Perhaps libraries and President Donald Trump were destined to be enemies.
The president has made it known that he's not a man of books. Libraries, meanwhile, are filled with many more books than people. The president has made it known he's not a fan of immigration. Libraries are often an integral part of the life of immigrants in the United States. These things are not like each other.
Protest has taken many forms in the few weeks since Trump became president, but one of the most distinct forms of demonstration has taken place at libraries around the United States.
Much of the action has centred around @LibrariesResist, an account created by Columbia University rare book cataloger Matt Haugen. The account, which has over 2,500 followers as of this writing, tweets and retweets in support of truth and archived sources in the face of an administration that has promoted "alternative facts."
The account also joined in on a recent #DayOfFacts that was the combined work of libraries and museums and aimed to remind people of the importance of truth in an era of questionable statements.
Scroll through the account's timeline and you'll see libraries battling the administration in a number of ways.
Rebecca McCorkindale, a librarian in Nebraska, has created perhaps the most visible display. She designed signs with a simple message: Libraries are for everyone. The message resonated.
“Libraries are the heart of a community, for anyone and everyone that lives there, regardless of their background,” McCorkindale told PBS Newshour.
Indeed they are. Around 55 percent of "new Americans" visit a public library once each week or more often, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The Trump administration issued an executive order in January that blocked immigrants and travelers from Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Somalia and Sudan, but several library accounts have made sure to show their support for refugees.
The dialogue among libraries has led to an organization offering resources with the goal of helping local refugee populations. Sponsored by Urban Librarians Unite, "Libraries Serve Refugees" offers toolkits for librarians to assist refugees and shares information about libraries making refugees feel a part of their new communities.
"This website is an attempt to codify a commitment to refugees by librarians and libraries," reads the site's introduction. "We want to leverage every bit of influence and pull that we possibly can for these often forgotten new members of our society."
If knowledge is power, Trump's latest opponents could be some of his most formidable.
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