Opportunities and Possibilities

Freedom to read, and freedom of speech, are often juxtaposed to censorship, plagiarism, copyright infringement, and other limiting systems to value creation. Dealing with these things in the community setting are often, and sometimes destructive.

What is really involved is the different value systems of individuals in a community, trying to maintain some semblance of catering to all in the community. Often we find that it’s not totally a value, but an opinion based on one incident which leads us to conflict with people.

I remember one of my library workers corresponded with a large city library, trying to find and answer to his need—when the answer was held in our library. The problem was his learned opinion; ‘you can’t find anything in small libraries.’ Some held beliefs are really born of expectations, rather than value systems and views.

Like so much bad information credited to out-of-context statements, (often, even in biblical passages), or ‘research’ paid for by those wanting and expecting a specific answer, we end up with ideas and experiences which are based on, pretty much, false information. One of the great headlines of our time back in the days of the beginning of broadband service for the Internet, (ca. 1990s) we were informed by PEW Research, “Get more Work Done with Broadband.” True; we finally have that ability, but back then the data they used for conclusions were responses by people who were watching movies and TV on the Internet; not related to work. “Work” was never defined.

Currently our country is dealing with controversy and conflict daily and it is widening the gap between many who have the same values, but different expectations and opinions. And the library, unfortunately, will be in the middle of all of this.

There is much written on banned books, and there are many “advocacy” books for whatever temperament someone may have; including revolution. But the questions needing to be answered for any given library will always be “what is the value to a community?”

There are many programs which have started at colleges and universities which could, and have, spread to the communities, and could be used by public libraries to mitigate the various battles about books available, displays, and events at the library. Here are some of the resources; most are headed under “Restorative practices”

Here are some foundational texts and authors in the field of restorative practices up to 2021.

Books:

1. “The Little Book of Restorative Justice” by Howard Zehr. This book provides an excellent introduction to the fundamental concepts of restorative justice and is considered a classic in the field.
2. “The Restorative Practices Handbook: A Guide to Healing and Sustaining Community” by Bob Costello, Joshua Wachtel, and Ted Wachtel. This handbook offers practical guidance and real-world examples of restorative practices in various settings, including schools, workplaces, and communities.
3. “Restorative Justice: How It Works” by Marian Liebmann. Liebmann explores the application of restorative justice in different contexts and provides case studies that illustrate its effectiveness.

Articles and Journals:

1. International Journal of Restorative Justice: This journal publishes articles on various aspects of restorative justice, including theory, research, and practice.
2. “Restorative Practices: Literature Review” by Danielle Sutton and Kerry Clamp. This literature review provides an overview of key research studies and articles related to restorative practices, summarizing the current state of knowledge in the field.
3. “Restorative Justice in School Communities: Shifting Accountability and Power” by Katherine S. L. McKnight. This article discusses the implementation of restorative justice practices in schools, emphasizing the importance of shifting power dynamics and fostering a sense of community among students and educators.

Remember, for the most recent publications, it’s best to use academic databases like Google Scholar, JSTOR, or your institution’s library resources to search for articles and books on restorative practices published after 2021.

Back before year 2000, many communities brought together members representing the community to search for what could be the future. We called the program “Futuring.” Our city meetings discussed what we liked about our town and came to a community agreement on what our best resources were. The city library won the top honors (although, in this case, the city later reduced their funding.) Futuring can bring a community into better understanding of the needs and problems and can inform those in certain positions what the community needs. A full account of how futuring performs can be found here.