One Week, Four Library Bomb Threats
Bomb threats at libraries have become a far too common occurrence. In the summer of 2023–two years into an unrelenting attack on public librarians, as well as the inclusive books and materials they make available–a wave of bomb threats hit libraries nationwide. Chicago suburbs were particularly hard hit, beginning with Crystal Lake, then Wilmette, Warren Newport in Gurnee, Morton Grove, Park Ridge, and others.
Just weeks later, more libraries were hit. This included several more in the Chicago area, as well as Davis, California; Iowa City, Iowa; and an elementary school in Oklahoma, where the school librarian was made a victim of a far-right social media group. The librarian’s crime was diverse books, of course.
Threats didn’t stop there. On came threats to a host of Minnesota public libraries in early 2024. Among them were Fergus Falls and Northfield. The East Central Regional Library System received a threat, too, prompting them to shut down in response out of an abundance of caution.
By the time Pride month rolled around last year, bomb threats targeting public libraries rose again. Victims included Newberg Public Library in Oregon; Woodstock Public Library in New York; Alaska’s Seward Public Library; and more.
In the months after last year’s Pride, things quieted down significantly. They weren’t gone entirely–we saw a bomb threat at Henderson Public Library in Kentucky in January, as well as both Pittsford Library and Syosset Public Library in New York in March. What differed was that there were more bomb threats made toward academic libraries this year than in prior years, including Cal State Long Branch, the Westminster campus of the Front Range Community College in Colorado, and Cal State Monterey Bay. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library also received a bomb threat, just after the facility abruptly closed after the firing of several staff members.
So far this month alone, there have been four reported bomb threats at public libraries across the country. These include:
Tuesday, June 10: Provo Public Library in Provo, Utah
Wednesday, June 11: Musser Public Library in Muscatine, Iowa
Friday, June 13: New Haven Public Library in New Haven, Connecticut
Monday, June 16: Centennial Hills Library branch of the Las Vegas Public Library in Las Vegas, Nevada
All of the threats were deemed unfounded. As of writing, information about what happened or who was behind any of the incidents has yet to be released.
Whatever the cause, these are deliberate acts of violence intended to create fear and discord around public libraries. They are acts of stochastic terrorism.
It isn’t surprising, though it is deeply concerning, that there appears to be an annual rise in public library bomb threats occurring in June. Pride Month has been a source of fixation by the far right for several years, with a rise in complaints, attacks, and bigotry occurring since 2021. Organizations like Catholic Vote have created entire campaigns targeting libraries during Pride with their “Hide the Pride” challenge–something that, surprisingly, looks like it has not formally taken place this year like it did in 2022, 2023, and 2024.*
Libraries do not even need to be participating in official Pride events or programming to be targeted. A quick perusal of Provo Public Library’s events calendar shows nothing specifically planned around Pride or LGBTQ+ topics. The same goes for Musser Public Library, as well as what I can see at New Haven Public Library and Centennial Hills Library–their events prior to the date of search aren’t accessible.
This year’s Cooperative Summer Library Program theme, “Color Our World,” has been enough to bring out raging bigotry because of . . . colors.
Libraries continue to be subject to hatred for simply existing in the community and for choosing to meet the needs of that whole community, rather than its loudest and angriest parts. Now, in addition to having to play the role of social support provider in an era where cities continue to cut back on such resources, libraries get to add “bomb threats” to the hazards of the job.
How long until mainstream media–or even industry-focused media–highlight how common bomb threats are becoming and how absurd it is that so few states have common-sense laws protecting library workers from such threats? It’s not going to be long before these threats are not hoaxes but a reminder that library workers lives are in real danger.
Illinois, a leader in protecting libraries and the canary in the coal mine for such bomb threats, couldn’t even pass a bill to enhance the safety of library workers. If we can’t pass measures to protect those working in our public institutions, how can we expect people to want to serve the public when it isn’t exactly safe? We certainly can’t expect to recruit a workforce that reflects the diversity of our communities. That’s exactly what this hateful crusade wants.
We cannot give it to them this easily.
Note:
*It looks like Catholic Vote put more efforts into encouraging devotees to plaster billboards with “Sacred Heart of Jesus” signage for June, rather than lean into publicly hateful anti-Pride efforts. You get your message and devotion across way better when you do that, rather than make yourselves the center of a hate campaign. I’ve seen numerous iterations of this signage locally and have been hoping that someone would take up space above or below the billboards to plaster an image of Jesus hugging a group of drag queens because holy shit, JC would love the hell out of the queer people.
^None of this even touches upon what we might see as ICE continuous its raids and turns to the very institutions upon which this administration has affixed numerous targets. Homeland Security’s Noem has already made her feelings about libraries known in this role and her prior one.