Voters approve library funding and new school board leadership in Texas

Voters across the United States supported local libraries and elected new education leaders in Texas during the recent midterm elections.

Community members in various states approved funding for public library systems despite national economic pressures. In Palm Beach County, Florida, residents approved a $175 million bond to expand and renovate the public library system. This funding will create a new library in West Palm Beach and renovate approximately 12 other locations.

In Las Cruces, New Mexico, voters approved a $26 million bond to expand the Thomas Branigan Memorial Library to accommodate high demand for community programs and 3D printers. Other communities, such as Bridgeton, New Jersey, and Saline County, Arkansas, successfully blocked measures that would have closed or significantly cut library budgets. In Texas, voters shifted the leadership of the State Board of Education for the first time in over 30 years.

A narrow majority of Democratic candidates won seats on the board, which previously held a conservative Republican majority for three decades. The change follows criticism that the previous board removed science books regarding climate change and created a curriculum for students in grades K to 5 that included stories from the Christian Bible while omitting parts of American history. Texans also rejected a plan to remove more than 2,000 literary works from school libraries.

Voters elected Vikki Goodwin as the new Lieutenant Governor of Texas, defeating the Republican incumbent who campaigned on the book removal platform. Additionally, Democratic candidates Gina Hinojosa and James Talerico won their respective races by making opposition to book bans a central part of their campaigns.