{"id":374,"date":"2026-06-08T18:39:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=374"},"modified":"2026-06-08T18:39:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:39:32","slug":"as-censorship-expands-autonomous-libraries-are-springing-up-to-fill-the-gaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=374","title":{"rendered":"As Censorship Expands, Autonomous Libraries Are Springing Up to Fill the Gaps"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Truthout is an indispensable resource for activists, movement leaders and workers everywhere. Please make this work possible with a <\/span><\/i>quick donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Read more Trump Storms Off After \u201cMeet the Press\u201d Host Asks for Proof of \u201cRigged\u201d Races<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Like many urban systems, the Chicago Public Library (CPL) offers robust support for immigrant communities: collections in multiple languages, English language and citizenship classes, and voting rights events. In October 2025, as the invasion of Chicago by federal forces ramped up, the Uptown branch hosted an ICE-alert kit making event, inviting the public to assemble packets of whistles and zines informing neighbors about the violent occupation of the city.<\/p>\n

Until Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order banning Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from city-owned properties on October 6, public librarians could not legally prevent ICE agents from using their buildings. \u201cPublic libraries have to navigate their position as truly public spaces,\u201d Lulu, a Chicago-based organizer who asked that we use only a first name, told Truthout<\/em>. \u201cWhen ICE was in its more intense phase, only part of the public library could be blocked off. CPL couldn\u2019t guarantee safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Su Casa Liberation Library could come close to barring ICE. \u201cOurs is a collectively held space, and we do not allow law enforcement on the premises,\u201d Lulu said of the library, which is housed in a former Catholic Worker house. \u201cWhile that is not foolproof, we do have the ability to have a more protected space than the public library can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Su Casa Liberation Library is part of a flourishing anarchist library scene that includes the Tamarack Library in Oakland, California; Legacy Library on Chicago\u2019s South Side; and the mobile Free Society People\u2019s Library (FSPL) in Portland, Oregon. These autonomous libraries build on the values of the traditional public library \u2014 connecting people to resources, promoting access to information \u2014 while offering collections and programming tightly linked to the political and social movements they support.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeople are looking for alternatives to the state,\u201d Garrett Felber, an organizer with the Free Society People\u2019s Library, told Truthout<\/em>. \u201cWe don\u2019t deal with censorship and bureaucracy; we have the nimbleness to just go from a phone call to a program.\u201d Even with robust commitments to intellectual freedom, public libraries operate in political contexts that inevitably include compromise. The group Libraries and Archivists with Palestine has documented the extensive censorship of materials related to Palestinian struggles for freedom. The gaps left in collections by these public compromises are filled by the Free Society People\u2019s Library. \u201cI wanted to create a library where liberatory ideas are everywhere,\u201d said Felber. Every book in the FSPL mobile library speaks to visions of collective liberation, no need to hunt among the stacks.<\/p>\n

In addition to housing collections, autonomous libraries provide crucial gathering places for political work. \u201cAs a young organizer, we met in random coffee shops,\u201d said Lulu. \u201cBut we have a different kind of surveillance now.\u201d Autonomous libraries also provide off-ramps for people who need a break from online activism. \u201cPeople get burned out with the pace and inundation of virtual life,\u201d said Felber. Meeting in a movement library enables political education, planning, and strategy, while attending to growing data security needs. \u201cPeople need to be able to meet, share ideas, strategize, plan, learn from history, in conversation with elders,\u201d Lulu said. \u201cThat can happen here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Felber\u2019s library is on wheels, turning any curb in Portland into a space of radical textual engagement. Benches line the space in front of the Free Society People\u2019s Library\u2019s shelves, inviting people to sit, read, and learn. \u201cWe go where people already are,\u201d Felber told Truthout<\/em>, \u201cso they can be going about their days and still come away with a radical idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the face of rising government surveillance and the suppression of left organizing, independent libraries are part of growing efforts to expand non-state alternatives including mutual aid networks, free stores, and free universities. \u201cOverall, there\u2019s a larger anarchist turn prompting people to think about alternative institutions outside the state,\u201d said Felber. \u201cIt\u2019s just natural to attach a library to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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From California to Illinois to Oregon, flourishing anarchist libraries are spreading knowledge and building community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nAs Censorship Expands, Autonomous Libraries Are Springing Up to Fill the Gaps - Smart Moving Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=374\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"As Censorship Expands, Autonomous Libraries Are Springing Up to Fill the Gaps - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From California to Illinois to Oregon, flourishing anarchist libraries are spreading knowledge and building community.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=374\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-08T18:39:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=374#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=374\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"As Censorship Expands, Autonomous Libraries Are Springing Up to Fill the Gaps\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T18:39:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=374\"},\"wordCount\":721,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=374#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/b60c6bf0e63b8251ee645d847bec7c9b.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=374#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=374\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=374\",\"name\":\"As Censorship Expands, Autonomous Libraries Are Springing Up to Fill the Gaps - 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