The Illinois Library Lovers Guide to Public Library Elections, April 1, 2025
One of the mega-projects I’ve been working on with the help of some fantastic other library lovers is pulling together a voter’s guide to Illinois’s upcoming Consolidated Elections. These are elections held in the spring of odd-numbered years that decide local level political representation. This year, the election is April 1, though early voting begins in the middle of March.
It is no secret that school and library board elections are crucial for protecting these democratic institutions. We’ve known for four years now that there’s been successful attempts to change the makeup of these bodies by folks whose interest is not in strengthening them. Their goal is to help dismantle them (and it should go without saying at this point that that dismantling them is not to make them disappear all together but to rebuild them as for-profit institutions).
Illinois might have an anti-book ban bill, but that’s not ever going to be enough to guard against all of the ways public schools and libraries are under attack. Nor do anti-book ban bills protect against the other types of censorship that are happening. I’ve witnessed them and talked with leaders in schools and libraries statewide who have shared their experiences. Some have not been extreme–we’re talking school libraries in suburban Chicago implementing restrictions for access to certain book collections via an opt-in form–while others have been near-constant–fights that ramp up every June over Pride displays and linger for months and months afterward. It is crucial to participate in and speak up in support of libraries in Illinois, even if it feels “safer” here than elsewhere.
Inspired by Frank Strong’s guides to local elections in Texas, I wanted to do something similar in Illinois to help folks make the strongest pro-library/pro-education choices possible.
This guide will come in two parts. Today, I’m releasing the guide to contested public library trustee elections across the state. Later in the month, I’ll do the same for public school board elections. You can imagine how much longer and more challenging that second guide will be, but the goal in releasing both of these is not perfection. It’s to be a tool in the toolbox of getting involved and educated with and on the local elections process. If you’re getting this email and you’re not an Illinois resident, perhaps it can inspire you to think about where and how you can do something to think about or engage with local elections in your state as the year rolls on.
Some notes before sharing the document:
This only includes contested races. That means there are more candidates than open positions in the race. If a library’s trustee race has three open seats and three candidates, they’re not included.
Some contested elections are full term, meaning that someone will be voted in to serve either 4 years or 6 years. Other contested elections are unexpired terms, meaning someone will be voted in to serve either 4 years or 2 years. This is noted under each contested election.
Illinois offers two term lengths for public library trustees, as noted above. In some, the length is 6 years. In others, it’s 4 years. This impacts how many seats are up for election this year and it’s part of why not every public library has 3 or 4 seats this election.
These are listed by library name in alphabetical order and they are split into two categories. There are suburban Chicago races, then races elsewhere through the state.
Illinois public library trustee elections are non-partisan. This means that individuals do not run under any party, such as democrat or republican. But that doesn’t mean partisan politics aren’t clear and present in what the candidates says or does. In fact, you’ll see two suburban Chicago races where there is a party pushing candidates into these positions.
There are several counties in Illinois where finding information about candidates was not possible. This is either because they have no web presence at all or because they have not updated their elections information for the Consolidated election. Those counties include Alexander, Boone, Brown, Cass, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Henderson, Jackson, Jersey, Johnson, Kankakee, Livingston, Logan, Marion, Massac, McDonough, Mercer, Morgan, Perry, Pope, Pike, Pulaski, Richland, Saline, Schulyer, Shelby, St. Clair, Wabash, and Wayne. Getting coverage of 66 of Illinois’s 102 counties feels PRETTY GOOD, given that this has never been done before.
The easiest way to use this guide is to keyword search for a library or person of interest.
Incumbents are candidates who already hold the position for which they are running. They are not always the ideal choice, but noting their experience here is helpful information to have. A couple of the smaller libraries on this list do not have this information included because either it was not on their website or they had no website at all. Likewise, if a candidate’s experience is as a librarian and that information was accessible, it’s included. This is both because knowledge of their experience in libraries is valuable and because it’s a reminder to folks with library experience that running for board is something you can do, too.
This document is a work in progress. If you’ve got information on any of these races, there is a Google form at the top of the document. Your input is welcome there to help make this even more useful. Date of update is included in the document’s introduction. The final iteration will be available no later than March 25.
You’re welcome to share this guide far and wide to help library lovers make the strongest decisions possible.
Without further ado:
The Illinois Library Lovers Guide to Public Library Elections, April 1, 2025