As Censorship Expands, Autonomous Libraries Are Springing Up to Fill the Gaps

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https://truthout.org/articles/as-censorship-expands-autonomous-libraries-are-springing-up-to-fill-the-gaps/

As Censorship Expands, Autonomous Libraries Are Springing Up to Fill the Gaps

From California to Illinois to Oregon, flourishing anarchist libraries are spreading knowledge and building community.

By Emily Drabinski , TRUTHOUT
Published June 8, 2026

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.

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. “Public libraries have to navigate their position as truly public spaces,” Lulu, a Chicago-based organizer who asked that we use only a first name, told Truthout. “When ICE was in its more intense phase, only part of the public library could be blocked off. CPL couldn’t guarantee safety.”

But Su Casa Liberation Library could come close to barring ICE. “Ours is a collectively held space, and we do not allow law enforcement on the premises,” Lulu said of the library, which is housed in a former Catholic Worker house. “While that is not foolproof, we do have the ability to have a more protected space than the public library can.”

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

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[harumph]

1. Excellent. Now, grow socially progressive based home schooling.

Parallel infrastructure and resources.