. . . [T]oday, in the wake of an inexhaustible economic crisis and the reactionary assault on everything public, the public library is under attack. Local governments across the United States—from New York City to Detroit, and from Denver to Seattle—are slashing library budgets and closing libraries. . . These cuts will disproportionately punish poor and working class people.

Another key aspect of the public library mission is to defend free speech and intellectual freedom. With programs like “Banned Books Week,” libraries are on the front lines of defending the rights of people to examine unpopular points of view so they can make their own informed decisions.

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