Seven Mantras of Information Wisdom and Political Acumen for American Libraries in the Aftermath of the 2024 Presidential Election
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election, actions of political advocacy in predominant networks of American libraries need to go beyond traditional roles and responsibil-ities that we witnessed historically and in contemporary society. Such an approach requires deeper ethical, moral, philosophical, political, and action-oriented awakenings (i.e., “spiritual”) that are simultaneously inner (i.e., wisdom) and outwardly externalized (i.e., acumen). We cannot keep replicating the same patterns of the human condition repeatedly and expect different results. This opinion piece explores a typology of information wisdom and political acumen (i.e., mantras) for American libraries (and others) as they decipher the implications of the 2024 presidential election. Readers can consider the following mantras as propositions or assumptions in informing their library decision-making, policies, practices, and behaviors toward their diverse publics: American democracy (and American politics) is a business (mantra 1); American constitution is outdated and broken (mantra 2); President Trump’s “power politics” is an inherited and learnt legacy (mantra 3); people do have the power of resistance to navigate through the political games (mantra 4); President Trump represents different things to his different supporters (mantra 5); information wisdom (our humanity) MUST “trump” divisiveness (mantra 6); follow a strategic road map to self-awareness and action (mantra 7). This urgent call for engagement should inspire librarians to develop impact-driven political actions of resistance to inform themselves and educate their external public constituencies as we continue to experience more political chaos than what has been seen before, within and beyond the United States, thanks to the 2024 presidential election.
DOI: 10.7936/pollib.9005
Author: Bharat Mehra
Institution: University of Alabama
Language: English
Subfield: Library and Information Sciences
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6921886654