2023 VLA Citation: Save Samuels

During my tenure as VLA President, the onslaught of book challenges has continued reaching unprecedented numbers for libraries across the nation. Our commitment to upholding the 1st Amendment and offering materials representing the diversity of our communities has increasingly come under fire. Additionally, efforts have been underway by a select few to strike at the very existence of libraries for everyone. Some members of our communities have sought to gain power and block the rights of all citizens to select books and materials for themselves and their families that reflect their own interests, needs, and desires to understand voices from all walks of life. Virginia Libraries have not escaped these attacks on Intellectual Freedom and on libraries as one of the last fully democratic bastions that have thrived for centuries in the U.S. In fact, Virginia has reached number 2 in the nation for the number of book challenges received, because of efforts in Front Royal, where a group filed almost 800 reconsideration requests. In the face of these challenges, heroic members of libraries, professional associations, and most importantly, members of our communities have stood up to advocate for the Right to Read and to support libraries. The citation reads:

In recognition of their efforts to inform and organize their residents, for creating an informative web and social media presence to provide facts and resources to respond to prevalent falsehoods, for mobilizing their citizenry to stand up for the Freedom to Read, for honoring diversity and inclusion, for recognizing an individual’s rights to choose reading material for themselves and their families while respecting those same rights for others, for using their voices to stand behind library professionals’ expertise and the tenets that form the core tenents of libraries, and for helping to restore full  funding to keep the doors open at the the Samuels Public Library in Front Royal, Warren County, VA, this VLA Presidential Citation is issued to the Save Samuels Organization and its over 1,000 members from that community. 

-Kimberly B. Knight, 2023 VLA President