Pflugerville librarian: I'm with the banned (and always will be)

Austin American Statesman



"First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me."

This quote is attributed to the prominent German pastor Martin Niemöller. After World War II, Niemöller openly spoke about his early complicity in Nazism and his eventual change of heart. His powerful words about guilt and responsibility still resonate today. I wanted to start with this quote because it has always resonated with me and contributed to my always wanting to help others however I could.

Becoming a librarian to help others was not something I chose at first. Looking back, I was always secretly doing just that. As child I spent a lot of time at the Carver Library and Museum in Austin, and I loved looking at books about everything. I would especially love finding books about Black and African people like me. They had these little stickers that said African American, and I just loved it. I would check out a backpack full of books.

Some librarians there knew me so well that they would tell me about new books that came in and sometimes even set books aside that they knew I would love. Now I also should point out that my mom let me check out a lot of things that I was interested in and if it was something she didn’t think I was ready for, then she would let me know why or ask me why I wanted to know about this or that. She didn’t demand to speak to the director of the library or demand that they not have a book or that they not let me check it out. She made sure I could access to all of the things I wanted to know and questions I wanted answers to, and so could other people if they wanted.


Chermaine Burleson is a senior librarian and head of technical services and cataloging at the Pflugerville Public Library.

I will always be grateful to those librarians and my mom for allowing me the space to think for myself and form opinions based on more that my own understanding and interpretation of my environment and exposure of only the spaces I existed in. Now as a librarian myself, I understand the importance of not only representation and intersection, but also free speech. I know the perceived power of creating a world where only certain people and ideas fit so that there is peace and harmony, and no one must correct or account for anything because only certain things can happen. 

History should have taught us how good does not come from rewriting history and by not righting wrongs of the past. Erasure of facts and intentions and acts of others won’t make things better for anyone. But you know what will? People having access to information and deciding to use it or not! 

This doesn’t stop parents or caregivers from instilling their values, but even if people never interact with people who are different from them, it’s because we are not the same that makes the world work. Somethings we can’t just agree to disagree.

We must stand up for the things that need to change because it affects everyone for generations to come.  The library is one of the last places where everyone can co-exist and take what they need and want from those experiences. All of us should protect each other’s right to exist even if it’s not how we exist because one day it will be you. "Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me."