Libraries and Democracy Revisited

The publication of Libraries and Democracy came during a precipitous time in our nation’s democracy. This article revisits its findings and asks how this relationship was understood then and what we should reconsider in these turbulent times. The challenge is to create a defining narrative to reassess the relationship between libraries and democracy in the twenty-first century. As civic institutions, libraries evolve in concert with the nation’s democratic theories and practices. They reflect the aspirations of the times in the broader context of civic faith in American democracy. With their legacy of civic activism, librarians can catalyze the shift from merely informing citizens to engaging them in the issues of their communities. As the nation’s great experiment in democracy undergoes a momentous test, libraries are poised to reunite their communities, recommit to democratic practices, and reclaim their essential role as cornerstones of democracy.