Guerrillas in the library? Public libraries as sites of ethical resistance

Public libraries in the United States have faced increasing political pressures in recent years. These pressures have impacted libraries in a variety of ways including censorship, funding cuts, and threats to the personal and professional wellbeing of library personnel. While these issues were occurring prior to the 2024 Presidential election, President Trump’s second term amplified the pressures and took direct aim at libraries. At the same time, working to stay true to professional values and ethics, libraries are actively resisting such political pressures at the individual, organizational, and networked levels. This article draws from bureaucratic resistance, dissent, and guerrilla government research to explore how ethical resistance arises in the public library context. We examine publicly documented actions by public libraries and librarians to demonstrate this resistance at various levels. We conclude by discussing the implications of ethical resistance during times of democratic backsliding and offer a series of hypotheses for future research.