Victory in Huntington Beach

Our Library Matters stood up to censorship and won.

The votes have been counted and the people of Huntington Beach delivered a resounding victory for the freedom to read Tuesday night.

The special election, which centered exclusively on the library, had two measures on the ballot. Per the Orange County Registrar of Voters, both measures passed with a significant majority of 59% for Measure A and 61% for Measure B as of Tuesday evening. The No campaign has also formally conceded.

We caught up with Carol Daus, a representative of Our Library Matters, who originally walked us through the ballot measures back in May. She shared that the volunteers gathered last night to watch the results come in. “Everyone was cheering! Some of us have been working on this for two years. We came together with different skillsets and needed all of those pieces to be included to make an impact. I think we were able to do that because of the commitment and passion for the library.”

This was not an easy victory. Accusations about explicit content in the library raised tensions in the community, sowing confusion and distrust. The Huntington Beach City Council actively campaigned against the library and placed signs around the city.

Despite all of this, the dedication of the volunteers at Our Library Matters was unwavering. We spoke with dozens of them throughout the campaign and had the opportunity to see several events in action. From read-ins, to Friday night marches, to canvassing the neighborhoods, they worked to find common ground with voters and championed their library as a vital resource for their community.

Huntington Beach has done all of California a service by ensuring that censorship doesn’t gain footing here. They’ve shown their City Council that the voices of their constituents can no longer be ignored and they’ve set an example for us all of how you can go up against censorship and win. As Daus told us this morning, “you can’t just sit back and assume things are going to be resolved on their own. You have to step up, get involved, work with different groups and that’s exactly what we did.”