DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/lenpust.v12i1.77213

Libraries and Power: Uncovering Political Interventions within Public Information Institutions

*Risky Jumatul Ikhsan orcid  -  Information and Library Management, Graduate School, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sleman, Indonesia, Indonesia
Oki Fajaruddin Patma  -  Information and Library Management, Graduate School, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sleman, Indonesia, Indonesia
Received: 23 Aug 2025; Revised: 13 Sep 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2026; Published: 30 Jun 2026.

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Abstract

Background: Libraries are often perceived as neutral institutions that provide access to information, support literacy, and preserve cultural heritage. However, recent cases of censorship, book banning, leadership intervention, and professional self-censorship show that libraries are frequently shaped by political and ideological pressures. Previous studies have largely examined censorship as isolated cases, leaving limited attention to the broader power relations that structure library governance, collection policies, and public access to knowledge.

Objective: This study aims to analyze how political interventions occur within library institutions, examine their impacts on intellectual freedom and public access, and apply the political economy of information perspective to understand the power relations embedded in library governance and knowledge control.

Methods: This study employs a critical qualitative approach with a multiple case study design. Data were collected through document analysis and literature review, including policy documents, academic studies, media reports, advocacy reports, and library-related archives. The analysis was conducted using Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), supported by source triangulation, audit trails, and reflexive reading to strengthen credibility and trustworthiness.

Results: The findings show that libraries are not neutral spaces, but contested arenas where political, ideological, economic, and professional interests shape access to knowledge. The dismissal of Carla Hayden as Librarian of Congress, the banning of leftist literature in Indonesia, and practices of censorship and self-censorship among librarians demonstrate that political intervention operates through leadership control, collection restriction, professional gatekeeping, and access management. These interventions reduce knowledge diversity, weaken professional autonomy, and reproduce dominant ideologies through library practices.

Conclusion: This study argues that libraries function both as democratic institutions for public access and as potential instruments of ideological control. By applying the political economy of information, it shows that libraries are contested sites where knowledge is produced, regulated, and distributed through power relations. The findings highlight the need for critical librarianship, transparent collection policies, protection of professional autonomy, and stronger collaboration among libraries, policymakers, academics, and civil society to resist censorship and promote inclusive access to knowledge.

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Keywords: Libraries; censorship; political economy; knowledge and power

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