In my previous blog, I wrote about my experience at the Des Moines Public Library Foundation’s 2021 Iowa Author Awards dinner recognizing Iowa native Nikole Hannah-Jones and her work on the 1619 Project. During her speech, Ms. Hannah-Jones spoke extensively about what the Public Library meant to her growing up in Waterloo, Iowa. I really felt that. My local public library was the Franklin Library in Des Moines, Iowa. I’m not sure how old I was when I got my first library card, but I do remember biking to and from the library about twice a week to fill up my backpack, and my plastic, flowered bike basket with books. I vividly remember the children’s library area even though I didn’t spend much time there-I had a hard time finding books that were appropriate for both my reading level and my age. Most of the books available then centered white characters – something that still occurs, despite all of the progress that has been made. I remember reading Harriet Tubman’s biography on my own around this age – it was terrifying to read as an elementary school aged child. But it was one of few “Black Stories” available at the time…and I read it. I was also really into Stephen King’s uber-dense horror novels that without fail, had the N-word peppered into A LOT of dialog. I also read these completely unsupervised. Black children deserve better.
During the course of the speech, I remembered the State of Iowa Library card that has been burning a hole in my wallet for at least a year. The pandemic, combined with armed (unmasked, cootie-spreading) white supremacist domestic terrorists around the State Capitol building last year has made it very challenging to get to the library and get to work. Even though I know that the function of racism is to distract us from our work, as a Black woman who is high risk for COVID, the best decision was to stay away.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving week, 2021. I decided to take a day off from my paid job to go to the State of Iowa Library. The State of Iowa Library is located in what used to be the Iowa State Historical Building, which moved to a newer building down the street in the late 1980s-early 1990s. I was so excited. I checked the hours on Google. I packed my laptop, a spiral notebook, post-its, way too many pens, and change for the photo copy machine. I checked the hours again, and headed out. When I arrived, the parking lot was empty. Doors locked. I walked around the building peeking in windows, trying to find a door that was open, and growing increasingly frustrated that I could see lights and books…and the library was closed. Google was wrong.
I’m pretty sure I swore – although I’m not sure if it was out loud or just in my head. The Des Moines metro is pretty small, but it seemed a shame to have driven *all this way* (reality check: it was less 20 minutes). And then I remembered that there was a monument on the State Capitol & Courthouse grounds, pertaining to The Matter of Ralph, that I wanted to visit. And that is what I did. Stay tuned for Part 3.
