I love our libraries. My kids (ages 3 and 5) are both avid readers and regular visitors to the Brookline Village branch. I am consistently in awe at the diversity of programming and services that our libraries offer, both in terms of the types of events/programs that are offered but also at the range of languages, cultures, identities, ages, and interests that are represented and included. Our public libraries are just an invaluable resource and I am running to serve as a Library Trustee because I want to help them fulfill their work in serving our community.

Library Trustees have many roles, including setting policies that ensure equitable access to library resources, hiring a director who shares our community values, advocating (locally and beyond) for robust library funding and for competitive staff salaries & benefits, and helping with community outreach. As a Library Trustee I will support the library's ongoing efforts and will apply a social justice lens in prioritizing new initiatives.

As a Town Meeting Member I have been frustrated to see that recent Town budgets have cut library funding. The library's budget was cut in FY2020 and again in FY2021, and while the past two years have seen increases, the library budget is now ~8-10% less what it would have been if the FY2016-FY2020 budget levels had kept up with inflation (assuming a relatively modest 3% increase, blue dashed line):