On November 9, multiple patrons at the Magnolia branch of the Seattle Public Library (SPL) noticed that both the Progress Pride and African-American flags had been removed from the rafters, where they had hung since 2022. No statement or explanation was reportedly given by SPL regarding the flags’ disappearance, according to an anonymous source, who also told the SGN that some librarians were too worried about retaliation to speak out. 

As of December 5, the flags have still not been reinstated.

One patron, Diana Robinson, a Black woman, teacher, and mother of two, agreed to speak to the SGN about what it meant to have her local library remove the flags.

“Magnolia hasn't always been a place that has been welcoming to certain kinds of people, but as a community, we've been doing a lot of work to fix some of its unsavory past,” she said. 

She added that wrote in a letter to SPL Director of Library Experience & Engagement Kaitlin Tang, as well as Executive Director Chief Librarian Tom Fay and Assistant Director of Public Services Darth Nielsen. It read in part:

“We want to continue to foster a spirit of love, tolerance, and inclusion. The flags, which have been in the library since 2022, are a great physical representation of these tenets. I am a teacher with two children who are growing up here and a local leader in this community. We absolutely love our library and visit it very frequently. The world needs love.”

The decision to remove the flags without community input worried Robinson also because of the neighborhood’s troubling history with racially restrictive covenants, for which the Magnolia Community Council had issued an apology: “The Magnolia Community Council acknowledges with deep regret and condemnation the central role our organization played for at least a decade beginning in the early 1930s to exclude Black, Asian, Native, and Jewish Americans and other marginalized communities from our community.”

According to the Racial Restricted Covenants Project, the Magnolia neighborhood was found as having “imposed over 1,300 explicit racial and religious property restrictions in the decades between 1920 and the end of the 1940s.” 

SPL Head of Communications Laura Gentry responded to the SGN’s request for comment regarding the flags’ removal: “We understand there has been some concern and confusion about the removal of two flags at the Magnolia Branch representing the LGBTQIA+ and Black/African American communities. These flags were removed from the Magnolia Branch as we prepare for a refresh of the space, which will include an improved children's area with new flooring, furniture, [and] cabinetry, and a new mural honoring local natural resources and Indigenous culture. The Seattle Public Library strongly values diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and we remain absolutely committed to being a safe and welcoming place for all.”  

Gentry also stated that “at the same time, the Library is also discussing the development of systemwide guidelines and standards for displays in our spaces. Importantly, part of this work includes assessing how the Library can better and more consistently signal that we welcome all of Seattle's many diverse communities at all of our locations. We know this is especially important for communities furthest from justice that need our support and assurance now more than ever. We thank our patrons for their patience as we work through these projects and discussions.”

It is unclear whether these new guidelines would include reinstalling the flags after the planned renovations are completed.