Risks and benefits of visibility: librarians navigating social and political turbulence

The deliberate burning of libraries is nothing new, but it seems surprising that such incidents have also occurred in Western democracies such as France, where attacks on 70 libraries have led to scholarly reflection. In South Africa similar cases have occurred. What does this say about community perceptions of libraries and the response of the library profession? The burning down of a library is shocking because it is unusual and unexpected. Mostly libraries are not very newsworthy. In some countries they are largely invisible. In others they may be valued community agencies that are taken for granted and only attract public attention when they are threatened by cutbacks or closures due to government austerity measures, or when things go badly wrong. The visibility and invisibility of libraries in the political arena confer risks as well as benefits. This paper, which is intended as an introduction to the session of the Section of Library Theory and Research on “Libraries in the political process: benefits and risks of political visibility”, explores some aspects and implications of the visibility and invisibility of libraries in the political space. As a framework for this discussion I suggest that libraries in various countries can be conceptualized as being located in the political space on a continuum, from invisible to highly visible, on which I attempt to situate the risks of visibility and invisibility before I superimpose on it some generalized observations on how librarians see themselves and their institutions in relation to the communities and societies they serve. I conclude that the risks of invisibility outweigh those of visibility. But this is not be weighed mechanically. The critical thing is the political awareness, engagement and commitment of the profession. Librarians should not seek to evade troubling questions by taking refuge in “neutrality”, technology and managerialism.