Trustee Keane, State Sen. Murphy honored statewide for efforts leading Niles Library through challenges

Two key figures in the wide-ranging battle over the future of the Niles-Maine District Library received honors from a state library association July 19.

Niles-Maine Library Board President Becky Keane has been named the Illinois Library Association’s Trustee of the Year while state Sen. Laura Murphy has received the Legislative Development Award.

In 12 months, Keane’s role on the library board has evolved from being in a vocal minority of board members to becoming the leader of a five-member majority as board president.

She spent much of the last two years opposing a hiring freeze that lasted 19 months and arguing to keep the library’s tax levy and budget close to what they had been in past years.

In April, Keane won reelection to the board alongside recently-appointed Trustee Umair Qadeer, Jason Trunco and Roberto Botello.

“It was very nice that there were people who noticed and were grateful for the time and effort that I put in that they felt strongly enough to nominate me,” Keane said of receiving the award.

Keane observed that it has been a period of intense conflict for libraries around Illinois and around the U.S. and said she felt the award signaled that “people are paying attention, and that what we do matters.”

Keane has sat on the board of trustees since 2020. Former Board Treasurer Joe Makula sued her on the grounds that her appointment to a trustee seat was illegal, but a judge dismissed the suit in December 2022.

Illinois Library Association Executive Director Cynthia Robinson said a panel of library trustees had selected Keane for the award.

“The committee felt that she had gone through so much to support her library and deserved to be recognized for all of her work,” she said.

State Sen. Laura Murphy, a Des Plaines Democrat, also won the Association’s Robert R. McClarren Legislative Development award. Murphy was a chief sponsor of the law that allowed then-Secretary of State Jesse White to appoint trustees to library board seats that had been vacant for more than three months.

Murphy also sponsored a law that allows Illinois to block state grants to public and school libraries if they ban books for “partisan or doctrinal” reasons.

“I’m honored to be recognized for that work but saddened that we have to engage in initiating preventative laws in Illinois because of people who want to ban books,” Murphy said. “It’s important that we do offer books that represent all walks of life so people can really make their own informed choices.”

Robinson also pointed to Murphy’s record of supporting library-centered legislation in past sessions, including measures allowing the Illinois Secretary of State to negotiate with publishers on behalf of libraries for e-books and audiobooks, increases to per capita funding for public libraries and a change allowing youth in unincorporated areas to get library cards from their closest institutions.

The association’s Public Policy Committee made the selection for the Legislative Development award, Robinson said.