CLN: Serve the real community, not a fictional one

On April 16th, the Community Library Network (CLN) trustees passed a resolution declaring the period between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day as “Traditional Family Values Month.” Their stated goal is to highlight the “alarming” decline of the traditional American family.

This resolution feels like a nostalgic retreat to a “Leave It to Beaver” era — an idealized version of suburban life that ignores our modern reality. By the trustees’ own cited statistics, only 17.8% of U.S. households fit the “traditional nuclear family” mold. This begs a critical question: What about the remaining 82.2% of our community?

Gallup reports that 9.3% of U.S. adults — and over 20% of Gen Z — identify as LGBTQ+. These are our neighbors, students, and family members. Yet, the trustees seem intent on curating a collection that reflects only their narrow worldview, effectively erasing the identities of the vast majority of the people they serve.

A public library’s core responsibility is to serve the actual community, not a sanitized, historical fiction of one. If the CLN is to remain a relevant resource, its shelves must reflect the diverse lives and experiences of all its patrons. Our children’s and young adult collections should offer stories that honestly depict the many different family structures that exist today.

True representation requires visibility. The CLN trustees must acknowledge our real community and ensure that every family — regardless of its makeup — can find its story reflected in our library.

KRISTY PERETTA

Rathdrum