Trustee Day at the 2022 ILA Annual Conference
September 28, 2022
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Daily, we are confronted with reminders that the work of public servants and libraries is being undermined and that the freedom to read and learn is under attack. Information professionals and library workers are ideally suited to help combat these challenges, not just in our daily work, but in our community volunteerism. By serving on local boards, we can help educate, support, and defend the rights and principles that drew us to this profession in the first place, but knowing how to take that first step into public life can be difficult.
As Library Board Trustees and Library Professionals, we are excited to be a part of the ILA Annual Conference's Trustee Day slate of programs with, "Get On Board: Encouraging Library Workers to Run for Local Library and School Boards." This program is a little different than your standard Trustee Day offerings, as it should be because we are in the midst of challenging, and quite honestly, desperate, times and action is needed by us all. This program is meant to guide and inspire both currently serving Trustees and every library professional in attendance.
While we want you to reach out to your library board members and encourage them to attend all of Trustee Day so that they are well prepared for the current reality, we also are urging all of you to come to this program as well because library workers from all services areas and library types are uniquely positioned to advocate for the library and school needs in their home communities, especially as local boards are becoming increasingly politicized. Library workers can bring authority and calm to issues such as censorship.
But we also realize as much as you want to help, the shift from library worker to an elected official is not intuitive. We promise to help demystify the process, with real-life examples, so you can step and run as soon as this Spring for a library, school, or park district board. Your voice is needed. We hope to see you there.
Heather Booth
Becky Spratford
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