I grew up in a highly controlled society, where library was not free to collect and disseminate any information they wished. Propaganda of the Community party was the order of the day.
The role of the librarian was not to facilitate access to material, but to guide us and to keep us away from materials which were considered provocative. When I entered the University I was allowed to use Special repositories (Spetskhran), which were closed repositories of restricted material. They were made up of the writings of dissident writers, minority writers, and foreign materials. Vladimir Nabokov, Shalom Aleichem, Boris Pasternak, George Orwel were all restricted.
Supporting the Library for me is supporting a choice, helping to navigate across the challenging landscape of the coming years, making it more safe and tolerant. And not going back to Spetshkhran'.
Review from #MyGivingStory