Pay attention to local library boards

So a major battleground right now for the right wing anti-LGBT moral panic is public libraries. Public libraries are governed by boards, similar to the school board. These positions are often entirely ignored in local jurisdictions so basically anyone can get appointed to them just because they're willing to do it. There has been a coordinated effort in many jurisdictions by conservatives take over library boards.

When conservatives take over a library board, they try to "deprofessionalize" the library. Which is to say, to take power away from librarians and library workers and instead micromanage the manage through the board to push their right wing agendas and hamper the efforts of librarians to serve the community and create safe places for vulnerable communities.

Elmwood Park Library Cites "Changing Complexion of Staff" in New Cuts

BookRiot used FOIA to obtain tons of emails and documents from the Elmwood Park, IL public library detailing how a right wing board worked to ensure that "the complexion of the library doesn't change." Elmwood Park has been quickly becoming one of the most diverse communities in IL and the old guard wants to use the library to keep it white.

The job of the library board should be to hire a good well seasoned professional librarian as the director and do performance reviews of the director, while advocating for the library to city council or other funding bodies. But the director should be a librarian. Librarians and other library workers such as library assistants know what's best for the library because they work in it every single day.

If you live in some random suburb somewhere and you want an easy way to position yourself to do good: Join the local library board and be a left wing voice that can protect the community against advances of this right wing agenda. Be a vote for serving vulnerable and marginalized communities. Be a vote for diversity. Don't let the worst people in your county take over and ruin this public service. Don't let them ban books about trans people as has been happening in public libraries around the country.

Be a vote for the workers! To ensure that library workers are treated well, paid well, and safe.

I know a lot of people often feel like they can't do meaningful activism or good work unless they live in a big urban center. I'm telling you: you actually do live in a community. With kids and seniors and immigrants and disabled people and queer people like you who you just haven't met. The public library serves their needs because they live everywhere just like you do. If you're an adult who can donate some time to the library, look into taking over a board seat before some young earth creationist does instead. Before the only libraries left with queer books are the ones in major urban centers in solid blue states.

It's going to be very very different jurisdiction by jurisdiction how this works. You'll have to do research. If you don't know how to start, try asking a reference librarian at your local library.