Image: Senator Jake Oliveira (left) accepting the Caleb Benjamin Tillinghast Commissioner Award at the MA State House next to MBLC Chair Vicky Biancolo on November 6, 2025.
Caleb Jacob Tillinghast was a librarian, journalist, educator and public servant whose long career left a lasting mark on the Massachusetts State House Library. He was one of the five founding Commissioners of the Free Public Library Commission of Massachusetts, established in 1890, known today as the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC). Tillinghast worked as the Massachusetts State Librarian and served as a library commissioner advancing the idea of libraries as essential civic institutions, promoting education, democratic participation, and equal access to knowledge.
The Caleb Benjamin Tillinghast Award honors a federal or state legislator whose work is guided by a deep understanding of the essential role public libraries play in the lives of residents and in a democratic society. The MBLC was pleased to present Senator Jake Oliveira with the 2025 Caleb Benjamin Tillinghast Commissioner Award at the MBLC’s 135th Anniversary held at the Massachusetts State House on November 6, 2025. His inaugural speech on the senate floor ignited the library community when he spoke against the increasing book challenges and bans ramping up across the nation and in the Commonwealth.
Senator Oliveira has championed the right to read legislation to protect libraries and library staff, worked to increase funding to regional libraries and supported library construction and local aid. Spearheaded by Senator Julian Cyr, Oliveira helped pass legislation in the Massachusetts Senate (Bill S. 2726) to protect intellectual freedom in schools and public libraries reinforcing access to diverse education resources. Senator Oliveira has centered libraries in his work as educator, municipal leader and now Senator, carrying on Tillinghast’s legacy and paving his own path to protect libraries as institutions of free thinking and a place where everyone belongs.