Jonesboro, Arkansas is seated atop scenic Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern corner of the State. The largest metropolitan area between Little Rock and Memphis, its public library serves not just the city but the surrounding county. Arkansas State Senator Dan Sullivan popularized and personally circulated a petition which created a ballot initiative to defund the Craighead County and Jonesboro Public Library. The measure made it onto the ballot on September 27. Supporters of this measure cite a small display of LGBTQIA+ themed or authored children's books during Pride month in 2021 among some economic issues, equating titles like Frog and Toad and My Two Moms with sex education manuals.
Defunders say 71% of Arkansas counties fund their libraries at 1 million or less. As stated above, serving nearly the entire populace of a county with a single library should obviously place Craighead County/Jonesboro Public Library among the 29% of Arkansas libraries receiving over 1 mill. This millage has been in place since the expansion of the Jonesboro library to serve the county in 1994. As inflation has risen since the mid-90s, so have library costs. To slash their millage now would mean ending paid positions, culling the collection, and possibly closing the library to move to a smaller space.
The defunders state that the Craighead County/Jonesboro Public Library has a $6 million surplus. Vanessa Adams, Library Director, has stated in a Facebook video that this accusation is false. The supposed surplus comes from forward funding. Many readers know the concept of forward funding and its use in public libraries. State Sen. Dan Sullivan and his fellow defunders might be aware of the concept too if they considered how millage works and what it pays for.
One group has formed to combat the defunding of the Craighead County/Jonesboro Public Library. Save our Libraries submitted its paperwork to become a Ballot Question Committee on October 4th. You can read their mission statement there. The group seeks funding to spread awareness of the issue and has formed explicitly to defeat the library budget-slashing initiative on the Nov. 8 Ballot. Kelly Krout, a Candidate running for Arkansas Lieutenant Governor, discusses the issue in this Tiktok.
Conservative politicians frequently cite public services not turning a profit as a reason to defund them such as the current situation with the US Postal Service: How is a public library operating in black on principle a valid reason to defund? The issue of defunding the Jonesboro library is not an economic one, but a social issue draped in economic justifications. The people most concerned with defunding the library are attacking the LGBTQIA+ community. They believe queer people have no right to exist in public, that their experiences and works should not be displayed, and that queer children should be forced into the closet by a lack of compassion and stories that resonate with them. These beliefs run counter to public libraries' stated missions and visions which nearly always address inclusion and equity.
Legislative and electoral attacks on library services for LGBTQIA+ events ranging from having a book on the shelf to drag queen storytime have become more frequent over the last decade. It seems the profession will be dealing with this issue for some time to come. It’s important to remember that providing access to a collection and shoving opinions down others’ throats are two completely different things: Patrons don’t interact with the content they themselves do not seek.
Our profession understands the value of information and open access to it. The best way we can show solidarity for the Craighead County/Jonesboro Public Library is to talk about this issue and to defend the collections and varied communities we serve from bigotry in all of its forms. Talk to everyone you know about this mockery of electoralism, and how our democratic apparatus has been perverted into a weapon to deny the public access to information. Check out Save our Libraries at their webpage for more information on what you can do to help.