Anne writes “
A letter
posted at PUBLIB yesterday says that ALA has made a deal with a firm named Working Assests to have people come to their public library to register to vote. ALA will receive a fee for each registration made on the site through a library. No mention of what the library will get besides more demands for internet access. We do have a lot of people who come to our library desk and ask IF they are registered to vote, many on Election Day because they can’t get through to the Board of Elections office.”
Working Assets
Here’s Working Assets website FYI
voter registration at the reference desk
Voter registration–on paper forms, not online–is available at my library. Since the city straddles the county line, we register voters from two counties. Is library voter registration unusual, or does it depend on the size on the library?
This seems odd…
Nearly every library I’ve worked at (well, the public and academic ones) has offered voter registration forms and assistance. When I worked for Project Vote Smart, placing voter information in libraries, we provided access to online forms/websites through which one could register. It sounds like ALA is getting money for placing ads(?) for Working Assets in libraries…that’s the only way it makes sense to me.