Crystal Anne With An E comes to us from a sunny clime, though she is an indoor cat that prefers to remain pale. She is an autism consultant by day, and recently completed a degree in information science, mostly because she could and it was fun. She likes to read (obviously), watch TV while cross-stitching something geeky, play video games, beg her plants not to die in the hell heat of summer, and walk while listening to podcasts that likely involve some sort of murder.
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So I don’t know if anyone else has noticed, but libraries seem to be slightly under attack by people working in bad faith lately. Has anyone else seen this stuff?
- Libraries Across the US Are Receiving Violent Threats – Vice.com
- Library Group Asks FBI To Investigate Threats – Dallas News.com
I mean, it is VERY ridiculous. Let’s take one of the remaining bastions of both free thought and personal comfort and terrorize the people within it!
Totally a great look, she said in her sarcastic voice.
I know that there have been incidents at my local library that involved people being unpleasant on social media in response to things like Pride Month displays, and some difficulties with patrons that have resulted in librarians feeling unsafe, but nothing yet on the scale that some other libraries seem to be dealing with.
I am hopeful that we will never get there, but I am always concerned when people anywhere behave in these ways. Those concerns led to my becoming interested in the welfare of my local library, and I began to look for ways to be more involved with it.
A few months ago, I was tooling around on my local library’s web page, as you do. I was both browsing the books, but I also, just from pure curiosity, decided to look up the advisory board. I had finished my degree in information science a few months prior, and wanted something to do that was library-adjacent, but I also didn’t want to quit my current job. I had something of an idea of what the role of the library advisory board was, and as I looked at it, I noticed something interesting: a vacancy.
In my county, the library advisory board is overseen by the county commission, and the commissioners appoint the board members. I contacted the office of the commissioner whose district had the vacancy and just, well, asked. From that point on, it became a series of meetings.
The first meeting was with the commissioner in question. He asked me about my interest in the position, and what I wanted to do in my role. He also asked me about my own usage of the library, and even what sort of books I enjoyed reading. From there, it was arranged for me to meet with the library director, who I was already acquainted with due to some library interactions with the organization that I am employed by.
She apprised me of what my responsibilities would be as a board member, and asked me if I was still in. This is an important question, as I was agreeing to quarterly meetings and involvement for at least the next three years or longer if I’m re-appointed, which people mostly are.
I was in.
So in.
Here was my shot to be able to be involved and learn about the workings of the library, as well as a chance to be able to act in defense of my people in the event that someone tried to cause trouble for them.
I admit, I might not have been taking it quite so seriously if not for the fact that I had done so much reading about how much libraries are struggling right now. I would still have done it, but it would have been more from the viewpoint of “this looks interesting and fun and I’m going to do it” as opposed to “This is how I use my knowledge of libraries and their work to advocate on behalf of our community.”
As for my role, I am involved in providing feedback to the county commission about the library’s operations and funding (I am a firm proponent of “make it rain”).
I also provide feedback on the library’s planning and events. In the event a patron issues a challenge to a book, there is usually a board member appointed to read and provide feedback on the book, along with a few members of the staff. I am told this doesn’t happen super-often, but it did occur right before my formal appointment, so I did see the challenge process and its resolution (the book in question was moved from the children’s section to the teen section).
Thus far, I have attended two meetings (my next one will be in November).
These are my main takeaways.
- I am very much on the young side for board members (I turn 44 in December).
- I have never given so much thought to lighting in my life. We are currently in discussions to have the library’s current lighting converted to LED, which will be brighter and more effective for people that are reading or crafting. My job is to keep the commissioner that I represent aware of the process, as well as advocate for its necessity, since the commission votes for the funding.
- I have liked being able to see and provide feedback on the library’s long-term plan, which they are currently formulating. I was also involved in helping the library become an “autism-friendly business” by providing training for the staff.
- I am a nerd. When I attend the meetings, I am usually typing notes furiously into a Google Doc. These are for me, but I also share them with the commissioner and the library director.
I know that many of the users of this site are proponents of the library and its role as a net good for society at large. With the many challenges facing libraries right now, I encourage you to find your own way to involvement.
Board meetings are often open to the public, and if you want to learn more about how they operate and how to help your library, they are a great way to become involved locally. If you see a vacancy and have the ability, being on the board is also a great way to give of one of everyone’s most important resources: your time.
In short, do it. They need you. We need you.
Every library system is a little different, but how have you become involved in yours? Are you on an advisory board for your library? What other ways have you supported your libraries?
We donate to our library. My husband especially listens to audiobooks when he’s working on his cars. He probably listens to 3 books a week. I love borrowing online magazines. We have realistically saved thousands of dollars over the years by borrowing ebook,magazines,audiobooks. So every year we donate. They have amazing programs for kiddies,parents , elderly. I’m truly in awe at the work the librarians and their staff perform.
Congratulations and kudos to Crystal Anne! I wholly agree – get involved and help advocate for and defend your public library. Coincidentally, my sister started looking into getting on the library board this past weekend. I hope she can get on it.
Forgive me if this is too far off topic, but I know there are a lot of librarians who read this blog, so I’m taking the chance to pass on a caution. I am an academic librarian, and our dean spoke to us last week about so-called “First Amendment Auditors.” These are people who come into the library with cameras and start asking questions and filming staff and patrons looking for free speech “violations.” Sometimes they try to enter staff areas. Some of them are probably doing this in good faith. Others are simply trying to provoke library staff so they can accuse the staff of violating the auditors’ free speech rights and sue the library. They often target vulnerable front-line staff, volunteers, and student workers. Some of them make thousands of dollars suing libraries. Be aware of this as a possibility – if you can avoid it, do not engage with them. If you can’t, don’t let them provoke you and politely refer them to the head of the library. I hope none of you ever have to deal with them.
Our library had a teen advisory board, which seems to be defunct as of 2017. Their meetings were in the evening. Checking google, it would take me 2 hours to reach by public transportation (right now, during morning rush) or 21 minutes by the Beltway. Almost surely longer in the evening. I will email the advisory board and ask if it might be restarted by zoom.
Our library board is actually overseen by the school board- they appoint new members. It’s all done pretty fairly (assuming the school board doesn’t have any right wing people on it at the moment) and run like a job interview. They look for people with NON library skill sets because they have librarians and want the expertise of accountants or whatever.
The term is for 7 years and every year one members term is up. I wish it wasn’t 7 years- there’s a lot of us young parents here who can’t commit for 7 years because of how we know our lives change. So it is mostly folks over 70, which is too bad as they miss out on a balance of community members.
Thanks Crystal Anne for sharing this. I joined our Friends of the Library a few years ago. They sent an invitation to their annual meeting so I went, and they were all confused/surprised by my presence because apparently no one who’s not on their board/officers ever shows up.
So your post makes me wonder, are they also the board of the library, or is there another board? I thought the Friends might be for fundraising and additional support, but I don’t really know. The meeting is in two weeks so maybe I’ll go and ask them!
Thanks, Crystal Anne– Excellent article and very timely! Thanks, also, for your support of your local library. It’s good to know that people are stepping up when libraries are under constant fire.
I don’t think I came into the world with sufficient patience to serve on a library advisory board.
Thank you so much for supporting libraries! I manage a suburban branch in a larger library system and I love the work we get to do. Sometimes we only hear from unhappy patrons, so reading all these positive thoughts makes my day. First Amendment Auditors are absolutely active in our area. Several of our branches have been visited by them, and they go out of their way to try to get a reaction from staff to post online. It’s beyond stressful for my fellow librarians. That’s why it’s always nice to hear how much people truly enjoy the library and want to protect it. Thank you all for being library supporters.
Great post. Thanks for sharing!!
I also work in an area of public service that is of interest to the ‘first amendment auditors’ and I was the subject of one of their videos. It has a relatively low view count on YouTube because I ‘passed.’ It was very uncomfortable, but I just kept asking him if I could help him (he refused to talk to me). They want to get a rise out of you,they want to see you squirm,they want to make it seem as if their rights are being trampled. They hate professionalism and being ignored. It’s like I tell my kids when they are agitating each other: the more you react and get angry, the happier you make the other one. Thankfully, I encountered this person outside our facility, which is strictly not open to the general public. I cannot imagine what it would be like if he were inside my building or trying to get into my office.
And Crystal Anne (with an e!) You are awesome! Thank you for serving your community this way. I don’t know about anyone else here, but I hope you continue to share your experiences with us.
Thank you for your service!
Crystal Anne With An E ~ thank you for your post!
@Jane, in my city the Friends of the Library does advocacy and fundraising. They have several committees, which public can join. The City Council also sits as the library board. I have been on Friends committees both to ask the city council/library board for more funding, and another which which made small grants to each branch. Giving out money was much more fun! Our Friends committees met every month or two for an hour and a half. I don’t recall much work outside of committee meetings, though we were all encouraged to attend Friends events and fundraisers. As you wrote @Crystal Anne with an E, one learns so much about the functioning of the system by joining the board (or a committee in my case).
I think you have to have some kind of “connection” to be on ours. (wink, wink)
It’s always good to volunteer for worthwhile a cause, but I’m a librarian and this is… so bizarre to me. A library board, made up of random members of the public, decides the running of the library? Decides on building upgrades? Begs for funds from governing bodies? Makes collection development decisions? In our system this is what librarians do, or our management up the food chain in local council. I’d love to learn more about the corporate structures of American public libraries, if anyone has a resource to recommend?
Catching up on posts after my vacation, and as a public librarian, I want to say THANK YOU! We need more people stepping up to help because they love the library… not because they want to keep books out of it.