A Message from PLA President Maria McCauley Regarding Recent Library Threats
Responding to threats to my library or my colleagues is something that I never expected to need to prepare for in my role as a library director. Unfortunately, these incidents seem to be coming up more often, and most recently colleagues in five cities have worked with local authorities to address bomb or shooting threats in their libraries over the last two weeks. Thankfully, no one was hurt in these recent threats, but the stress and disruption of service take a toll on our colleagues and users. The ALA Executive Board has asked the FBI to investigate these incidents across five states all within a short time period and coming on the heels of intimidation related to censorship across the country in the past year. PLA leaders agree this is needed and stand with all our colleagues facing threats or other challenges to their safety and service to our communities.
We are stronger together as we share information and strategies, and PLA is committed to strengthening our networks and supports for all public library staff. In addition to notifying local law enforcement, we suggest filing a report with the FBI and reporting incidents to ALA at notify@ala.org. All reports to ALA will be treated confidentially.
Dr. Maria Taesil Hudson McCauley
PLA President 2022/2023
Director of Libraries
Cambridge Public Library
Cambridge, MA
Tags: planews, threatstolibraries
