It doesn’t matter if you are reading the political philosophy of a minority group or raunchy erotica — having access to books and having the ability to read them will always be political. It is a giant “screw you” to people who want to take away your access to information, to your ability to imagine and learn about other perspectives outside your own.

One day after the anniversary of Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House, downtown Pittsburgh looked a lot like it did a year ago — dense with the picket signs and pink hats common among the president’s...