The Atlas Riots

One of 20 plaques from the "Pax Americana" series created for the D.B. Weldon Library at Western University. 
 
"On October 16, 2037, students assembled in front of the WELDON building to demand the divestment of books deemed “unpatriotic.” The unrest began after it was revealed that the collection still contained atlases that referenced the former border at the 49th parallel. Enraged, students demanded that all texts whose origins, languages, or political views failed to align with general opinion be removed, and that ties with publishers, donors, and authors who were complicit be severed.
 
A group of approximately twenty-five students entered the library on the evening of October 19 and began destroying volumes that looked offensive. After the riot had been quelled, librarians noted that the group had been unable to properly locate the Reference Section, ultimately leaving most of the atlases unscathed.
 
Though campus administrators condemned the disruption, they acknowledged the Library’s responsibility to maintain a collection appropriately aligned with community and national values. The protests sparked the Make Books Great Again movement, which would produce the most sweeping cultural realignment of the printed word in a generation, ensuring that future readers encountered only works that are constructive and patriotic."