I Have Concluded My Time on the Library Board But I Am Using the Event As Another Chance to Encourage All of You to Run for a Board

Last night, I completed my 6th, 4 year, elected term as a Board member of the La Grange Public Library. In stepping down, that moment also marked the end of my official connection to a library-- any library. I no longer can serve on system committees or access the statewide directories. I can and will remain a member of ILA and ALA which are membership organizations, so simply by being a librarian I am eligible to be a member.

I could write a post about everything I accomplished and all the good I did in those 24 years, but that's not the point of this post. It isn't even the point of why I gave all of those years to the library. Rather it is to remind you all that I did it for the advocacy, which will not end with my leaving the board.

I want to call you all to action because all of you - simply because you are a library worker-- are well positioned to follow my lead and run for your local school or library board.

To be fair, this is not a new call to action from me. I know of at least 6 people I have helped go from the idea of running for school or library board election to holding office and I know there are countless more who have heard me talk about making this move who pursued it on their own. 

But formally, I began doing this in 2017 at the Illinois Library Association Annual Conference with this program: 

We Should Run: Library Workers in Public Office:

Library workers from all areas of service are uniquely positioned as advocates in our communities. Having more library workers in public office leads to stronger boards, stronger libraries, and stronger communities on local, state, and federal levels. Not to mention that it's good for our own professional development! But where to begin? We will share our personal experiences from the day we decided to step out from behind the desk and jump into the political fray, to our current positions at the big table. We’re here to encourage you to step up, advocate, and lead too.

I reprised this program a few years later and then more reentry, other, younger library workers have taken up the call and presented a version of it as well.

Look, I know that being a library worker is harder than ever, but I also know that our library and school boards need good people more than ever. They need people who understand the institutions, who fight for intellectual freedom, who will not give in to radicals and fascists. 

There is never a good time to serve. Life is busy. When I started in 2001. I was a baby librarian. I had no children. I hadn't even written my first book (of 4 at this point). Now my kids are grown and out in the world. I was there through all of that. It was not always easy. My husband and I made a lot of personal sacrifices to make sure that I could be at every meeting and as a Trustee at LGPL  I concurrently served on regional and statewide committees as well. But all of it was to fight for libraries, for funding, and for intellectual freedom. I was there to serve the people my community, to give them the library they deserved, and to fight for every library in IL and across the country.

Our public school and libraries are foundational to our democracy. If we, as people who made this work our profession cannot stand up to fight to save them, who will.

I wanted to mark today-- the first day of me not being on the Library Board in 24 years, the first day of me not being attached to a library since I began working as a professional librarian--in the best way I know how-- by calling on all of you to stand up and serve.

Contact me if you want to talk about getting more involved in your local school or library board. I offer this mentoring for free. Let's talk about it. 

I want my legacy to be that library workers flooded their school and library boards all over this country. Together we have power in numbers to effect change everywhere, even in those places where you don't think change can happen. It can, but it starts with you taking the first steps.

I have said this to many of you in person, many times, but I believe if you want to see the change you have to do the work to make the change. I have made the change in my community and state, but now I want to help us all do it. 

As bad as it all seems, we can do this if ALL OF US are willing to fight. I know that fight will look different depending on who you are and where you live, but I am willing to help you figure out the best way for you to do this.

One person encourages another, and then those people encourage more. And then we all reap the benefits as our numbers grow exponentially. 

Today is a beginning for me and I hope, for many of you too.