Hands Øff Rally

April 5, 2025April 6, 2025 annbh356Leave a comment

winter weather clothing with bright gold scarves — January 29, 2017

Practicing our right to assemble has morphed from an occasional occurrence triggered by an extraordinary event into a regular activity.

My first rally of 2025 was on a frigid, below zero, February day protesting the administration’s rough handling of local immigrants. It was Rochester’s reaction to an early morning ICE raid which removed two restaurant workers without any communication with their families or access to legal assistance. We eventually learned they were removed to a maximum security, for-profit prison in Louisianna despite being in the midst of asylum-seeking legal procedures.

Today’s demonstration was one of over 1,200 of Hands Øff rallies held around the country. Hundreds gathered in Rochester, tens-of-thousands at the Capitol in St. Paul with nearby events from Austin to Wabasha, as well as in every state capitol. This was about showing up, being seen, being heard, and not backing down. Some participants carried signs listing a range of worries, others held hand drawn poster boards focused on specific uncertainties ranging from Social Security to cancer research, from free speech to reproductive rights, from education to national parks; and, of course, hands off libraries. The list goes on and on as it seems nothing about American life is sacred or safe.

I find being aware of the administration’s latest shenanigans, whether I do a quick check or a deep dive, puts a bruise on my spirit and I must remind myself to look to beauty. Poet Lynn Ungar wrote this verse yesterday as we readied ourselves for today’s Hands Øff rally and the work yet to come.

April 5th

I don’t know how this all turns out, 
and neither do you,
but I have to confess it doesn’t look good.
I wish we were headed
for a picnic, for a waltz in the park.  I wish 
we were not ruled by broken men
who want to damage everything
that they cannot possess.  I wish
I could tell you what we do now.
The street is littered with the petals
of cherries that bloomed before
the big wind came.  Tonight
there will be frost, and tender buds
will burn.  But still, the woods 
are unfolding into green, 
and just outside my door some frog
is bellowing for all he’s worth.
Who knows what happens next?
All I can tell you is that the fields 
are ablaze with dandelions
who have never known 
the meaning of defeat.

     Lynn Ungar 4-4-25

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White House Targets Library Services

April 4, 2025April 4, 2025 annbh356Leave a comment

Depending on the era, librarians and library trustees have not been immune from attacks on library collections. What is different today is the scope and scale of the intent to thwart basic library services.

Within the tsunami of Executive Orders coming from the Oval Office, libraries and museums came under attack on March 14. By Monday, March 31, ALL staff at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) were placed on leave. And, State Library Agencies were notified that their federally funded grants were terminated, effective April 1, 2025.

Cloaked in sheep’s clothing under the guise of reducing the federal bureaucracy, this is really a wolf huffing and puffing to blow the house down. While local tax dollars fund a major portion of library operations, in big and small communities, the federal funding is the glue that unites libraries into an effective network sharing system.

In Minnesota, these federal funds which “the President has determined are unnecessary” [Section 1. Purpose] fund a wide range of programs and services affecting daily library operations and individual library users. Among those services in jeopardy but not limited to just these:

MNLINK or statewide interlibrary loan and delivery, which ensures that residents have access to the information needed to fulfill their lives, regardless of geographic location.

Minnesota Digital Library (MDL) – a unique partnership with local history centers and libraries to digitize fragile historical items and provide a snapshot of Minnesota life through the centuries with easy online access to over 60,000 pictures, maps, letters, postcards, and objects.

eLibrary Minnesota (ELM) – a broad selection of online research databases for users seeking information for class assignments, improving career skills, or seeking reputable medical information.

The entire IMLS budget, including staffing, offices, and the pass-through funding to each state and territory constitutes 0.00146% of the federal budget. An amount so small within a ginormous budget that were this a science experiment an electron microscope would be required yet huge in meeting the needs of individual library users. Please contact your Members of Congress and urge your Senators and Representative to protect federal funding for libraries by preventing the dismantling of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).

Graphic credit: show up for our libraries – American Library Association (ALA). MNLINK, MDL, and eLm – Minitex.

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Hiding History

March 22, 2025April 4, 2025 annbh3561 Comment

wreath laying ceremony at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

While every cemetery holds hallowed ground, the rolling green hills of Arlington National Cemetery go beyond the grief filled quiet found in other places. The space, the land, the very air holds that which is holy knowing each white marble headstone, row upon row, represents an individual braver than I am. Whether volunteers or draftees, these men and women were willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for our American way of life.

The Washington Post recently revealed that the sweeping efforts to exclude any reference to diversity, equity, and inclusion by the new administration’s Department of Defense has resulted in information about notable African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and women buried at the Cemetery being unpublished, altered, or hidden. My librarian’s heart and my American soul hurt knowing that DOD has blocked or removed information about these brave Americans simply because their stories have been deemed too “woke”.

I am not a military strategist. But it seems to me that with a growing list of global hot spots potentially threatening national security, DOD staff time would be better spent focusing on today’s threats rather than obscuring historical information on its various websites. The valiant efforts of the Tuskegee Airmen or the stories of brave women pilots who flew planes from manufacturing centers to the front in WWII should not be hidden simply because the individuals who performed those tasks were not white males.

Photo details – While laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier occurs frequently, I have only ever known one person who performed this ritual. I was invited to attend the ceremony when my dear friend Margaret retired from senior service at the Pentagon. I regret my decision to stay in Minnesota to manage some long-forgotten library task. I wish I had followed my heart to Washington, D.C. when she performed this honorable act on January 6, 2012.

This photo captures the moment she presented a wreath to the honor guard. Her husband Tom, a retired Air Force Colonel, stood to her left and her two sons stood at attention. (Edward in the Marine uniform and Peter in AirForce blue. He is still on active duty as a Lieutenant Colonel and Squadron Commander.)

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I Stand with Ukraine

March 1, 2025April 4, 2025 annbh3562 Comments

artwork by Marc Chagall with mother clutches her child while her husband attempts to shield his family from flames

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. While the White House claims the opposite, it does not change the truth we saw for ourselves. Television images of Russian tanks and bombed children’s hospitals. Interviews with World Central Kitchen Founder and Chef José Andrés as he and his teams provided hot meals for displaced people. And, on a personal note – hearing from Moldovan friends, with whom I shared many glasses of wine, that they were offering safe homes to Ukrainian refugees. Americans hung bright yellow and blue flags, churches conducted prayer vigils for peace, and sunflowers became the flower of choice, at least for a time.

With embarrassment, I watched a BBC live feed as an international relations meeting devolved into a shouting match intended to intimidate democratically elected President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while he visited the Oval Office. While Zelenskyy sought ongoing US support for Ukraine, the administration rudely rejected his warning to avoid putting too much trust in Vladimir Putin. These words of caution were not that of a flimflam man but from someone who has walked through the exploded rubble of the streets of his Capitol; a warning based on personal knowledge of broken Russian promises. My upbringing, with deep roots in southern hospitality and Swiss congeniality, requires treating a guest with respect. While I have only visited 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, I believe it is the people’s house and basic rules of respect and dignity should prevail. That definitely did not occur yesterday.

Art credit: Marc Chagall, 1887-1985. La Famille Ukrainienne, gouache, pastel and pencil on paper, executed circa 1940-1943.

Reading

Ruth and Freckleface Banned

February 24, 2025April 4, 2025 annbh3562 Comments

With the firehose of bad decisions spewing forth from this White House, I vacillate between trying to stay informed and wanting to ignore the mistaken path this country blithely follows. As a former children’s librarian, I am dismayed by the administration’s recent order to remove certain picture books from U.S. military schools. In an unstable world with bombs hitting targets in Gaza and Ukraine and civil wars in Sudan and Myanmar, I would think the Department of Defense would have more relevant tasks to undertake than pulling from its school library shelves Freckleface Strawberry by Julianne Moore and No Truth Without Ruth by Kathleen Krull.

Here is a brief synopsis in case you are not familiar with these two picture books.

No Truth Without Ruth – An age-appropriate biography of the life of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, from a small girl who chipped a tooth while twirling a baton to Supreme Court Justice making major decisions while donned in a black robe and her signatory lace collar.
Freckleface Strawberry – Tired of being teased because of her looks, the story tells of a young girl’s antics to hide her face before accepting her freckles.

While I may be eight years into retirement, my long-held belief in intellectual freedom as basic tenet of librarianship still rings true. As defined by the American Library Association: “Intellectual freedom is the right of every individual to both seek and receive information from all points of view without restriction. It provides access to all expressions of ideas through which any and all sides of a question, cause or movement may be explored.”

I encourage you to read these titles for yourself and determine whether these books are, as described by the administration, “radical indoctrination.” I think not but take a look.

Spirituality

Multifaith Lawsuit: Protecting Places of Worship

February 17, 2025April 4, 2025 annbh3561 Comment

Mennonite Church USA et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al., as filed on February 11, seeks to protect houses of worship as places of grace without government interference. More than two dozen Christian and Jewish denominations, representing millions of Americans, are co-plaintiffs in this lawsuit which asserts that ICE policy violates First Amendment rights of freedom of religion.

Throughout our country’s history, including the first administration of the current President, law enforcement considered churches, schools, and hospitals as “sensitive locations” protected from immigration enforcement. Among the many decrees effective on Inauguration Day, was a memo from the Department of Homeland Security rescinding the “sensitive locations” designation. This change in ICE policy makes way for immigration raids in churches even during religious ceremonies when refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants might gather. The lawsuit confirms at least one such disruption during worship on a Sunday morning in Georgia.

As someone involved in liturgy, I want to focus on enriching the spiritual experience of participants; to lift the burden of a heavy heart, if only for a moment; to elicit inspiration through spoken words or sung lyrics. This change in government policy creates an unwelcome and unhealthy distraction. Now, I must shift my attention from the sacred to prepare for possible disruption.

The concept of sanctuary can be identified throughout history and across cultures, from Old Testament times to today. It saddens me that we must rely on the courts to determine that churches are different from coffee shops and strip malls. I sincerely hope Mennonite Church USA et al. v. United States Department of Homeland Security et al. is successful in protecting places of worship as holy and sanctified spaces.

For more information:

Press release from the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection, Georgetown Law, Georgetown Center for Faith & Justice

Press release from the Unitarian Universalist Association

Other items of interest

Jimmy Carter – For Libraries and Women

January 10, 2025April 4, 2025 annbh3561 Comment

Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter holding hands and dressed in work clothes, tools and hard hats

While I voted for McGovern in 1972, his overwhelming defeat by Richard Nixon erased memories of having participated in that presidential election. Carter’s rise from peanut farmer to Governor to long-shot for the Democratic nomination captured my imagination and my vote.

He once keynoted a national library conference that I attended. As he did throughout his life, he proudly acknowledged his initial foray into public life began when elected to the Plains Public Library Board of Trustees. He enthralled the audience as he extolled the importance of libraries and librarians. After all, what professional crowd does not like to hear a prominent citizen of the world tell them “Good job?” But after sweeping us along with harmonious, good feelings, he told us that all our hard work was not enough. While cognizant of budgetary limitations, he challenged us to broaden our mission and serve everyone. He demanded that we create collections reflecting varying opinions and that we stand steadfast against censorship while defending freedom of access to information within the “people’s university.” Every attendee left feeling a certain degree of chagrin that we had somehow disappointed our biggest library supporter.

As a deeply spiritual man, he took an unpopular stand that “women and girls have been discriminated against for too long in a twisted interpretation of the Word of God.” He went so far as to paraphrase the popular REM song and proclaim he was “losing my religion for equity.” As a scholar, he knew that in the early centuries of the Christian church women served in prominent roles as teachers, deacons, priests, and even bishops. A review of history reveals that it was not until the fourth century that the rules governing church leadership changed and that shift permeated the whole of society. He offered these profound words:

The truth is that male religious leaders have had – and still have – an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. Their continuing choice provides the foundation or justification for much of the pervasive persecution and abuse of women throughout the world. This is in clear violation not just of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights but also the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom have called for proper and equitable treatment of all the children of God. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views.

As we offer final farewell, our country has lost an honorable man, a hero – one who fought for women’s rights and (with a special space in my heart) libraries.

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Baking Away Worries: Reflections after the election

November 6, 2024December 8, 2025 annbh3566 Comments

On a lethargic morning suffering from an election induced migraine, I found it easier to concentrate on the old Betty Cocker recipe for chocolate chip cookies than to contemplate the former president’s re-election to a second term. His promises for the “first day” of his administration are chilling and include initiating mass deportations of migrants, pardoning January 6 insurrectionists who violently sought to overthrow the Constitution, and cutting climate regulations despite evidence of ever more severe weather conditions.

All day, ping-ponging worries bounced through my brain while I creamed the butter and stirred in the chopped pecans, all the while trying to breathe deeply and to re-direct my focus.

Worries that eliminating Head Start will enlarge an already existing education gap between those children ready for school, those who can count and know their colors and those who have never held a picture book.
Worries that the end of prescription price caps will only serve big pharma’s bottom line and cause those on tight budgets to have to choose between paying the rent, putting food on the table, and buying lifesaving drugs.
Worries that a greatly curtailed National Weather Service will return us to the “old days” when checking the sky and feeling the wind on our face were our only weather alerts rather than using science to identify the path of approaching storms.
Worries that banning books, like giant book bonfires of earlier generations, will chill the creative spirit of writers and artists and curtail the mission of public libraries as the “people’s university.”

Then, late this afternoon, I listened to Vice-President Kamala Harris offer a gracious concession speech that acknowledged the exact range of my emotions. She advised, “Do not despair. This is not a time to throw up our hands, this is a time to roll up our sleeves”.

I began to shift my energy from worry by focusing on her words and a prayer shared by Rev. Robin Tanner, “Beloved One, hold the pain and the fear, hold the dream and the fury, hold us as we hold one another. Call us into being with a love that does not let go.”

And more words of encouragement from this evening’s Election Vespers:
Mary Housh Gordon – “I think humans in western cultures often need to feel there is an upward arc to history and some promised arrival in order for there to be meaning. But the place we are going is just around the sun on a miracle of a planet – and we are still alive in a world that is so beautiful and so brutal all at once and always has been. And it is all drenched in meaning no matter where it is headed and it matters that we love each other well and drink up the beauty and resist the brutality.”