Bibi Tabaya 2

During National Library Week and National Library Workers Day, we’re recognizing the people who keep libraries running and accessible to their communities.

To librarians, archivists, and library workers, thank you for the care and intention you bring to your work. You help shape how knowledge is understood and shared across generations, and your work matters in ways that extend far beyond any single visit or interaction.

Clara Zetkin—a German communist who first proposed to the idea of an international women's day at the 1910 International Women's Congress!

Nadezhda Krupskaya—who oversaw the development of the Soviet education and library systems immediately after the bolshevik revolution!

Alexandra Kolontai—a leader in the early bolshevik party, who became the first female state diplomat in the modern era, and was also known for her controversial (yet correct) ideas on women's sexuality! (She's the girl in my profile picture, btw)

Helen Keller—who wrote about how disabled people especially are hurt by capitalism, and eulogized Lenin stating that she hopes his example will inspire the US proletariat to follow their own revolutionary path!

Lyudmilla Pavlechenko—a Soviet sniper who killed more than 300 Nazis during the World anti-fascist War!

Sylvia Rivera—a Stonewall Riot veteran who went on to organize the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), an organization which sought to fight for trans women's issues within the broader New Left movement!

Leila Khaled—a member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who was the first woman to ever hijack an airplane!

Assata Shakur—a veteran of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, who became the first woman to appear on the FBI's most wanted criminal list!

Ulrika Meinhoff—main theorist of the Red Army Faction (RAF), arguably the most advanced communist organization in West German history!

"Break the ICE. No one is illegal"