It is beyond infuriating that plans for a talk with an acclaimed, bestselling author were disrupted Tuesday after an anonymous bomb threat was emailed to the Harold Washington Library.
Organizers from the Society of Midland Authors expected a full house for a Chicago Public Library program with Jonathan Eig, author of the Martin Luther King Jr. biography “King: A Life.” Instead, about 50 people showed up after the threat. Luckily, police found no evidence of a bomb, and the program went ahead. (A member of this Editorial Board belongs to the Society of Midland Authors.)
Eig, who told the Sun-Times that he didn’t think about canceling the event, called the incident “sad.”
We agree.
Yes, it’s sad and maddening that an anonymous coward, prankster or would-be terrorist — take your pick — temporarily disrupted plans for an educational event focused on one of our nation’s most impactful historical figures.
It’s also frightening evidence that all of those who value free speech must continue to speak out against a phenomenon that is becoming all too common across the country. And law enforcement must continue to take the threats seriously, no matter how often the bomb squads and canine units find no evidence of real bombs.
One terrible day, that might not be the case.
Other Chicago-area libraries, including in Evanston and Aurora, also received anonymous threats on Tuesday. Last month, anonymous threats were made against libraries in Oak Park, Morton Grove, Gurnee and elsewhere.
Violent threats against libraries, as well as the vigorous push from some on the right to ban books, are extreme forms of censorship that have no place in a free and democratic society.
Offended by a book? Don’t read it, and let others make their own choice.
That’s worth repeating, time and again, to those like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who claimed Tuesday that banning books from school libraries is about parental rights. Graham spoke at a Tuesday hearing on book bans before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin.
A parent who does not want his or her child to read a particular book has the right to stop their child from doing so.
But that parent has no leg to stand on when it comes to pressuring or threatening a school or public library to ban a book they find objectionable, infringing on the rights of others to read it.
Illinois recently became the first state in the nation to enact a law that, effectively, bans book bans. As of Jan. 1, libraries that impose book bans will be stripped of state funding.
For decades, libraries have been trusted institutions where everyone, no matter where they fall on the political spectrum, can access a world of information and ideas.
As a suburban library official told us recently, “Libraries have always provided information on both sides. We have to have all of the information out there.”
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