Do you believe in miracles? How I became a library trustee was a modern-day miracle in my town of Raymond NH. It all started when a homeschool-dad named Mike Drago who is now a state representative spoke to me about the children’s section of our library.
Since I used our town library as a homeschool Mom for many years, I was interested in checking things out. My kids were older, and I hadn’t been there in a while. New folks were in positions that other people in town had been in for many years and had since retired.
I was glad to meet the new librarians and the director. About a year ago, I started asking some questions. I started going to every trustee meeting, which was being held mostly on Thursdays at 3:30 p.m. The times and places seemed to vary. Evidently, no other citizens had been to these meetings for quite a while.
Through this process, I and some other parents and adults were instrumental in making sure the board followed the rules, like making sure the meetings were posted properly and making sure the minutes and agendas were publicly posted. We also were also instrumental in getting the meetings videotaped and added to our town cable station. This helped to ensure that other patrons and taxpayers had better access to information and discussions with the library trustee board and director.
Several citizens came to meetings and asked lots of questions about the current policies. Mostly the adults were concerned that the books contained in the children’s room were free of adult topics and content not suitable for children like sex and gender identity. Last March, we were able to vote on Article 42, which states:
We also voted in a conservative trustee who beat out an incumbent who had held the seat for 20 years. However, she had to resign soon after due to health problems, and this left an open seat. The RSA states that the board of selectmen will step in and appoint a trustee in this situation until the next election.
In the midst of all of this, our town was going through some serious struggles with our select board. We had a 3-2 battle going on. I knew I would lose the vote unless there were a miracle. I went to several selectman meetings from April to June to ask for their vote as trustee. Many citizens wrote letters to the board on my behalf.
During this time, 2 of the 3 selectmen that I knew would vote against me resigned their posts, and the night the vote was taken for trustee, I won 2-1 to be appointed. This was truly a modern-day miracle!
To some people, this may be trivial, I mean, who really goes to the library anyway? Well, to me, this is bigger than the situation itself. It proves to me that when you do something, it matters. When you try, you can make a difference. When you want to do something positive, you can see things happen that you didn’t expect… for the better.
Taking a spot in town government is the way that we can make a difference. My goal is not to focus on the negative things that we don’t want but to focus on the vast amount of positive things that we should be doing. We need better phonics books in the libraries. We need to make reading a priority, not social agendas at the library! We need to make reading and learning attractive and stop using the “free” (taxpayer-funded) resources at the library as a conduit for false ideas that there are more than two genders and other such nonsense.
Children should be excited to live, grow, and learn. There is so much to learn and so many interesting topics. They don’t need to be exposed to sexual Ideas and social agendas that adults want to push on them while they are innocent and impressionable. Make the libraries safe again. Get involved where you can to protect the children and help them learn new and exciting things.
This article does not cover all the questions we asked and debates we spent hours and hours in. This is the short of it. Unfortunately, the conservatives have not been paying attention, and the “weeds” have grown, and if we want to see the “weeds” cut down and good fruit growing, we will have to step in and do something. Otherwise, we will keep paying for the very thing we don’t want. Our kids, meaning our own flesh and blood, as well as the children who will be our future. If we don’t do anything, we have no business complaining. Please get involved. Don’t just keep watching and cringing. If you are reading this, you need to step up. Look around, no one else is doing it. It’s your time.
