An Open Letter to the Plano Public Library Board: The Library and the Preservation of the REPUBLIC
An Open Letter to the Plano Public Library Board | The Library and the Preservation of the REPUBLIC
To the Esteemed Keepers of Knowledge of the Plano Community Library,
It is with sincere respect for the ancient and noble institution of the library that We the People address your recent declaration in the 2026 June-July-August newsletter that you “…recognize and celebrate the vital role libraries play in our American democracy.” While the sentiment springs from a commendable devotion to the public good, it misconstrues the very nature of our constitutional order.
Plano Community Library District. 2026 Spring/Summer Newsletter. Plano Community Library District, 2026, 2026 Spring/Summer Newsletter. Accessed May 22, 2026.
This nation is not, and was never intended to be, a democracy. It is a constitutional REPUBLIC. Black’s Law Dictionary defines a Republican government as: “One in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in the people and are exercised by the people, either directly, or through representatives chosen by the people, to whom those powers are specially delegated.” (Black’s Law Dictionary 824 [Revised 4th ed. 1968])
If language is to retain meaning — and libraries, above all institutions, ought to defend their proper meaning — then public declarations must be held to standards of historical and constitutional accuracy. America was not founded as a pure democracy, subject to the unchecked passions of temporary majorities, but instead upon a carefully balanced constitutional order — a REPUBLIC restrained by law, separated powers, and enumerated authority. In short, these are grants of power and prohibitions of power.
Our government was deliberately constructed as a REPUBLIC to filter the raw passions of the public through chosen representatives and institutional checks. This structure ensures that cool reflection governs our laws. This distinction is neither trivial nor semantic. It is foundational. It is the very architecture of American government.
Accordingly, where a public error has been disseminated, public correction ought to follow with equal prominence and sincerity. Any formal response by the Library should therefore be addressed properly to “We the People,” in the spirit and language of our constitutional inheritance, and should be published openly in the local newspapers, distributed through the Library’s official social media accounts, and displayed prominently within the Library itself.
Such a statement should acknowledge the inaccuracy of describing America merely as a democracy and should make every reasonable effort to restore constitutional precision by affirming that the United States of America is, in fact, a REPUBLIC established under a written Constitution.
This obligation belongs especially to libraries, for they hold themselves as guardians of learning, stewards of historical truth, and custodians of the written word. If those entrusted with preserving knowledge abandon rigor in language and history, then the public is left to wonder who remains to defend them.
Let truth therefore be restored plainly, publicly, and without hesitation — not for the vanity of argument, but out of respect for the REPUBLIC itself and for We the People, from whom all legitimate authority ultimately proceeds.
Respectfully submitted,
A Friend of the American Constitutional Republic