Your Library Matters, July 2026
Bruce Newell, Helena
Two weeks before D-Day in 1944, eminent jurist Learned Hand spoke in Central Park (NYC) to a gigantic audience, including 150,000 newly naturalized citizens. In his 511 word address titled ‘The Spirit of Liberty’, Hand reminded those listening that —
…Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it…
Hand explicitly dismissed the power of the Constitution and our courts to guarantee our liberties. Hand’s small-d big democratic hope was rooted in humility and charity, a belief of people’s goodness and ethical good sense. The spirit of liberty that Hand spoke of is a spirit based on humility, curiosity, honesty, and learning. Hand summed it:
…The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right; the spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the mind of other men and women…
Bret Stephens wrote about Hand’s speech in his June 20, 2026 New York Times column, Rays of Hope in Dark Times, optimistically concluding in full-throated support of “…the institutions of a free society, particularly universities and the press, inculcate habits of wide-open inquiry and free expression, not least by refusing to bend the knee to demands for ideological correctness and conformity of thought.”
Libraries are essential pillars of open inquiry, available to all, a place where we all can go learn the minds of other men and women and in the process better learn our own minds. Libraries are a place where we can safely and freely admit that ‘being absolutely right’ is an elusive, slippery, likely unobtainable goal, but one best pursued using the all the best stories available. The kind of stuff available in libraries.
In libraries we find formal stories about faith and philosophy, historical accounts of humankind’s attempt to get things right while doing them wrong, and allegorical tales formed around fundamental truths. Plus books on growing rhubarb, childrearing, and recipes for pita bread. And these stories are available for everyone. Gratis. What a great deal. Libraries are something America has gotten right.
On this Fourth of July weekend, let’s reaffirm Hand’s belief that being sons and daughters of liberty means we can and should be a little unsure about being right. And further, that we have a right to seek the minds of other men and women, regardless of what they say and believe, so long as no harm is done.
Happy 4th of July!