Public Library

The Library Director’s 2020 Book List, Continued

Reading in a Pandemic

“Salvation is certainly among the reasons I read. Reading and writing have always pulled me out of the darkest experiences in my life. Stories have given me a place in which to lose myself. They have allowed me to remember. They have allowed me to forget. They have allowed me to imagine different endings and better possible worlds.”

Roxane Gay, "Bad Feminist"

In late December last year, I compiled a list of books I intended to read in 2020.  As with most “to do” lists and resolutions, I began with good intentions. And then the pandemic hit and the books on my list no longer seemed adequate. My reading tastes shifted along with everything else in both my work and home life.

Photo of hand written notes of a book list.

I’ve always been a reader, but I began reading voraciously, as if I was running out of time.

Barely was a book closed before another opened. My hold list in the library catalog grew and grew and GREW. I created booklists on scraps of paper and in the margins of the arts and style sections of the newspaper. I listened faithfully to The Book Review Podcast from the New York Times.

And I read. All the time. More than 50 books in all, across genres and styles, dating from the 19th century to the present.

Diane's 2020 Pandemic Reading List
Photo of book covers.

There were many standouts. Long a fan of coming of age novels, I read five that will stick with me. Each of these authors is known for other, more famous books. These are worth a look for everyone who wants to revisit the trials of adolescence and early adulthood.

I dipped into classics:

And on the lighter side because I needed a dose of hopefulness, “A Wrinkle in Time,” by Madeleine L’Engle.

Photo of book covers.

Race was very much on the national mind and steered me toward:

The 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and women being granted the right to vote drew me to women’s issues more broadly. I read:

For the pure pleasure of superior plotting and writing, I’ll mention “Disappearing Earth” by Julia Phillips.

Photo of book covers.

And finally, the wonderful Arlington READS authors whose books we featured in our 2020 series, “We the People.” In a year of reinvention of Library programs and services, we Zoomed the author talks, part of our new now.

And on a personal note, I discovered the joy (and ease) of audiobooks, especially when read by the author. What a delightful way to get lost in a story.

Diane's 2020 Pandemic Reading List

Reading was an anchor, a sure bet during months of uncertainty. With hours blending into days, into weeks and then months, I occasionally lost track of the day of the week, but never lost my place in a book. I had something to look forward to and there were always more books.

My stacks of books have not disappeared, and I am still adding holds in the Library catalog. At this moment, I am reading “Surviving Autocracy,“ by Russian-American journalist, translator and activist Masha Gessen, who I am excited to announce will be our first Arlington READS author in the new year.

In closing, thank you for your support of Arlington Public Library. It is a joy and an honor to serve this wonderful community.

Stay safe, stay hopeful and keep reading.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

The Library Director’s 2020 End-of-Year Playlist

"Too Cool for Yule"

Funky Cassette Tape
Cassette Case Playlist

When I was younger, I made mixtapes for my friends, my siblings, my work colleagues, and often, just for me. For those under 35 who might not have had the experience of methodically pouring over your record and tape collection or waiting patiently by the radio for the replay of that one tune that really captures the essence of the person you are making the tape for, the hours you can spend with your two-slot cassette player are some of the most intimate and lonely, exhilarating and exhausting, optimistic and indulgent, and simply joyful experiences you can have (just ask your parents). Each tape is a story of a person. Some are goofy. Some are sobering. Some are topical. And some are just a hodgepodge of inanity. But each one is special. Every mixtape is a piece of your heart and glimpse of the “you” you are when no one is looking.

For the past 13 years, I have published a “Too Cool for Yule” playlist, as my love letter to the County and the people we serve. And while (sadly) Spotify has replaced the cassette tape, making the process easier, like much of 2020, this playlist was more difficult than ever to create.

How can I truly honor those that have left us too soon, the sacrifices we have all had to make, and the growing uncertainty of what next year will bring? How can I capture both the compassion and caring our neighbors have shown for one another throughout the pandemic, and our fervent wish for brighter days to come? So this was my attempt:

Open playlist in Spotify

From the mournful twang of Pete Seeger to the unbridled joy of Little Richard. With solemnity from the Boston Camerata and the eccentricity of Tom Lehrer, we hope this playlist has something for everyone. If you are alone for the holidays, please know, we are here for you. And let us hit pause for a moment to reflect on the immortal words of John Prine:

No Libra sun, no Halloween
No giving thanks for all the Christmas joy you bring
But what it is, though old so new
To fill your heart like no three words could ever do

I just called to say I love you
I just called to say how much I care
I just called to say I love you
And I mean it from the bottom of my heart

As one of my wise colleagues recently told me, even though many of us cannot celebrate the holidays this year, if we’re lucky, there will be many, many more to come.

Stay safe, stay hopeful.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

A Change is Gonna Come: A Playlist for Black Lives Matter

From the Library Director

Sign photographed on the wall surrounding the White House at Black Lives Matter Plaza.

When I was attending Arlington Public Schools in the 1960s and early 1970s (Yorktown High School Class of 1972), I didn’t learn about Juneteenth, the date commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. I didn’t learn about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, either. And the study of literature by African-American authors had only just begun with works like “Blues for Mister Charlie” by James Baldwin.

As Director of Arlington Public Library, I have an opportunity each day to ensure dates in our history like those cited above are recognized and understood through our collections and programs and through modeling the Library’s values of acceptance and inclusion.

From time to time, we have created music playlists to capture a moment. Many of you are familiar with my annual holiday playlist. When the pandemic hit, we created “Dancing with Myself: Playlist for a Pandemic.”

Now, with conversations about race front and center across the nation, we turn again to music.

Music heals, music unites, and music can change minds.

Black Lives Matter Plaza, June 7.

Protesters gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, June 6.

The late great First Lady of Soul, Aretha Franklin, who knew something about music, once said, “Music does a lot of things for a lot of people. It's transporting, for sure. It can take you right back, years back, to the very moment certain things happened in your life. It's uplifting, it's encouraging, it's strengthening.”

So with those words in mind ... press play and play it loud and proud.

Open playlist in Spotify

Diane K.

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Happy Pride…

We Have Work To Do

Happy Pride. Or not really.

In one of those simple twists of fate, we celebrate the start of Pride Month as the nation-wide, largely peaceful assemblies against racial inequity enter their third week, in the midst of a global pandemic that has already claimed more than 400,000 lives, including more than 100 in Arlington.

And as if that were not enough, the forcible removal of a Pride flag from the DHS building at Sequoia last week by a visitor to that building is a reminder that we have work to do — as individuals, as a community, and as a nation — to promote and visibly demonstrate understanding and acceptance.

During my tenure as Library Director, I have been accused of promoting the “gay agenda” and “deviant sex” when our buildings have flown the Pride flag. We have been threatened with the destruction of Library property. And, perhaps saddest of all, we have discovered the defacing of library books - books acquired to explain to our young people that there are many kinds of families, and there is not one right way to love another person.

Being gay is not “a thing” to be derided and disrespected, any more than being black or brown or Muslim or female is a thing. It is who we are: as we are also parents, sports figures, artists, educators, law enforcement, elected leaders, citizens. Each of us has and will continue to make important contributions to our communities and to our nation. And we deserve to do so openly and without fear.

That is my wish for this month and every month.

Diane

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Diane Kresh
Director
Arlington Public Library

Public Libraries Stand For Liberty, Tolerance And Acceptance

Dear Friends,

Like many of you, I have spent the last several days feeling conflicted: alternately saddened and outraged by the death of George Floyd. Buoyed by the peaceful demonstrations that ensued in the wake of his cruel death and frustrated by the acts of violence. Our country is torn and this current state is, sadly, not a new experience. As someone who was living in Arlington in 1968 and witnessed the burning of our nation’s capital, I can say, with regret, I’ve seen this movie, too.

Now what?

  • It is not enough to share a social media post describing racial injustice or to add an emoji.
  • It is not enough to wait for others to decide what to do to address structural racism.
  • It is not enough to remain silent because conversations about race in America are difficult.

It is enough to look within ourselves and take an action —any action — that says to oneself and others: the disparate treatment of black people, brown people, other people, must not stand.

Today, the public library inhabits a unique role in American society. It stands for liberty, tolerance and acceptance.

It says believe what you will and your beliefs will not be judged. It says come as you are and you will be embraced as you are. And it says that if you are comfortable and secure or in need and uncertain, the library will be your refuge. A pretty tall order but one we signed onto when we entered this field — in my case, more than 40 years ago this week.

In this unprecedented time of crisis and chaos, we have a rare opportunity to revisit and reaffirm both our library and our personal values, beliefs and commitments to everyone in our community, especially those whom neither history nor prosperity has favored.

If not now, when? If not us, who?

Scrawled signature of Diane Kresh

Diane Kresh
Director, Arlington Public Library

Changes Ahead: A Message from the Library Director

Dear Friends,

For the past few weeks, staff of Arlington Public Library have been preparing for reopening. We have missed being at the Library and know you have, too.

As we move forward, all of us remain committed to our mission and to the health and safety of our library patrons, staff and volunteers. We will strive to bring you the best Library service possible, while limiting physical access.

Changes to our service are on the way:

  1. Holds - Starting mid-June, Arlington Public Library will offer a walk-in/walk-out service for hold pickups and book bundles in the auditorium at Central Library. Operating hours for the holds pickup service are being decided and we will communicate details as we have them. Computers, self-check stations, and meeting rooms will not be available for use. All branch locations will remain closed at this time; starting in mid-June returns will also be accepted via book drop at all branches.
  2. Masks - In accordance with Governor Ralph S. Northam's Executive Order Number 63, both patrons and staff are required to wear masks and observe social distancing at all times when in a library building.
  3. Account System - We are upgrading the Library’s account system. This change has been long-planned and will enable us to serve you more effectively.
  4. Summer Reading - The Library’s annual Summer Reading Challenge will start June 1, and this year we’re going digital. Stay tuned for more details next week.
  5. Arlington READS - Continues virtually: In June, we will host a conversation with Brooke Gladstone, journalist, author, media analyst, and co-host and managing editor of the WNYC radio program “On the Media.” And in October, we are thrilled to present Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Colson Whitehead (“The Underground Railroad”and “The Nickel Boys”). Stay tuned for details; both programs promise to be lively and engaging.

We recognize there is no replacement for an in-person, full-service library experience. Over the years, the staff and I have been honored to serve the community of Arlington and have always tried to strike a balance between the high tech of our digital content and the high touch of our popular story times and author events. We cherish the relationships we have developed with each one of you and look forward to better times. Please know that we are thinking of all of you and that together, we will get through this.

We ask that you check our website and social media platforms on Facebook and Twitter for updates.

We are living in unprecedented times. Please send materials documenting your experience to the COVID-19 Archives Project and help tell Arlington's story of the pandemic.

And we urge you to contribute to “Quaranzine,” our weekly Zine of poetry, photography, prose and drawings. We have been inspired by the creativity and artistry expressed in each issue.

Stay well and hopeful, we are here for you.

Signature of Diane Kresh

Diane Kresh

Director, Arlington Public Library

 

Please Note: a previous version of this post incorrectly advertised the Colson Whitehead event for July; the event will be held in October. We regret the error.

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