PUBLIC LIBRARIES: The Last, Best Bastion of True Democracy

I write this as I am sitting in Ames, Iowa, at the Ames Public Library. It is Pride Day here in Ames, and the library seems to be its operational headquarters. Outside along the street and down the adjacent intersecting downtown streets, there are many booths, a big stage, and everywhere you look, people in brightly colored clothes congregating and celebrating.

Inside the library, I am sitting in the light and beautiful second floor that is full of people but still surprisingly quiet. Downstairs, the children’s area is filled with families and children there for a Saturday story time.

As I sit here, I am reminded yet again that the public library is really one of the last, best bastions of democracy because it embodies, in practice, the deepest democratic ideals of equality, access, participation, and truth.

1. Equal Access to Knowledge

In a society where almost everything is filtered by income, status, or algorithm, the library remains radically egalitarian.

Whether you are wealthy or struggling, young or old, LGBTQ+ or cisgender, citizen or immigrant, you can walk through the same door and have access to the same books, databases, computers, and ideas. That’s the democratic dream: an informed citizenry not based on privilege but on participation.

2. Freedom of Thought and Expression

Libraries defend intellectual freedom. They resist censorship, protect and defend diverse voices, and trust readers to make up their own minds. In an age of polarization—where truth feels contested and speech is often commodified or manipulated—libraries remain committed to open inquiry, one of democracy’s oldest and most endangered values.

3. A Commons in a Privatized World

Libraries are public spaces—one of the few left that don’t require you to buy something to belong there. You don’t need to “earn” your welcome. In a society increasingly divided by paywalls and gated communities, the library stands as a living and shared place where we practice coexistence.

4. Civic Literacy and Empowerment

Libraries teach people how to navigate information—how to tell fact from fiction, bias from evidence. In a democracy built on informed consent, this literacy is not just academic; it is political survival. Libraries don’t just lend books—they train citizens and intellects.

5. Community and Care

Libraries host job workshops, reading groups, voter registration drives, computers for those without, and story hours. They give shelter during heat waves and provide charging stations during storms. In times of crisis, they act like a civic immune system—flexible, compassionate, and responsive to the community’s needs.

6. Memory and Accountability

Finally, libraries preserve collective memory. They keep local archives, oral histories, and the small, fragile records of everyday lives that would otherwise be erased. In doing so, they resist the amnesia that authoritarianism thrives on.