On Tuesday, September 17, Norman (OK) North High School library will host a voter registration drive on National Voter Registration Day. Teacher librarian Molly Dettmann has run the event annually (with a COVID closure disruption) since her local chapter of the League of Women Voters reached out to her when she arrived at the school seven years ago.

That first drive, she recalls registering “maybe 10” students, but the event has grown. She added a registration drive in the spring, because many students turn 18 later in the school year. And a few years ago, Dettmann brought in the school’s student council and other student leaders to help run the event.

“We get more students who register when students are running it,” she says. “The League of Women Voters volunteers help with the logistics, showing [students] the ropes and how it works, and then taking all of the finished, filled-out forms back to the county election board to get processed.”

Despite the contentious political climate that can make any election effort controversial, Dettmann has not received complaints about the drives. On the contrary, she says, parents reach out to confirm the date of the events to make sure their children know. Students are taking advantage of the convenience as they establish their place in civic discourse. Last spring, one student told her, “I can't complain about anything if I'm not going to vote, so that's why I'm here today.”

For librarians who want to run a similar voter registration event in their library, Dettmann recommends reaching out to a local chapter of the League of Women Voters if there is one and speaking with the county election board.

“Once the logistics are taken care of, it’s as simple as having a table and getting the information out,” she says.

But Dettmann does more than get the information out. She not only helps facilitate student voter registration, but she also educates the young voters how to be well-informed when they step into the booth.

In collaboration with a class on government,  she teaches a lesson on researching candidates and ballot questions. Dettmann and the class review sample ballots as well. Last year, students looked into people running in an upcoming primary that had Republican and Democrat candidates.

“I made sure that we were looking at a race that had two candidates from two different political parties, not just looking at one political party,” Dettmann says, noting she walked the students through looking at the politicians' websites and ways to get to know the people that they may vote for. “Then, when students did some individual work, they could choose which candidate and which race they wanted to look into and practice those skills that I modeled with them. I always make sure that we look at all sides when we're doing stuff together. The research aspect of it is so interesting to me and so important.”

They also look into the hyper-local positions up for election such as county clerk, researching the candidates and the position itself.

Despite a political climate that has made discussing elections difficult, if not impossible, for some educators, Dettmann believes it’s necessary. She works media literacy education into the lessons as well.

“At the high school level, students see [political messaging] all the time, so it's not doing them any favors to not have those conversations," says Dettmann, adding that these conversations must include a discussion about the media and spread of misinformation. “I've been very pleased with the lessons we've taught and our students’ engagement.”

When they talk about misinformation, some students tell her they know when things are not real and just scroll past. But Dettmann explains that not everyone can identify false images or information, and it’s important to understand why and how misinformation spreads.

“I always frame it in a way where we're not trying to say that people are bad or wrong for sharing this stuff, because a lot of times they do it by mistake,” she says. “Obviously we talk about internet trolls where they have different motivation. We talk through that. But we start with the accidents. These people just don't know.”