Protesters and the Library
Libraries are Places for Inquiry and Learning (https://t.co/mnfZ5dEAa7) Piece by Martha Whitehead, Univ Librarian, Harvard University
— Jill ONeill (@jillmwo) October 24, 2024
The Necessary Context
The NISO community may value this piece written by Martha Whitehead, University Librarian at Harvard. Protests at Harvard’s Widener Library emerged as a source of friction in recent weeks. Students and faculty held ‘Study-Ins’. These Study-Ins took the form of silent, physical presence of individuals working on their laptops with protest messages taped as signage to those laptops. Widener Library has a long-standing policy against protests being permitted in the library. The protesters were provided with copies of that policy. The Harvard Crimson provided a shorthand rendition of events in the following headlines.
- Harvard Warns of Consequences After Pro-Palestine Study in Widener
- Pro-Palestine Students Banned From Widener for 2 Weeks After ‘Study-In’ Protest
- Harvard Faculty Hold Widener Library ‘Study-In’ to Protest Student Activist Ban
- Will Harvard Punish Its Professors for Reading in the Library?
Inside Higher Ed provided the answer to that final question with their October 25th story – Harvard Faculty Suspended From Library Over Protests. It was an extraordinary reprimand, but a carefully formulated one. Loath to disturb professors’ research activities, faculty with suspended access were told that they could still request pick-ups from other campus libraries and that online access to e-resources was still available to them.
Key Quote: Library As Sanctuary
The library must be a sanctuary for its community. This means it is a place where individuals know they will be welcomed to exercise their right to access the space, the collections, and the divergent ideas that help advance their own knowledge and understanding. If our library spaces become a space for protest and demonstration – quiet or otherwise, and no matter the message – they will be diverted from their vital role as places for learning and research.
Harvard University Library is a member organization of NISO's Library Standards Alliance.