You coordinate the VoteLibraries initiative—what does that entail?
Librarians can and should be getting community members more actively involved in civics.
We focus on training public librarians on election administration work, partner with Nonprofit Vote to provide messaging, and have a Vote411 page with the League of Women Voters.
How do you support libraries nationwide?
We serve as the digital and fiscal sponsors for statewide coalitions, and we respond to bills at the state level. Right now we’re monitoring Senate Bill 74 with the Alliance for Georgia Libraries, and we’re helping Randolph County, N.C., where the library board was taken over by the county commissioners.
What do you want freedom-to-read advocates to know right now?
In Texas, we’re seeing the repercussions of Senate Bill 13, which established advisory councils to vet school library collections. Many school districts, even though it’s past the halfway point of the 2025–2026 school year, have not purchased a single title.
It’s such a disservice to the students. There are so many communities preemptively banning these books.
What strategies will you undertake in this midterm election year?
We’ve been conducting nonpartisan candidate surveys around library issues. In Texas, we’re asking what book policies candidates support at their district level. We’re getting voters activated, getting them thinking about library issues as they’re heading to the ballot.
