Librarians Against War: An Open Letter

2/28/98

 

 

We speak to you as librarians, members of a humanistic profession whose practice implies commitment to openness, democracy and freedom. We speak to you as believers in the superiority of reason over force and dialogue over violence.

Dedicated to an ideal of human progress which attends to preservation and continuity, librarianship is committed to patient, constructive work for a better future. A profession which helps create and maintain space for discourse and argument, for the free speech and dissent so important to a robust democracy, librarianship is also a profession based on mutuality. This includes international cooperation in the service of a world of knowledge which knows no borders. Educators and public servants, scholars and researchers, we are above all a profession of nurturers.

Hear us out, though we speak for the moment not of books and databases, but on an issue implicitly our legitimate professional concern.

We speak to you of war and of the threat of war. Not of a battle joined of necessity, in self-defense, but of war, planned and plotted with cold calculation against another nation and - less abstractly - against another people. As we write, our government is preparing an air assault on Iraq which will be devastating to the already suffering Iraqi people and which will contribute nothing to the cause of democracy or peace. We do not accept the planned death of countless civilians, the destruction of the infrastructure of their lives and society, as an "acceptable price to pay" or as "collateral damage."

We speak in solidarity with our colleagues in the nation of Iraq, in its libraries and schools and universities, who strive for freedom and the end of oppression but in no way wish to see their people suffer another round of punitive military attacks and destruction.

No one can truly believe that a "message sent to Saddam Hussein" in the blood of innocents has any effect on the heart of Iraq's dictator. It would be only another macho demonstration of military superiority, an object lesson in U.S. willingness to use any means, no matter how disproportionate, to pursue its ends.

There are forces, among them the United Nations, which are striving for a diplomatic solution to the impasse over site inspections in the sovereign nation of Iraq. We support all such efforts.

With colleagues whose names are signed below, the Action Council of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association voices its opposition to the planned US-led attacks on the nation of Iraq. We do so as professionals concerned not only about the health, welfare and development of the Iraqi people, but also with the degrading effects that violence has on the United States itself.

Sincerely,

Mark Rosenzweig, SRRT Action Council, Hofstra University - and -

Jos Anemaet, SRRT Action Council, Oregon State University Library; Carol Barta, SRRT Action Council, Barton County Community College Library; Samuel Bennett, SRRT Action Council, Kansas City, KS Public Library; Sanford Berman, SRRT Action Council, Hennepin County Library; Kim Edson, SRRT Action Council, Hennepin County Library; Yvonne Farley, SRRT Action Council, Kanawha County Library; Dorothy Granger, SRRT Action Council, Pacific Oaks College; Elaine Harger, SRRT Action Council; W. Haywood Burns School, PS/IS 176, New York; Steven R. Harris, Action Council, Louisiana State University; Al Kagan, SRRT Action Council, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Mark Martin, SRRT Action Council, Temple Archives; Michael Miller, SRRT Action Council, Columbia University; Veronda Pitchford, SRRT Action Council, University of Illinois at Chicago; Frederick Stoss, SRRT Action Council, SUNY/Buffalo; Wendy Thomas, SRRT Action Council, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College; Jessamyn West, SRRT Newsletter co-editor; Charles Willett, SRRT Action Council; Editor, Counterpoise

Other supporters:

Joan Annsfire, San Francisco Public Library; Bette Anton, University of California at Berkeley/Optometry Library; Bonnie Avery, Oregon State University, Reference Librarian; Rebekah Azen, Santa Fe New Mexican News Library; John Berry, Library Journal; Jonathan Betz-Zall, Children's Librarian, Sno-Isle Regional Library; Phyllis B. Bischof, African & African American Collections University of California; Robert H. Boyer, St. Norbert College; Kate Bradley, Bellevue Community College; Margo Brault, Louisiana State University; Catherine M. Bremer, San Francisco Public Library; Cathy Camper, Minneapolis Public Library; Ceci Chapple, Milwaukee Wisconsin; Thomas E. Childs, Learning Resources Assistant, Douglas College Library; Yvonne Cleveland, graduate student, SLIS, University at Buffalo; Lisa Colvin, graduate student, UCLA; Terence J. Connolly; Alison Curtis, graduate student, University of British Columbia; James P. Danky, State Historical Society of Wisconsin; Kathy Deck, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Kathleen de la Pena McCook University of South Florida SLIS; Jan DeSirey, Hennepin County Library; David Dodd, Santa Cruz Public Library; Chris Dodge, Hennepin County Library; Eliza T. Dresang, ALA Councilor, Florida State University; Ian Duckor, New York State Library; Sherry Durren, graduate student, University of South Carolina; Katie El Koury-Thomas, student , Truman University; Mary Engle, California Digital Library; Sean Fitting; Maurice J. Freedman, ALA Councilor-at-Large, Westchester Library System; R. Dean Galloway, Library Director, Emeritus, California State University, Stanislaus; Francisco Garcma-Ayvens - ATM Information Services; Mary Givins, Desert View High School Library; Sheila Goldmacher, San Francisco Public Library; Ann Grafstein; Chris Green, Alameda County Library and SJSU Graduate student; Monica Grilli, National Women's Library of Bologna, Italy; Andrea V. Grimes, San Francisco Public Library; Mr. Lynn A. Grove, South Central Regional Library Council; Ibrahim Hanif, Sandor Teszler Library Wofford College; Larry Heiman, New York University Library; Martha Henn, Birmingham-Southern College Library; Julie Herrada, University of Michigan Library; Amy Holloway, San Francisco Public Library; Zoia Horn, Retired, Former Chair, ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee; Anne Huberman, Reference Librarian, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York; Tom Hyry, Archivist, Yale University Library; Noha Ismail, Hennepin County Library; Janet Jenks, Caltech Library System; E.J. Josey, American Library Association, Councilor-at-large; Miguel Juarez, graduate student, SILS, University at Buffalo; Judy Kopanic, San Francisco Public Library; Ben Krompak, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library; Stephen LaBash, University of Baltimore Library; Michelle LaLonde, University of Michigan Library; Andrew H. Lee, Tamiment Library New York University; Kim Leith, graduate student, Wayne State University; Alison Lewis, American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, PA; Terry Link, Michigan State University; Rory Litwin, graduate student, San Jose State University; Carol Liu; Katherine MacInnes, Grad student, University of Alberta; Annette MacNair, San Francisco Public Library; Renee McBride, UCLA; Claire R. McInerne, University at Albany, Information Science Ph.D. Program; S.Michael Malinconico, Professor, SLIS, University of Alabama; Mary Mallory, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Donna Mandel, graduate student, San Jose State; Harry Meserve, Watsonville Public Library; Mike L. Marlin, URS Greiner Engineering & Environmental Library; Brent Miller, California State Library; Mev Miller, Women's Press Library Project; Ellen Monahan, Salt Lake City Public Library; Mary Helen Moreno, Shields Library, University of California, Davis; Jacqueline Morin, San Jose State University; Clara C. Mosquera, Chicago, IL; Pamela Murnane, student, San Jose State University; Solveig Nilsen, Hennepin County Library; Karen L, Norbut-McElhany SJSU-Graduate Student; Hope A. Olson, PhD, Assistant Professor, SLIS, University of Alberta; Ben Ostrowsky, Graduate Student, University of South Florida; Emily Papagni, Reference Librarian, Cedar Mill Community Library; Susan Peters , Rutgers University Libraries; Amanda Pitchford, graduate student, University of Alberta; Cecilia Puerto, San Diego State University Library; Laura Quilter, Exploratorium Learning Studio, San Francisco; Paul Quintanilla, San Francisco Public Library; Carol Reid, New York State Library; Katia Roberto; Stephanie Row, San Francisco Public Library; Lea Rude, SJSU School of Library and Information Science; Liz Ruhland, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Dinah Sanders, graduate student, San Jose State School of Library & Information Science, ALA member; Richard Sapon-White, Oregon State University; J. Mark Scheu, Univ. of Missouri-St. Louis; Ann Sparanese, Englewood Public Library; Lisa Stage, the Hearth Community Library; Thomas Stuart; Judy K. Stuck; Patricia Sullivan, graduate student San Jose and Reference Librarian at Glendora Public Library; Geoffrey D. Swindells, University of Missouri-Columbia; Theresa Tobin, MIT Library; Jan L. Tripe, graduate student, SLIS, University of Alberta; Suzanne Tronier, Salt Lake County Library; Samuel E. Trosow, graduate student, UCLA; Mary Tyler, graduate student, San Jose State University; Shannon Van Kirk, graduate student, University of Alabama; Meg Walburn, artist, Mervyn H. Sterne Library - UAB; Malia Watson , OCLC Online Computer Library Center; Celia White, graduate student, State University of New York at Buffalo; Judith Wood, student, San Jose State University School of Library and Information; Stephanie Woodbury, graduate student San Jose State University; Eva Zsigovics, graduate student, SLIS, University at Buffalo; Itibari M. Zulu, University of California, Los Angeles and Chair, ACRL African American Studies Librarians Section.

 

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