With the ever-increasing emphasis on book banning and censorship, libraries are facing serious scrutiny in many areas around the world. Oak Park and River Forest High School English teacher Mika Yamamoto hopes to keep Oak Park libraries from these kinds of restrictions.
Yamamoto plans to run for a seat on the Oak Park Public Library Board of Trustees in the April 1 Consolidated Election. Her interest in the position grew from her love of language and literature. She received an undergrad degree at the University of Southern California in comparative literature, later receiving a teaching credential through the Los Angeles Unified School District. She then got her master’s degree in English with a concentration in creative writing at Central Michigan University in 2016.
Yamamoto has been teaching English at OPRF for a year, and has been a lecturer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago since 2019. She previously taught at the Children’s School from 2021 to 2023. She is also an affirmative and inclusive schools task force member for the State of Illinois Governor’s Office and a contributing writer to a social platform for moms, Empowering Solo Moms Everywhere (ESME). In 2016, she wrote for ESME on the significance of libraries as a free and inclusive space.
According to PEN America, “The 2023-2024 school year recorded the highest instances of book bans and highest number of unique titles banned – over 4,000 unique titles were removed in over 10,000 instances of book bans.”
“In the last couple of years, I’ve been watching librarians be heroic in the face of all the book banning. I’ve been shocked and appalled, but my appreciation for the library and librarians has deepened with that,” said Yamamoto. “So the more I talked with the people on the current library board, the more I felt this was something I wanted to do.”
The Oak Park Public Library Board of Trustees consists of 7 members who are elected by the voters of the Village of Oak Park and serve four-year terms. The terms are staggered, so that four positions expire in one year and three in the next. This year, four positions are opening up.
Yamamoto decided to run for a library board position through her involvement in Activate Oak Park, a Facebook page group in Oak Park for those interested in local politics. The group hosts weekly first fridays to discuss politics in the village, one at which Yamamoto was made aware of the opening.
Last February, the Oak Park Public Library underwent scrutiny from the community
following a Palestinian cultural event by the library’s leadership team. Oak Park Neighbors for Justice and Peace in Palestine and Israel and OPRF’s Middle Eastern and North African Alliance, or MENA, hosted an event at the library on Jan. 21 celebrating Palestinian culture. Joslyn Bowling Dixon, the library’s former executive director, had designated the event as “community-led” rather than “library-led,” essentially removing all association between the event and the library and denying promotion. Many were upset by the confusion and disorganization that arose as a result of this event labeling.
This incident, paired with Dixon’s staffing cuts of two community engagement team members, led the Board of Trustees to vote to terminate Dixon’s employment on March 16 at a special board meeting. The board concluded with a statement, saying, “The supportive and collaborative working relationship between us, which is absolutely essential to advance the strategic vision and plan based on the needs of our community, has been damaged. The resulting confusion, miscommunication and distrust, both internally and externally, has critically impacted our ability to move forward together and prompted today’s action.”
The board meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Library’s second-floor Scoville Room and oversees the tasks of determining library policies, employing the library administrator, managing funds, maintaining facilities, diversifying library materials, and promoting library usage, as outlined in Article II of the Bylaws of the Board of Trustees. On the board, Yamamoto hopes to continue to increase diversity of opinions and perspectives.
“I think the current board is very committed to keeping the library an open and inclusive space for all,” said Yamamoto. “I hope to continue working towards that.”
After receiving all the signatures needed to approve her application for a position on the board, Yamamoto submitted it on Nov. 11. Until the election, Yamamoto will continue to emphasize the necessity of the library.
“Everyone loves the library,” Yamamoto said. “I want it to continue to be a place whee people want to come–a place where people feel safe to come.”