Lobbying for Libraries
Ellen Paul ’07 works to ensure equal access to information for all.
Government may move slowly, but Ellen Paul ’07, the executive director of the Connecticut Library Consortium (CLC) since January 2022, works hard to move it in a direction that benefits readers of all ages. Her advocacy helped pass two state bills this spring: one that could lower the costs of and increase access to e-books and another that requires school libraries to outline how they will handle book challenges and build their collections.
It’s an important part of her work at the CLC, a state-mandated, nonprofit library membership organization with a mission to support, strengthen, connect and champion Connecticut libraries.
“I get to advocate for some of the most important causes in front of us,” Paul says.
The first of its kind in the nation, Senate Bill 1234 was signed by Governor Ned Lamont on May 29. It would prohibit libraries in the state from entering into contracts or license agreements with publishers of electronic books and digital audiobooks that contain certain lending and licensing restrictions.
“Libraries regularly pay four to 10 times more than an average consumer to be able to license an e-book or audiobook for their community to borrow,” Paul explains, “but these are metered licenses that disappear from a library’s collection after two years or 26 borrows, whichever comes first.”
Those terms and conditions make it nearly impossible for libraries to build broad or deep collections, Paul says. “How can you do that when your entire collection disappears every two years?”
Many avid e-book borrowers know the pain of waiting for their turn to read a hot title—some waitlists are longer than six months. “In some cases, by the time your name comes up, the book will have hit two years or 26 borrows, and that library has to evaluate whether or not they repurchase that title.”
The law will go into effect once one or more states with a total population of 7 million move forward with similar laws. Paul is now working to make that happen. “What Connecticut did is a model for the rest of the nation,” she says.
Freedom to Read
The second bill, SB1271, which Paul refers to as the “freedom to read” bill, requires all libraries in the state, including school libraries, to outline how they decide what books they’re going to buy, what books they’ll remove to make space for new acquisitions, and what they’ll do when someone objects to a book in the library’s collection.
Paul worked with the national group EveryLibrary, which builds support for libraries and helps Americans fight book banning in their communities; the Connecticut Association of School Librarians; and the Connecticut Library Association to draft a comprehensive bill that addressed the need for each public library and school library in the state to create their own material collection policy, a collection development and maintenance policy, and a material reconsideration policy.
“In the case of a school library, those policies need to affirm that the school library is there as a mechanism for voluntary, not compulsory, inquiry—it may be there to support the curriculum, but it is also there to encourage recreational reading and the love of reading,” Paul says.
The bill also dictates that all policies must be in accordance with existing nondiscrimination statutes in Connecticut, and that a book cannot be removed from a library’s collection just because someone finds it offensive.
“It’s a huge legislative victory for libraries in Connecticut,” says Paul. “We’re trying to ensure that everyone is able to see themselves in a book on the library shelves. Representation matters.”
Paul sees a direct connection between her time at Connecticut College and the impactful work she’s doing now. During her sophomore year, she and three other Camels from the Class of 2007 formed the Connecticut College Democrats.
“That was the start of my political involvement,” recalls Paul, who double majored in government and French and worked for Congressman Joe Courtney after graduation. “Working on campaigns and on political issues was something that excited and thrilled me.”
Paul also worked in Shain Library—her “second home”—for all four years at Conn. After five years of working for Courtney, Paul enrolled at Southern Connecticut State University and went on to earn a Master of Library Science degree, which led her to the CLC.
“I’m able to use my past political and advocacy work and marry that with the issue that I believe in, which is access to education, knowledge, literature and reading—equal access to information for everyone.”