UPCOMING ULC EVENT
The Future is Now: Youth Voices Leading Change
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United States
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As state and local governments increasingly legislate and set policy limiting students’ access to books and information, young people are rising up to say “enough.” Libraries across the United States are finding ways to amplify teen voices in policymaking, ensuring everyone’s right to read, and encouraging civic engagement.
Three leaders from across the country will share what they are doing to protect, preserve, and advocate for First Amendment rights and freedoms. You’ll hear about how the Los Angeles Public Library gives youth the opportunity to participate in a civic action project and implement positive change through their Teens Leading Change program. Brooklyn Public Library will share how their Books Unbanned program opens up their e-collection to teens across America, and provides a space where teens can connect virtually with peers to discuss book challenges, censorship, and intellectual freedom. Finally, the Co-Founder of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas will discuss demonstrating youth power in policy making by engaging in constructive action via hands-on advocacy and education opportunities, including using the power of words to speak and write to drive civic transformation.
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Shari Henry (she, her, hers), Director of Democracy and Community Impact, Urban Libraries Council
Shari Henry is the Director of Democracy and Community Impact for the Urban Libraries Council. Shari has worked in libraries for over 15 years, including director for Roanoke County, Va. Prior to her library career, she worked in community engagement and outreach in nonprofits and is a published writer. Shari is driven by the desire to impact the community for good by connecting resources to people, and by her undying belief that libraries are fundamental to healthy democracies. She co-authored Food is a Right: Libraries and Food Justice (ULC, 2023) and holds a B.A. from George Mason University, an MSLS from Pennsylvania Western University, and a Certificate in Fundraising and Development from the University of Richmond’s Institute on Philanthropy.
Karen Keys (she, her, hers), Coordinator, Young Adult Services, Youth and Family Services, Brooklyn Public Library
Karen Keys is Coordinator of Young Adult Services at Brooklyn Public Library where she oversees programs and services for teens at 61 locations. She advocates a for-teens-by-teens service model and provides training, mentoring, and coaching to young adult services staff throughout Brooklyn. Karen is part of the team named LJ’s 2023 “Librarians of the Year” for their efforts on the Books Unbanned anti-censorship campaign.
Candice Mack (she, her, hers), Young Adult Services Manager, Los Angeles Public Library
Candice (Wing-yee) Mack manages system-wide Young Adult Services at the Los Angeles Public Library. She is a Member-at-Large on the Public Library Association’s (PLA) Board of Directors and a past President of both the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) and Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). Candice co-authored the “Civics in Society” chapter in Media Literacy for Justice: Lessons for Changing the World (2022), based on the Teens Leading Change civic engagement initiative she created at her library. Candice has taught at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies since 2014 and is a past member of San José State University’s Youth Services Program Advisory Committee. She is a 2012 ALA Emerging Leader, a 2006 ALA Spectrum Scholar and was an inaugural member of the ALA Library Advocacy & Policy Corps. Her commitment to diversity, social justice, youth development and an unusual coincidence led her to pursue public librarianship. On social media, she may be found under the moniker @tinylibrarian.
Cameron Samuels (they, them, theirs), Executive Director & Co-
Founder, Students Engaged in Advancing Texas
Cameron organized nationally recognized efforts against book banning and an LGBTQ+ internet filter in the Katy Independent School District in Texas. Within months of once facing the school board alone, receiving no applause while other speakers stoked fear with bigotry, Samuels packed school board meetings and distributed hundreds of banned books donated by publishers and non-profits to students across Texas. The ACLU filed a legal complaint on Samuels' behalf that resulted in the district unblocking queer internet resources like the Trevor Project and the Montrose Center, and President Barack Obama recognized Samuels for their efforts against book banning. Samuels is now organizing a coalition of Students Engaged in Advancing Texas to demonstrate youth visibility in policymaking. In 2022, Samuels was named the inaugural Youth Honorary Chair of Banned Books Week, a Seventeen Magazine Voice of the Year, an NBC Pride 30 trailblazer, and one of Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21 and GLAAD's 20 Under 20. This year, Samuels received the Trailblazer Award from the Human Rights Campaign, was recognized in OutSmart as a hometown hero, and was honored as Pride Houston's Honorary Trendsetter Grand Marshal.