“If you only read the books that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking.” — Haruki Murakami

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.” — Oscar Wilde

The culture wars have many fronts: schools, beer, Disney World, and public libraries among them.

But new polling commissioned by the Michigan Library Association shows that, while libraries do divide us along ideological lines, that divide is not as wide as one might think.

For a couple years now, some folks have gone on the offensive against libraries over the books they keep on the shelves. Books on LGBTQ issues have taken most of the heat, but books on race and racism have also come under fire.

Last year, voters in Ottawa County’s Jamestown Township voted to defund the community’s Patmos Library over its inclusion of LGBTQ books, meaning that library may have to shutter.

Indeed, the ideological rifts cleaving this country on so many fronts have broken into libraries, as well, the Library Association’s polling shows.

Asked, for example, whether they agree “books with discussions about sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation” should never be banned, 86% of Democrats and 76% of independents agreed, but only 46% of Republicans agreed.

Asked if they believe their librarians are capable and trustworthy to decide which books should be included in library collections, 85% of Democrats and 67% of independents agreed, but only 57% of Republicans did.

In fact, across most questions asked by polling firm EPIC-MRA, Democrats and Republicans split in their support for libraries and the books they make available to the public.

Asked, for example, whether books should be banned from libraries, 57% of Democrats and 46% of independents said books should never be banned, but only 27% of Republicans said so. Another 40% of Democrats, 47% of independents, and 49% of Republicans said books should rarely be banned.

Based on the headlines around libraries across the country, the split’s not surprising.

What does somewhat surprise me, however, is that those splits aren’t as stark as one might expect.

Most Democrats and most Republicans give their local library a positive job rating, for example, including their job providing “a diverse, quality collection of books and other materials to their library patrons.” Most Democrats and most Republicans would support state legislation that would protect the right of the public to read what they wish to read in public libraries. Most Democrats and most Republicans agree “we need to protect the ability of young people to have access to books from which they can learn about and understand different perspectives and help them grow into adults who can think for themselves.”

On each of those questions, Republicans and Democrats showed different levels of support, but still majorities showed support.

I find the results encouraging.

Libraries exist to further knowledge in their communities, which they do by providing a diverse collection of titles that reflect different perspectives and different subject matters. A good library has something for everyone who might walk through its doors. And, at a perfect library, everyone who walked through its doors would challenge themselves by reading something from a perspective different from their own.

That’s how we grow as individuals — not by reenforcing our beliefs, but by challenging them.

A teacher once told me a good scientist tries to disprove his hypothesis, and only if it holds up to that effort can one say the hypothesis is any good.

It’s the same with ideology. We have to challenge our beliefs to see if they’re worth anything.

Libraries help us do that by offering — at no charge — books from around the world and across time.

And, though the angriest tend to be the loudest, majorities of Michiganders, across the ideological spectrum, agree that that’s what libraries ought to offer.

The Library Association’s poll is based on answers from 800 Michiganders, including 70% reached on their cell phone, from March 23 to March 30. It has a margin of error of 3.5 percentage points.

Justin A. Hinkley can be reached at 989-354-3112 or jhinkley@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinHinkley.