Even though I grew up without immigration papers, I consider myself to be an American. I haven’t the slightest memory of the place I was born — Jacona, Michoacan in Mexico. My family was poor, and had no hope for their future in Mexico. I was only two years old when we arrived to the United States, eventually settling in Stockton, California. “For me, one immediate goal of AbLA is to advocate for transparency about how police and policing affects libraries,” Esmail says via email. “There is still a lot we do not know about how pervasive policing is in our institutions. This includes not only the physical and visible presence of police, like [with] police security in some libraries, but financial commitments such as budget allocations, ties to the prison-industrial complex, and issues with data access and privacy rights, like when surveillance cameras are used.” “I hope that there will be continued discussion and awareness of how police and policing affect libraries and the communities they serve,” says Esmail. “It is important to acknowledge that the communities served by different kinds of libraries are unique and therefore have different information needs and different relationships with police and policing. I also hope that AbLA will reinforce the function of libraries: community information spaces, rather than surveillance or security spaces.”Want more fromTeen Vogue? Check this out: Ariana Grande Freaked Out Over Millie Bobby Brown's Golden Globes LookCheck this out: