WRITE-IN?
No
DISTRICT
Ann Arbor District Library
WEBSITE
zachforaadl.com
I think of the child who, like me, walks through the doors of the library and discovers not only marsupials in distant lands, tales of the sea, the recipe for a first soup, but along the way reads whole worlds into being. That magic is why I am running for the AADL Board. My candidacy is rooted in over a dozen years working in public libraries, degrees from MSU and UC Santa Cruz, and studies in library futures at the New Centre. As an Ann Arbor parent, American Library Association member, and early-education nonprofit volunteer, I know literacy is foundational for lifelong learning and flourishing. I come prepared to ask rigorous questions to enliven board deliberations, deepen institutional care, and vigorously defend public benefit.
We in Ann Arbor love our public libraries. Our community has built an institution of fiscal strength, backed by $22.9M in annual tax revenue and $8.5M in cash. However, rather than being reinvested into neighborhood services, consistent operational surpluses are moved into the Capital Projects Fund for the downtown commercial-library project. Our library programming and services should radiate throughout the entire district. As trustee, I will champion an AADL Bookmobile serving parks, children's centers, and senior facilities. I will prioritize core collections and expand literacy programs, ensuring our libraries enrich our community. And I will remain vigilant against public debt being taken on to subsidize private real estate ventures.
Proposals A and B have created an opportunity to build a new downtown library with housing, but we must navigate the challenges of mission drift, commodification, and financial risk. This is a once-in-a-generation chance for our community to determine how development is executed for the public benefit, how we uphold public ownership, how our design serves deep literacy, and how we ensure broad affordability, so that our library doesn’t become a value-added amenity for corporate development. Let’s look to successful library projects with 100% affordable housing serving working families and seniors across the country, from Santa Cruz to Chicago, because we in Ann Arbor also know that our institutions are meant to truly serve the public good.
Libraries are more relevant than ever precisely because of the physical books they hold. In a world dominated by the digital, a commitment to literacy is essential. With only 38.2% of Michigan third-graders reading at grade level, AADL’s mandate isn’t providing a downtown video game lounge; it is championing the exceptional work of our librarians through literacy programming, neighborhood outreach, and a commitment to real pages. Benjamin Franklin founded America’s first lending libraries knowing that reading and literacy achieve true accessibility and are fundamental to a healthy democracy. AADL’s most precious asset is this nourishing gift of reading, and its budget and planning must center this vital imperative.
DISTRICT
Ann Arbor District Library
WEBSITE
aadl2026.com
I am the Wines school librarian and Elementary Library Services Department Chair in AAPS. I am also an active member of the Ann Arbor Education Association, where I serve as building representative. I have worked in a variety of school settings and held various positions, including classroom teacher, summer and afterschool programs director, and interim head of school, among others. I understand the profound and transformative role that libraries can play in communities and I believe that the AADL is one of the true gems of this city. Intellectual freedom, engagement with diverse texts and resources, and access to spaces for community building and shared experiences have been at the heart of my professional work for my entire career.
1. Protect intellectual freedom by closely monitoring book banning legislation around the country and ways in which the work of librarianship is being threatened, as well as studying effective strategies to oppose these fascist efforts to control access to information.
2. Support library administration and staff through responsible financial oversight, giving them the agency to continue to provide the highest level of library programming and collection development for our community, now and into the future.
3. Steward the development of the new Downtown branch in a way that supports the robust programmatic offerings and holdings of the library and also increases opportunities for growth and collaboration, including housing development.
The greatest challenge currently facing the AADL is also its greatest opportunity: the construction of a new mixed-use Downtown branch, including housing, retail, and collaboration with businesses and organizations serving the community. Recognizing the city’s housing crisis, the construction of the new Downtown branch provides opportunities to solve multiple problems with creative and community-centered solutions. This tremendous undertaking is exciting, as library patrons feel deeply connected to both the physical space of the library, as well as its mission and public value, and are eager to engage in discussions about its future, presenting the library with the opportunity to meaningfully engage community members in this process.
In 2026, 20,288 players participated in the library’s summer game (up 16% from 2025). Players created 5,520 lawn codes (up 55% from 2025), bringing the library to their homes and our neighborhoods. The library’s in-person offerings are vast, ranging from the Tiny Expo to the Comic Arts Festival to Lego building contests, Mario Kart racing events, the Preschool Expo, and maker space events in the Secret Lab, among countless others. The library’s holdings extend far beyond its robust text collection to include tools, instruments, games, and wifi hotspots. The library publishes books and an online local arts blog. The AADL is not only relevant, it is the central spoke from which our community extends and toward which our community connects.
DISTRICT
Ann Arbor District Library
WEBSITE
www.aadl2026.com
Number of years as resident
22
My background spans law, public health, government administration, nonprofit leadership, and local news. Since my appointment to the AADL Board earlier this year, I've served on the budget and finance committee, helping steward a well-resourced library budget. I bring legal experience to navigate governance and institutional decisions, a career in journalism and civic infrastructure, and current leadership of a civic education organization where I manage budgets, partnerships, and organizational strategy. I understand the public service mission that libraries carry as well as the operational discipline required to sustain it responsibly. Ours is an incredibly strong library system with and I'm committed to keeping it that way.
If elected, I will continue to champion AADL as a library system that advances equity through access to news, information, culture, and public space, I would support partnerships and development that drive innovation and build inclusion in facility/property/land use, and I would work to support opportunities that expand AADL’s role in public engagement and civic learning. I fully support plans for mixed income housing above the new downtown branch and am eager to build partnerships that center our community and ensure that we are prioritizing the needs of our neighbors above the profit margins of private corporations.
The greatest challenge are the growing attacks on intellectual freedom and the attempts to restrict access to information. These organized censorship campaigns are growing in scope, impacting materials from children's books that represent families of all sizes, shapes, and genders, to Black authors and their works on Black history and culture in the United States. While we haven't seen the same kind of censorship campaigning from pressure groups in our district as some other communities, state-level actions across the country have been deeply impacting local libraries. I want to make sure AADL is prepared to weather the future as a champion of intellectual freedom and unfettered access to gathering space, news, history, and information.
In-person engagement and face-to-face relationships. The internet cannot replace this. AADL does this and does it well through its programming, the Summer Game being the crown jewel of its community engagement. Events and festivals throughout the year at each of the branches, a friendly and knowledgeable staff, free meeting space, cafes in branches, opportunities to meet authors, engage with art and music, build skills, build THINGS, build community -- this is the way libraries stay relevant. Some folks think that the library is for books only and would prioritize a library building out its print collections. For me, it's a "yes, and..." Books, and... Gathering space. Art. Game nights. Community. The library is so much more than books.
DISTRICT
Ann Arbor District Library
WEBSITE
aadl2026.com
Number of years as resident
21
My entry point into Ann Arbor politics was campaigning for props A&B last year, and talking to voters about a bigger, better downtown library. I also have non-profit leadership experience as a board member of the housing advocacy organization: Neighbors for More Neighbors, where we work with policymakers to build an Ann Arbor that has enough room for everyone who'd like to live here.
The biggest project for the next board will be delivering a new downtown library. My first goal is ensuring the new library serves the wide variety of uses that patrons have come to expect from their downtown library, including collections, event space, study space, meeting rooms and more, along with much needed mixed-income housing that will help fund the construction, and work to address our current housing shortage.
I also want to ensure that the library continues to be a space for gathering. With robust events and expos, AADL has been a core pillar in our community. While not everyone agrees that libraries should be about more than books and literacy, I and others believe the range of library services have been core to its success.
The greatest challenge facing the library is the current project of conservatives to censor and dismantle libraries. Book bans are happening across the country, and several states have passed laws opening librarians up to criminal prosecution for displaying certain content in libraries (like books with LGBTQ+ themes).
Libraries are vital institutions for democracy and the free exchange of ideas. The Ann Arbor District Library is, for many, at the center of civic life in Ann Arbor. While we benefit from a more liberal community, we are not free from the kind of bigotry that seeks to erase minority voices. We must remain unequivocal in our support of intellectual freedom.
AADL has remained as relevant as ever, with library visits and event participation increasing every year. Like many libraries across the country, it does this by understanding and meeting the needs of patrons.
Information and education comes in many forms. I've learned letterpress printing through the Secret Lab, about our local history through their digital archives, and about NASA telescopes through Nerd Nite talks that the library hosts.
The library is also a place for connection and community. I've hosted book clubs and meetings with local organizers at the library. I've met new people through library events. I've bought art at lobby shops. AADL is constantly innovating and finding new ways to serve patrons.
