U.S. President Donald Trump is the walking, talking antithesis of a public library.
He is loud and annoying. Libraries are quiet and inviting.
He says he knows everything but then opens his mouth and proves the opposite.
Libraries do know everything, including what they don't know.
He uses words and attacks to tear everyone down in his vain effort build himself up. Libraries use words and knowledge to lift everyone up.
He refuses to accept anyone who disagrees with him about anything.
Libraries include all sorts of contrary opinions and perspectives.
Even Trump's.
In that light, it should be no surprise that Prince George's first Trump-ugee is a librarian.
Ignacio Albarracin is the Prince George Public Library's new public services manager. He is an American citizen, most recently from San Antonio, Texas, but he was born in Argentina and came to America with his family when he was a baby. His wife, Gloria, is from Honduras. They met when he served in that Central American country as a Peace Corps volunteers.
Although Gloria is also an American citizen, she speaks English with an accent. In Texas, he told the Citizen, police are allowed to ask people for their immigration papers.
"The possibility that she would have to experience being stopped for whatever reason, because any excuse can be used...to me that not a welcoming environment," he said. "The message that sends to me is this particular population group is not welcome."
Gloria and their two children will join him in Prince George on Independence Day - July 4 - once the school year is done.
And Albarracin knows what he's getting himself into. He and his family came to Prince George in February. They felt winter but they also felt the more enduring warmth of a welcoming community and the friendly, knowledgeable public library team headed by chief librarian Janet Marren.
She might delegate him to head the library's health and safety committee because of his extraordinary training. Some of the library staff in Prince George receive basic first aid training, in case someone suddenly collapses or trips on the stairs. In San Antonio, Albarracin and other library employees were taught how to stabilize shooting victims and what to do in case of a terrorist attack.
No wonder he looked north for career opportunities.
America's loss - two well-educated professionals and their young family - is Prince George's and Canada's gain.
Not only should Prince George enthusiastically welcome its newest residents, further efforts should be made to recruit more like them. The United States now has a president who freely offers up classified information to Russian dignitaries and then fires the head of the country's law enforcement agency in the middle of an investigation into his campaign.
Meanwhile, millions of Americans live in fear of their president, their police and their courts, not to mention the prospect of losing their homes and their life savings should they or their loved ones get sick.
For many of them, the choice between the land of the free and the true north strong and free isn't about patriotism, it's about the practicality of living in peace and raising a family in a place where diversity and knowledge are celebrated.
The public library is a microcosm of a healthy, vibrant community, as a place that values the preservation of knowledge, encourages discussion, celebrates diversity, fosters lifelong learning, welcomes everyone and stands up against authoritarian bullies who reject those democratic ideals.
That is our library and that is our city.
If Albarracin is indicative of the quality of Americans looking to escape the Trump regime and relocate to Canada and Prince George, we should all be hoping for two full terms of The Donald wreaking havoc in the Oval Office and on Twitter.
