Libraries and Religious Freedom, with ALA President Sam Helmick

‍PAUL BRANDEIS RAUSHENBUSH, HOST:

And now to my guest. Sam Helmick is the newly-inaugurated president of the American Library Association. Sam brings deep experience in advocating for intellectual freedom and access to information, with roles including ALA's executive board, past president of the Iowa Library Association, and chair of the Intellectual Freedom Round Table, and Iowa Governor's Commission on Libraries.

Sam's presidential theme is, “Our stories are worth sharing” and the launch of the CASE framework: Community, Advocacy, Storytelling, and Education, Economic development. They bring a deeply informed, moral and democratic perspective on our conversation today. And Sam, I'm very happy to welcome you to the State of Belief.

Happy Library card signup month!

SAM HELMICK, GUEST:

Happy Library card signup month. I'm so delighted to be with you.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

We are thrilled. You know, one of the most gratifying partnerships in my last three years has been reaching out and being in conversation in community and in collaboration with the American Library Association. It's been such an important part of the work that I feel called to do at Interfaith Alliance, really showing up alongside and with libraries, librarians, all those who are interested in sharing stories. And so congratulations on being president. It's an amazing accomplishment.

Did you just wake up one day when you were young and say, I wanna be a librarian? How did you become a librarian?

SAM HELMICK:

My trajectory into libraries, I think, might be a little different. It's always a vulnerable process to tell it, but I was a little kid and my mom would take us with our little red wagon and we'd fill it up with books on the weekend, and take them back on the next, and fill it up.

But when I became a teen, Paul, there wasn't a place in my small rural library for me, and I kind of got side-eyed when I would sneak up to the adult section - because I was a precocious reader. And so by the time I'm going to community college, I don't think library is for me, and I'm not supporting the Levy Initiative in my hometown to build a brand new library.

I'm kind of ashamed to tell you that. And I even wrote a paper and mortified my English professor by saying, these are the reasons we don't need a new public library.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

When you said, libraries were not for me, can you just unpack that a little bit?

SAM HELMICK:

So when you're a teenager the late nineties in Burlington, Iowa, you don't have this wonderful library that they ended up building. You have a couple shelves in a dank corner that has, like, RL Stein's Fear Street and maybe a couple of issues of Tiger Beat, because there aren't the resources available to make a teen advisory board where teenagers have input and fingerprints and breadth into the programming that's happening - because you don't even have programming.

That's what's really fascinating about small and rural libraries in in America, is that it is a reflection of the resources that a community puts into it as much as a reflection of the community it serves. So I was a little shaded.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

You didn't see yourself there. And you were kind like, why should I support this? Because I don't see myself. This is very foundational, isn't it? This is really foundational to what libraries mean and what libraries can mean.

So, so you were kind of… Let's call it, I'm gonna put words into your mouth, kind of a little anti-library at this moment. And especially for a precocious readern who's really up for, needing, looking for things to read, and you didn't think the library was the place for it.

And so how did that turn around?

SAM HELMICK:

We had some books in the family home - but even in the family home, I remember holding up paperbacks to Earth's sun because we had redacted sentences in black ink. And so I exhausted that collection. I had exhausted the children's collection. I felt like there was not a significant place for me as a teen, and I probably horrify my English professor with this paper.

But I pass through, I get through community college. I'm at Iowa Wesleyan College and they have you volunteer - call it “responsible social involvement” - before you graduate, and would you believe it, Paul? They had successfully balloted, through a petition, to get on the docket a Levy bill, and they built this wonderful new library in Burlington, Iowa. And I decided to volunteer there.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

Wow. Full circle.

SAM HELMICK:

And I can remember the moment. I fell in love. Beause they had a dedicated place for teens; they had ebooks and audiobooks for when the library was closed. And I can even remember the moment - the Iowa State Extension Office through Iowa State University would bring an insect zoo to summer reading programs to the different libraries. And in rural America, often, summer reading programs are the family vacation. Those are the edifying educational activities.

We had hundreds of kids in there. And this year, because “To catch a reading bug” was the theme, they brought an elaborate array, including a tarantula. And this little kiddo came up to me and said, Sam, if you hold the tarantula, I'll pet him.

And there's two problems with that that I can think of, right off the bat. The first is, Paul, I don't do tarantulas, okay? I just don't. But the other thing is, technically, they're arachnids. So I felt like I had this kid on a technicality.

But you know what I realized, as well, in that moment? I had a person of a completely different gender, race, age, social background coming to me, and we were both, with shaking hands, going to have a transformative experience together. And it just dawned on me that there was nowhere else besides an American library where that happens organically, day after day, hour after hour.

And I haven't shut up about the good library news since, because there are so many Sam Helmicks out there that don't see themselves in their library. But what's the power of libraries is that in less than 20 years, you could actually be one of the representatives of that profession because they're so powerful.

I found my place, I found my community.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

And recognizing that libraries are not just collections of books, but they are spaces. They are spaces, they are communal spaces. And it's an amazing resource. It is one of these essential resources for American democracy, and that is the reason that, of course, I feel so passionate about it; but also, they are a location for a lot of people right now.

So this theme of “Our stories are worth sharing.” So you actually came from this location where you're, “My story, I don't see my story anywhere in here,  I'm out”, to this place where now you're the president of the American Library Association with the theme of “Our stories are worth sharing.” And let me just tell you, as a minister and as someone who cares so much about stories and people understanding their own sacred story, that brings them into communion with other people's sacred story, that theme really hits me square. Tell me about how you landed on that idea as a way to kind of frame your presidency.

SAM HELMICK:

Well, I think it's because the novelty of folks has never worn thin for me. I've been in libraries since 2008, now, and every single day somebody finds a recipe or a language or a job or community.

Even talking to you about it I start to tear up, and I think I'm in love with those stories. And I recognize that the approximate 124,903 types of libraries in America are chock-full of these stories. They're opportunity on cold storage, and our communities come in and breathe life into them. And it blows me away. And I want to know those stories and I want to empower folks who are like Sam Helmick 20 years ago, that there are stories waiting for you to write at your library, too.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

Isn't that amazing? Listen, when you think about this moment and you think about what it means to read something and see yourself somehow in there, or to see or to be introduced to another life that you never even knew anything about… I mean, I remember when I first read, it was Another Country by James Baldwin, and I was a teenager. First of all, there was a gay character in there and there was a gay love story - a difficult fraught one, but a gay love story. And alongside that, there was incredible writing about race in America that introduced me into an entirely different experience and opened my eyes in a way that I really needed to be opened. And opened my heart and everything.

But then I also thought, okay, so my story is part of this story, somehow. And I love that it's not passive: libraries are not a space just to receive these things; it's also an invitation. So this is where I'm getting excited, and I want to talk a lot about what September is, which is… Look at, look at what I’m holding up.

SAM HELMICK: Ooh!

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

I have my latest, newest, and for, listeners, I have my New York Public Library card in my hand. That was the easiest thing to get in the world. I just signed up and they gave it to me. And I love this card and it is so great. And I'm so proud of this library that we have, in my neighborhood in Chelsea, that has just reopened. Just reopened like two weeks ago. I went in there yesterday – packed. Literally every table. And then some kids walked by and they went to the second floor.

Tell me what this is. September is what? I'm going to say it wrong. It's Library Card Signup Month. there's a better way to put it. What is this month?

SAM HELMICK:

That's perfect. It's National Library Card Signup Month. It's been around since 1987 when Secretary of Education William Bennett really stated that, you know, let's have a campaign where every child should obtain a library card and use it - because the possibilities are endless with a library card. But just to your point too, Paul, it's endless possibilities for any stage of learning you are in in life.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

Isn't it incredible? You know, I do some writing ,and sometimes I just don't want to be in my house writing. That's too familiar. I go to a library and you can feel the energy of people: some people just want to read the newspaper and that's where they get the newspaper. For some people it's, they're doing research. For other people, their kids are... It's amazing. So these places and a card is like - the great thing is that no one cards you, when you walk in, you don't need this to walk in.

That's a huge thing in New York. In New York, to have a location where you walk in and you get to take a seat. Wow, that's crazy. But that's everywhere. You walk in and you belong. I mean, this is what libraries can be. And so I just love it.

Because this is part of my background, I'm very interested in how faith informs people like yourself and others to be a part of libraries, but the broader democratic project of America. What is your religious background? How did that influence where you are today?

SAM HELMICK:

I think that it is super-influential. I remember when I was going to West Avenue Baptist School in Burlington, Iowa as a fourth grader talking about, “And the word was made flesh”, or also, “God spoke and…” And I really loved the concept of there being life in language and living words. And so I think I've been a little bit preoccupied with that from the very beginning.

I also just love the fact that the First Amendment defends speech, assembly, press, and religion. We're all kind of on that First Amendment platform together, and I think that the more that we learn from each other and support each other, the stronger and more practiced, robustly, that First Amendment becomes.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

One of the reasons that I wanted to reach out to the American Library Association and libraries in general is that I did feel like religion, unfortunately, was beginning to be used as a pretext for censorship. And you and I can talk and just have our hearts alive talking about libraries; and then at the same time, people out there, unfortunately, too often using religion as a weapon or as a rationale, are attacking libraries and attacking librarians. Because they are sharing exactly these stories that reflect the broader community. And I'm sorry, but we’ve got to get into it - because this is a reality right now.

And I, honestly… Maybe there has been an equally bad time, but I don't remember it. and I'm 61 now and I'm beginning to be one of those old people who can start saying, “I don't remember a time like this.” I asked my dad when he was 95 about that, and he even said it.

So let's start with feelings. You know, we can get into theory and we can get into all the rest of it, but what does it feel like to you, given your background, given your commitments to the wide-ranging stories? What does it feel like to you when you see your colleagues and the institution of libraries attacked in this way - to censor things, to take stories off the shelves, all of that. What does it feel like to you?

SAM HELMICK:

To be completely blunt, Paul, it's kind of heartbreaking. And it's twofold, because I've shared a little bit of my history and I was taught what to think versus how to think. So there have been a lot of social and cultural memos and growing pains throughout much of my adult life, simply because I have to find comfort in the not knowing or addressing information or content or knowledge that might counter my own system of beliefs. And that's actually part of life and learning.

And so I'm really grateful that I found libraries, because I think it's enhanced my faith and my ability to explore that. So when I see libraries, when I see these two communities that I care about deeply kind of coming in antagonism instead of collaboration and good faith, understanding support, it breaks my heart -because, both, you see an institution that is the foundation of democracy kind of being mischaracterized, often, or misunderstood or mistrusted when librarians are often one of the most trusted faces of local government, and are needed to be that because they serve so many causes.

And then you also see communities who may no longer feel like libraries are their spaces, which is sad twofold. Because they lose that access. They bar themselves from that access and that exploration and that wonder; but without that little kid handing me the tarantula  -without the actual human being in the library with me - my story doesn't happen, and so they can't contribute to the stories that need to happen in our libraries. My heart breaks about it, to be honest.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

Frankly, it's a very generous perspective, because what you're bringing up is that when people decide to take on a library or feel like it's a bad place for their community, they're absenting themselves from opportunity. I focus a lot on the fact that they're trying to suppress other people's ability to find stories, but equally sad and frightening is that they're absenting themselves from being part of a wider conversation that could be benefiting the whole.

SAM HELMICK:

Right. And for the history of libraries, particularly with the Library Bill of Rights, our practices, procedures and policies have been a collaborative effort with the communities we serve. We operate as library workers in a lot of trust. And so to lose that relationship or to have that relationship erode is a pity.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

You know, one of the things that we really have been trying to - and we are going to be even more - dedicating resources and effort in is something called Faith for Libraries. That actually, the majority of religious people in America, by far, support libraries, understand the value of libraries, recognize that religion is nothing without stories. Libraries are places of stories, and so this can be a collaboration. We can have real discussions. About what? About all kinds of things. Of course we can.

But one of the things that I think is so important and everyone listening to this, I am speaking directly to you. We have to show up for libraries and we have to show up for librarians, and we have to represent and say, you know what? I understand that this book is not for you, but guess what - it is for me. And so, can we find a way going forward where you can make sure there's stories for you and we can make sure, but without attacking, using the library as a proxy for whose stories get to win. And I think that's what's happening.

You know, you can correct me if I'm wrong, Sam, but I am worried that libraries are becoming a location where a certain kind of ideology is being, there's an effort to impose that, and take away stories that don't adhere to an ideology - you tell me why I'm wrong - but it does feel like, when you're trying to take away Toni Morrison and when you're trying to take away LGBTQ stories or stories that feature Jews, The Diary of Anne Frank, you know, it feels like there's an effort to have only some stories matter and other stories matter less.

SAM HELMICK:

I agree with you, and I think it kind of comes back to how I arrived to Our Stories Are Worth Sharing. Learning about experiences beyond your own is so important to your development as a human being. And so whether you subscribe to the ideology that you find on every single book in an American library shelf, or you have a section that you feel more at home with, they're worth sharing. They have their space, they have their right.

I think about the fact that censorship is kind of a hammer looking for a nail, and today it's some of our most marginalized communities. But you and I, as I think some, in my small way a religious scholar, could really name off a timeline of history where sacred texts were next. And so I think that there's a way to look at this where we need to have open hearts and open minds for each other, and hold space for the variety of perspectives and beliefs and philosophies that the world will behold to us.

But we also need to recognize that if we don't support the speech that we may not fully understand or even agree with, our speech is going to be on the line next. And so it's defending those who aren't defending others, too. It's really like a parfait of complexity.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

Parfait of complexity. I love that. Did I ever tell you - this is true  confession, here - when I was at the Huffington Post and for Banned Books Week or something like that, I wrote a piece, intentionally provocative, saying, Confronting my temptation to ban books.

And at the time, I was like, here's the thing: we all have ideas that we don't like. And I kind of listed sexist stuff, and I had my own list of things that I would like to see get rid of. And it was intentionally a provocative thing, but part of the piece was actually talking to the American Library Association, intellectual freedom director at the time, I can't remember their name, and we had a really good conversation. And actually they, not knowing that I had this relationship, my great-grandfather was Louis Brandeis, and Brandeis was one of the people who really spoke up for freedom of expression, freedom of speech. And so they actually quoted my great grandfather at me, which I appreciated.

But really talking about even those groups that we abhor, we have to let them, otherwise we've lost the principle. So I'm basically using that as something reinforcing what you're saying, is that there are things that all of us don't like. There are stories that make us not only uncomfortable but feel worried or something like that. Appreciating that that is across the board; also recognizing, freedom of speech and freedom of religion go hand in hand in this country. And you mentioned it - both First Amendment. But also this is going to be a major area of our work at Interfaith Alliance, really building new coalitions of freedom of expression and freedom of religion that recognize how those two things go together. But here's the thing - you're a better person than I, clearly, in this conversation I'm realizing you're a much better person than I am. And that's fine. I can deal with it.

But what drives me absolutely insane, and I have a really hard time, really hard time with this, is the kind of attacks on librarians themselves and this kind of, you're a groomer. They say this, it's almost, just, they toss it out. “You're a groomer.” Which, as a gay man, is something that I'm very sensitive around, the idea that, LGBTQ people are always grooming people, always trying to get other people to be like us, as if that was a big choice we had. But attacking librarians as groomers, it's a very dangerous thing to call someone. And there's worse things, the doxing and things like that. And that drives me insane.

And I think faith communities, again, and if there are any faith leaders listening to this or anybody, this is a pastoral issue as much as it is a social issue, as much as it is a democracy issue. You have librarians who are being attacked. And if you're not thinking about how you, as a faith leader or faith community, is caring for them, I want you to start, because I think it's really important.

I don't know. I've been in rooms with librarians who are breaking down crying because of their experiences of being attacked. And so this is traumatic for people and we can't say it's okay. We can't allow it.

SAM HELMICK:

I a hundred percent agree with you. I can take and accept that because we are community anchor institutions, we are centers of community life, that the fracturing or the cultural or the social conversations that are going to take shape in our country right now would obviously take some shape in a library. I recognize that. But I agree with you with the attacks and the mischaracterizations and the doxing.

I think we're at this tipping point in our profession, where in the information age you need thought partners and knowledge experts and folks who are going to connect you to the digital and informational world, and at the same time when they might be more necessary than any other time in our history as a species,

we're belittling them. We're denigrating them. We're mischaracterizing them. We're underfunding them. And I'm nervous about that for multiple reasons. I think in part because to your point, it is a social and pastoral issue; to another point, they create so much community good. Nobody deserves to be treated this way.

I think most faith groups would agree that some of our baseline beliefs are to think outside of self and to love others. And libraries are one of the places where you actually get to practice that with a shared collection and a shared group of resources. But then, additionally, despite the fact that this is happening, the library workers that I cry with, I hold hands and weep with and hug and send encouraging letters to, who send encouragement to me, they know their mission hasn't changed. And every day they're going in and they're trying to add opportunity and access and inclusion and edification to the lives of their communities. And that's hard to do so upstream, against the current again and again and again.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

That was beautifully put. So let's take this really, really seriously, listeners. One of the things we want to do with Faith for Libraries is really look locally.  I talk nationally, but this is really geared towards - local libraries are local issues and libraries are local institutions.

But I do want to ask you, how would you convey how libraries fit in this broader movement for democracy right now? I mean, right now, a lot of people talking about democracies, a lot of people worried, frankly, for our democracy. So what is the role of libraries in that broader question of, what's the future of democracy?

SAM HELMICK:

So I think that when our founders created this unique form of government, borrowing from here and here, and taking the time to really reconcile, and understanding that we were going to create a system that would obviously need to tweak and change over time because it was meeting the moment, and recognizing that history would change, the culture would change, we would continue to progress. They set a couple of other institutions into motion. And I think about the press, I think about trying to build schools, and I definitely think about what our founders did to initiate public libraries in their imperfect state. But with a good intention in mind.

And so I think that that teaches me that in order for us to have an informed society, in order for the people to be able to work through community, commerce, politics, civic life, they were going to have to have equitable, or increasingly equitable, access to the array of knowledge that would be able to inform their choices. And so I think the libraries inform choices by doing a lot of things.

The first is: create space where you all can talk together and learn and reconcile and debate and communicate and grow. Create spaces where you can make change - and civil rights groups, but also folks who just wanna get together, order pizza and play cards can come together and build their community in that community space. But then there has to be an array of resources, not only in the stacks, but also in learning opportunities that give us a perspective. Not an endorsement of ideas, but a perspective of the voices that represent the world around us in order for you to make your best informed choices. Because the rate of legislation, the rate of civic life, the rate of social life and in community engagement is just so rapid that it's like a tsunami.

If I can just go off on a tangent here, I think a lot of folks, when they thought of a dystopian future in terms of information access, they think of Orwell and they think, oh, information will be withheld. I personally might be more of a Randian where I think information will just be so prolific that we will conflate what is knowledge and what is content and we will no longer value. And that is where libraries come in. We provide it. We push back as a professional ethic against any form to abridge or censor. But then we also sort of teach and encourage and uplift the concept that we are learning creatures. In every single day, we are going to be navigating a sea of knowledge, and there are responsible, effective ways to accomplish that. And libraries help that. They're the platform by which everybody, like you said earlier, can walk in without a card and explore the world of ideas.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

Isn't it incredible? It is truly amazing. What I especially love is this idea of the possibility of learning how to curate; learning, being in conversation with someone. I mean, that's the thing is that also it's not just libraries. It's not just books, but actual people who can help you navigate that and will take an interest in your own learning. They are incredible.

So, if Faith for Libraries was completely successful, what would you like to almost expect for congregations or faith leaders or faithful people to interact with libraries or librarians? What would be the ideal outcome of something like that?

SAM HELMICK:

I think that folks can tell that you're a person following a system of beliefs by your love. And so that's a full range. Using your libraries are the best way to advocate for them, because then you get to see for yourself what's happening between the stacks and you get to contribute to it. So robustly using your library and championing forward, I think, is one of the easiest accessible ways. You know, sign up for a library card.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

There we go. Back to the theme. Whatever you're doing, drop it and go get a library card right now. I want to see hundreds of, thousands of library cards out there. Because you go in and you're like, oh, okay. Look around. Oh, wow. Physically going to places matters. So I love that as a start.

SAM HELMICK:

And if you, engage with us, with our digital platforms, if you are near a bookmobile stop, however you engage with the library is so welcome and it's going to be wonderful for us and for you.

But then I think, also, just making yourself aware, if you can, of the issues. I know that there's a lot of things going on in the world right now, but because libraries are so essential to cultural and civic and community life, going to places like I Love Our Libraries, loveourlibraries.org, or ala.org, to learn more about Stand Up for Libraries, is a useful way to get a primer of what's occurring in terms of pernicious legislation against library communities. I think we often frame this conversation as: library is being attacked, but as a practitioner myself that got into this because I knew that this was a life of service to my community, I'm actually seeing these as pernicious legislations against the communities I serve.

And so I need the communities whom I serve to understand what's happening and how that will affect their life; and how we can amplify our voices and be a chorus that really sings the rights to read, the rights to learn, to right to think, the right to pursue a library with or without a card at your leisure. And freedom.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

There are boards for libraries, right? I mean, you can run for boards, right? Talk a little bit about that. Because in my three years just being around librarians, I'm learning a lot because it's kind of like, oh, there are boards that libraries have. Talk about that, because that's another place where people could serve.

SAM HELMICK:

So the governance structure of libraries is a little different depending on the library we're talking about. But all of them have the baseline of having community engagement and fingerprints in the process. So in my community, our mayor appoints members to the board that then serve as a board of trustees to support us. In other public library communities that is an elected position and you, too, can run for office. They have school boards and task forces that kind of come from those, PTO assemblages that also support school districts. In fact, when I was the ILA president, I more often heard from parents and caregivers who were contributing their time, talents, and treasures to those efforts than I actually did from school librarians. And so your voice, your thoughts, your efforts in that system can only make a community library better and stronger, whether it's in a school, a college, or a public space.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

You, mentioned parents, and that, as a parent of two kids in a public school, and how much they love their library. But “parental rights” is a term out there that has almost become… It has one meaning when it actually could have lots of meanings. But now we think of parental rights as, this is my right to take things away from a library so that my kid doesn't have to see them, and then not necessarily interested in other parents' rights to have their kids have access to it. How do you navigate something called that very slippery term called “parents' rights”?

SAM HELMICK:

When I think of rights, I think, again, of my role as a librarian to inform and to share information and to give access to resources for anybody, regardless of what they're trying to accomplish - whether that's raising a family or running for office or obtaining a job, the information they need. And so I respond with my work of showing policies and procedures and processes where caregivers and parents have always had their fingerprints and voice in the process, because I think it's important to remind people of their rights and their responsibilities and their access and availability to those processes.

Sometimes I wonder if more education about the responsibilities and roles and relationships that have existed in those spaces, more awareness of that, could kind of maybe mitigate some of the misunderstanding or feeling left out. So the Sam Helmick that didn't think there was a teen space - I didn't know about interlibrary and that I could borrow any teen book from a library around the country. But if I'd known about that, I might've recognized that, oh, if I'd applied myself to these processes, I would've recognized I always had autonomy in my library. And so that's how I approach it with these conversations where public board meetings are public for a reason. The comment space in that time is necessary so that we can hear back from our community.

Applying yourself to understand the educational life and responsibilities of your student is an honor - and when you apply yourself to that with alacrity, you'll see how much efficacy you can contribute to your community school library. So I'm not sure I honored your question there, other than to remind folks that rights come with responsibilities. I think sometimes it's reminding people of what their responsibility spectrum encompasses.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

I think what I'm hearing there - which is, again, I would say you're more generous than me - but I appreciate the depth and the heart that you approach every question and of course your work. But what I'm hearing you say is, in some ways, don't short circuit the process by just saying, it needs to get off the shelf. Get into the actual process of what is the opportunity for you to be heard in a way that can honor your concerns. And also recognize that you're part of a broader ecosystem - and you do have rights, but you also are part of a broader effort to share information; and you're part of a broader, community. And I think that's where it does, a little bit, drive me nuts, is that sense of, my concerns supersede anybody else's concerns.

And that is where I think that there's a need for faith communities that don't approve of people being able to just take things off the shelf to get equally involved. And I think what you're saying is, “Get involved” to everyone. Get involved so you can be part of the conversation. A lot of times - and this we see around the country, is a lot of times, at school board meetings or at library meetings, the people who are trying to control other people's experience are very loud and very activated. And other people are assuming that someone else is going to take care of it, because we're so used to these things to be in place. I think the message is, get active.

And we've seen this around the country: when communities understand what's going on, they show up for school board meetings, they show up for city council meetings, they show up for library - and then their voices are also part of the conversation. And eventually the hope is that people will understand what I as a parent have the right to go into that library and guide my child until they're old enough to make their own decisions and find the things that we as a family want. And that's my responsibility. And it's not my right to take away everybody else's right to find books that they might want to see.

SAM HELMICK:

A hundred percent. I think that that is how democracy thrives. I think it's a professional value, but you know a little bit about my upbringing now - so who would I be to have watched my parents meticulously and painstakingly guide my learning life and then try to control that? Or prescribe that for somebody else? It's just antithetical to the way I was raised.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

I'm so grateful I was brought up in this family that really valued reading. And we were voracious reading, not always so erudite or whatever. A lot of it was fun, Lord of the Rings stuff, but you know, that's fine. But I was around books and I recognized that books were of value, and I do think that that's another thing - anybody taking their child to the library. I mean, at six months old, my kid was in a library listening to reading with other kids. One of his best friends he met at a library reading thing, still to this day, he's ten now. And so I just think being around these spaces of learning - it does the body good. It does the spirit good. It does the heart good.

One of the most gratifying little pieces of work that we did, but really important, is a little two-pager called Banned Books, Banned Beliefs, and anyone listening, if you just put in Banned Books, Banned Beliefs into whatever search engine you have, this will come up. And this was a collaboration between Unite Against Book Bans, which is a part of ALA and and Interfaith Alliance. It was really our first blush at, like, what can faith groups do to support libraries. And it has been so gratifying to see how many people are taking that up and really looking at it.

So I encourage our listeners to take a moment, look at Banned Books, Banned Beliefs if you want to learn the first step. But, Sam, we're really excited to do so much more.

As someone who's been in this, are there moments you want to lift up where, actually, there was a problem and maybe a faith community or a broader community was able to manage and move a community forward when censorship was attempted? Is there some good example that we can think of where faith folks have stepped up?

SAM HELMICK:

Well, I've really appreciated you. When we had our Intellectual Freedom Summit hosted by the American Library Association, was that two falls ago, at the Library of Congress. It was really edifying for, I think one of the largest gatherings on intellectual and free speech service, coming together and really reconciling that this is hard work. But the mission hasn't changed.

And then for me, I think it's just anecdotal because I think when you talk about libraries being local, these conversations often need to be relational - which is why, again, showing up for libraries is important. Because Sam Helmick, ALA president, can tell you how wonderful libraries are all day and how much I'm here to fight for your freedom to think and read; but if your auntie says it, your dentist says it, your neighbor says it, it hits a little bit differently, because now we're all involved into the conversation.

So, anecdotally, my parents didn't realize that they'd given me some form of reproductive education when I was in kindergarten. And I gently reminded them that I was the award-winning Innkeeper's Wife for three Christmas pageants in a row. And Immaculate conception suggests something else, like the absence of something suggests the presence of something else. And it wasn't a mic drop conversation, it was relational, personal, graceful.

And I think that that was a moment for me where you could tell that the conversation hit a higher plane - and we didn't need to agree, but we understood each other more deeply because I cannot make those decisions for other people. It's not my right. “Public”, for me, at least, in my library, is our middle name, and it's up to the public on how they want to exact their parental rights. So I'm not sure that honors your question, but I do think so much of this is relational, Paul.

PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:

Well, what I would like is next year when we talk and we introduce the public library card sign-up month, which is September, is that we actually can point to some times across the country where faith communities really showed up and spoke out, with their libraries and librarians and their communities, and said, let's hear all the stories. Let's all come together and hear all the stories.

And this is going to be a very pivotal time in American history. We need libraries. We need free libraries. We need fulsome libraries. We need libraries that are broadly financially supported by the community as well as private donations. And we need wonderful, wonderful librarians like Sam Helmick, who is the 2025-2026 president of the American Library Association. There is so much to learn about their work at ala.org.

Sam, thank you so much for joining us today on The State of Belief!

SAM HELMICK:

Thank you for the fellowship, Paul. It was wonderful. I thank you for supporting us and supporting the communities we serve this way. I think we're going to accomplish many great things together.

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