Time Off to Vote for Library Staff in 2024

Only eight states are full vote-by-mail states. In states where Election Day is only one day or early voting is limited, making time for staff to vote is important. While there are many barriers to voting, including inaccessible polling places, restrictive voter ID laws, and threats of violence on and around Election Day, one of the most common barriers remains the lack of time to vote. It prevents many people, including library staff, from casting their ballot.

EveryLibrary and the EveryLibrary Institute are committed to supporting our staff and contractors’ rights and ability to vote by providing paid time off to vote in local, state, and federal elections. Our commitment to election participation is consistent with our mission and work as the national political action committee for libraries, and a public policy think tank for libraries, respectively. We will provide 2 hours of paid time off to vote to staff who do not have time to vote before or after work on Election Day, or not able to readily use or access an absentee/ mail ballot, or vote early. We encourage our contractors and vendors, along with our colleagues in libraries and library organizations, to institute this same policy.

You can learn more about the "Time Off to Vote" movement, including local laws and links to model policies for your workplace, on VoteLibraries.