We have printed articles over the last year as Reform UK took control of Councils with library services. Last month we had a positive story from Essex about removing reservation charges. This month – not so much. Several Reform led Councils have taken action to stop support for (LGBT+) Pride Month and other things they think are inappropriate. In Essex this meant no publicity for Pride or Refugee Week. In St Helens all support including displays was stopped with events in libraries being rebranded ‘Creative Crafts’. Staffordshire has banned displays and activities and in Warwickshire the leader has accused his libraries of promoting ‘contested gender ideology’ – understood to refer to books featuring transgender issues. The Essex Reform cabinet member for Libraries (and other things) also used the word ‘ideology’.
In all these cases local Pride supporters but also library campaigners and other councillors have fought back arguing for “inclusion, equality, evidence-based policy, and the rights of all residents to access information freely and without discrimination” in the words of Warwickshire Pride. The Library Campaign agrees with that statement about the role of libraries.
