LIBRARIES IN TIMES OF CONFLICT

This book proposal features work drawn from several projects made over the past 30 years while studing the complex importance of libraries. Dawson and Manchester looked at libraries in places of war, libraries that experienced natural disasters and ones that have endured intentional human destruction. They examined the precarious place of libraries that straddle political or cultural boundaries and the role that libraries play in helping people displaced by conflict. They examined how libraries engage with the contentious topics of race and identity. They also explored where libraries address various forms of violence in their communities and ways that they have helped these communities heal. Drawing from this large body of work, Dawson and Manchester focus now on how libraries have provided solace and shelter, knowledge and comfort, inspiration and hope in an uncertain world

In his book Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime, writer Kenneth Helphand proposes that gardens in conflict zones can sometime become an act of resistance and resilience. Dawson and Manchester have photographed libraries in communities often wracked by conflict and strife. They have seen how libraries can sometimes be part of the solution by resisting historical or ongoing violence while also preserving memory. New York Times writer David Brooks described an appropriate response to our contentious times as “Defiant Humanism.” Libraries are sometimes referred to as one of our most humanistic institutions.  Like gardens, libraries can inspire hope and resilience in communities that sometimes lack both. This book is dedicated to these defiant libraries.