Harvard's Widener Library has long served as a sanctuary for learning and intellectual pursuit on Cambridge campus. Recently, this institution found itself at the center of controversy when faculty members conducted a "silent study-in" protest in its main reading room, challenging the library's fundamental role as a neutral space for scholarship. The ensuing suspension of faculty library access has sparked a crucial debate about the delicate balance between political expression and preserving spaces dedicated to undisturbed academic pursuit. Samuel Abrams from Sarah Lawrence College shares that while Harvard's libraries have always been platforms for diverse ideas within their collections, the question of whether their physical spaces should remain politically neutral touches on the core mission of academic libraries as welcoming havens for all seekers of knowledge.