Editor:
    You face an historical decision and should be seen in its historically significant context. As bastions of free speech, throughout the course of civilized society, libraries have faithfully recorded the gamut of human expression and reflection. The cost of being repositories of this knowledge has often been severe, and grave.
     To possess manuscripts, documents, artwork and writings which contain subversive ideas-- the authorship of which has been produced under threat of punishment, imprisonment or worse-- has been fraught with retribution. This can occur, whether in a free society such as ours purports to be, or under an iron curtain where such free expression comes at the cost of life and liberty. Protest and dissent should not be a fearful experience for those expressing and displaying these human expressions, nor should it be fearful for those  who are willing to illuminate these ideas.
     Particularly, those who speak in an atmosphere of jingoism and saber rattling, who call these actions into question, show a particular vulnerability. The more forceful, powerful and effective the protest works of art and pen, due to their propensity to shock and stun the society which they attempt to instruct and influence, the more necessary they are, in order to uphold these rights under fire. The heroic individuals who are exposed to censure due to their dissent in this or any unpopular environment should be strongly defended, and their works should be represented and supported by an enlightened public.
     It is the protection of these rights of a free society that people have suffered and died in wartime and even in times of peace. These records of disagreement with the prevailing powers show us the indomitability of the human spirit and the  undying thirst for freedom they represent. the authors of these pieces should be protected and not punished for their contributions to our society.
     As we well know, the writers who penned the documents which recorded and declared the founding principles of our nation’s beginnings worked under perilous conditions, to ‘hang together (in their creation and defense) or else to hang separately’.
     We must learn and follow their example in our daily exercises of citizenry.
    To abandon these works and the voice they require is to sadly abandon the principles under which our country was given life and we were given our freedom as citizens. It would be a horrendous mistake for the Kennbunk FREE Library to participate in any action which contributes to the gagging, controlling and/or and silencing of those who protest the restriction of rights we all require to be fully functioning members of our society.
     I urge the Library Trustees to restore the removed artwork of G. “Bud” Swenson, in his protest collection of the American Flag pieces to its place in the Library’s gallery.
 
Laurie Dobson
Kennebunkport