Filing away a research project dear to my heart.
Admittedly, this is a bit of a self-indulgent post as I regrettably file away a research project that is dear to my heart about about public library boards, democracy, and the rise of authoritarianism. But please stick with me and read through as I’ve been super keen on this topic since I first investigated it for my MBA, and I would love to hear your thoughts.
Public Libraries and a Free Democracy
Canadian public libraries are foundational to our free democratic society. Our public libraries are unique spaces of intellectual freedom, privacy, and equitable access to information and ideas, which together (along with their expertise in counteracting misinformation) are essential so that everyone – me, you, the people we love, and the people we disagree with – can participate in learning, creating, having opinions and big ideas, and in getting along with each other in a diverse and complex society (read about “healthy friction” at the Edmonton Public Library).
But, if the public library boardis underdeveloped and lacks the skills to:
- build a trust-based relationship with the CEO
- develop a healthy board culture and process (starting with a delightful board chair)
- ask appropriate questions of oversight and curiosity (my thinking on questions – the unasked, the hesitant, the closed, the prickly, and the curious)
- understand and provide oversight of finances
- think and act strategically (my call for good-time big thinking revival meetings as I have done many with public library boards on intellectual freedom)
- champion the purpose and needs of the organization (choose to have good conversations)
- build beneficial relationships with stakeholders, particularly with orders of government
- navigate challenging conversations, decisions, and direction
- hold itself accountable
… then they can’t fulfill their duty of care (being fully and appropriately informed) and fiduciary responsibility (all they do being in the best interest of the organization) – in other words they can’t do their job of governing the public library.
And if they can’t do their job, the public library is at risk of:
- Operational failure from poor financial, policy, strategic, and CEO oversight.
- Activist board members, such as those from across the political spectrum who wish to undermine intellectual freedom or other principles that are unique to the role and impact of the public library. (Ira Wells, On Book Banning: Or, How the New Censorship Consensus Trivializes Art and Undermines Democracy)
- Egregious legislative changes and government overreach. As seen in public education1, when provincially funded public sector boards fail provincial governments will step in. In the case of public libraries, this stepping in would erode the independence of the institution and the ability of library professionals and expert staff to defend or advance equitable access, privacy, and intellectual freedom in the financial and strategic direction of the organization.
Watch Libraries, Public Space and Democratic Values, with Vickery Bowles and Tommi Laitio
Before I lose you, let me circle back and whisper it again: We need well-developed and skilled public library boards to safeguard the public library principles of equitable access, privacy, and intellectual freedom (see Alvin Schrader’s Should Public Library Boards Embrace Intellectual Freedom as Their Institutional Soul?). I believe these three things to be essential to a free, democratic society and a much needed push back on and authoritarianism.
“We are seeing the impacts and then sort of wondering, ‘OK, what would happen here?’” says Robinson. “Libraries really help support and uphold values that enable democracy. And so when those things start to erode and they sort of erode quietly, I’m not sure if people notice. … This felt like an opportunity to be like, well, what could we do to put this in front of more people?”
What would change if Canada became the 51st state? Just look what’s happening at Western University, CBC Arts, Leah Collins, March 10, 2026
A Tangential Thought on Public Library Boards and Practicing Democracy
Being on a local board, whether for a cat shelter, kids dance troupe, community garden, strata, or public library, is known to be awesome for a pile of reasons such as giving back to the community and combatting social isolation. (see where I poke at why anyone would join a board and the draw of cookies)
What is less known is that being on a board is awesome for practicing democracy. Board work is about being transparent and accountable in navigating shared goals, participating in decision making, and working with others to meet a need that is bigger than our individual selves. I can’t think of a better push back on the rise of authoritarianism than to practice democracy.
Being on the neighbourhood centre board and then the library board was a steep and hard learning curve. Growing up in China I learned to not question my teachers or any one in authority. On these boards I have had to learn how to question, how to speak up, how to have an informed and useful opinion, and how to work as an equal with others.
-Public library trustee speaking at a governance workshop.
Calls to Action
We don’t need a pile of research and a hefty report to know what we need to do to ensure that public library boards are a safe-guard rather than a risk for the continuation of public libraries and the principles of equitable access, privacy, and intellectual freedom.
- Host spaces for frank and open dialogue about the importance of arms-length from government autonomous public library boards and the experiences with effective boards and failing boards so that criteria and benchmarks for successful governance can be more widely established and achieved.
- Note that while provincial and territorial legislation varies as to the level of governance autonomy, the majority of Canadians use public libraries governed by arms-length from government autonomous boards.
- Adopt the term “governance team”. While the commonly touted rule of thumb is that the board is responsible for governance and the CEO is responsible for operations, it is bit more complex than that. The CEO also has governance responsibilities, often named in provincial legislation as “secretary to the board”. In practice this role provides critical governance leadership by bringing public library expertise to the board table, specifically their expertise in the unique role and principles of the public library. In this way the CEO and the board are a governance team.
- Develop more effective trust-based relationships (and while at it, tone-down the adversarial advocacy rhetoric) with local government and provincial government to build a stronger shared understanding of the unique role of the public library. In my work I have seen this result in:
- Cooperation with local government in recruiting and appointing trustees.
- Cooperation with provincial government in interpreting and improving public library legislation.
- Healthier long-game funding discussions.
- Not there yet, but a growing understanding of how intellectual freedom, equitable access, and privacy benefit the well-being of individuals and whole communities and democracy.
- Invest in the board’s development. Board development is not a one-and-done type of thing. It is an ongoing process from recruitment to onboarding to annual assessments and learning and development plans. I’m a big promoter of there being a learning component at every board meeting. This can look like a 15 minute refresher on reading financial reports to a more fulsome workshop on board process or relationship building. As well, an annual full day learning session is not icing on the cake, it is the batter for the cake – in other words it is a must-have.
This post is just a wee bit of my thinking from an outline I developed last fall for an ambitious nation-wide research project on public library governance and the role of the public library in a free democratic society. The project was inspired by the conversations that I had with public library trustees and CEOs during a busy year of public library board chair coaching, board workshops, and governance retreats. Every conversation came back around to the need for a larger structured dialogue on public library boards, democracy, and authoritarianism.
When you said that our work was important to a free democracy, I didn’t believe you. I have sat on university boards, the airport authority, and city council and I didn’t see how the public library board measured up to the impact of those boards. Now I see it, and I’m blown away. Thank you.
Public library trustee speaking at a weekend governance retreat.
I have sort of filed away this project to focus on my coaching and leadership development clients. I say “sort of” because the principles of the project will continue to guide my work with public library boards. I’d love to hear from you and your thoughts on public libraries, governance, and democracy.
Thank you for reading this and for your ongoing support of the Courageous Leaders Project.
Babs
PS: Watch for the upcoming series of posts where I poke at the triumvirate of leadership institutes, the publishing industry, and dime a dozen gurus to which we have handed over our personal responsibility and accountability to do the hard (really, really hard) work of attaining the privilege of being a leader and behaving ethically, wisely, and courageously as leaders. Yeah, I have some strong opinions on this.
This past season has been delightfully full with one-on-one coaching, leadership team retreats and workshops, project coaching, governance workshops, and speaking engagements.
Let’s talk, my calendar fills up and I don’t want to miss working with you!
You can find out more about me and my work at the Courageous Leaders Project, a coaching and leadership development firm that sparks courageous conversations.
If you are curious about how we might work together, email me at [email protected].
- Examples include the Nova Scotia Glaze Report which resulted in the removal of local elected school boards and the recent news story As Ont. takes over school boards, trustees are under scrutiny. What do they do and what happens without them?). ↩︎