Barack Obama turned to the Kankakee, Illinois, librarians when he kicked off an effort to push back against book bans earlier this week to support their belief that among their library’s 80,000 books, there’s something for each reader.
“We provide books for everybody on every topic,” said Mary Bass, the Kankakee Public Library’s youth services supervisor. “That’s what libraries stand for. It’s not just one particular worldview. We are here for everyone, and we want them to see that there’s space for you.”
The library’s staff joined the former president in a TikTok video Monday highlighting several books that have faced scattered calls for censorship on the shelves of schools and libraries across the country.
