Incidentally, one of the things I took away from the DNC was the importance of stressing the importance of voting, especially local voting. While I’m pretty critical of the ALA’s register to vote @ your library campaign — which should be called the “print out and mail this form at your own expense but only if you have an email address, otherwise you’re completely SOL @ your library” campaign — there are local elections where voting makes a huge difference and apathy can cost you money, no two ways about it. Pop Goes the Library has some good program ideas for mixing pop culture and democracy at your library.
Election years have unlimited potential for library programming ideas. From displays of books on the electoral & campaign process to town hall meetings to voter registration drives, libraries have the opportunity every few years to play an active role in being a go-to informational clearinghouse for voters.