Libraries act now to gather stories of impact

I recently spent two days with library champions strategizing about library advocacy. The group discussed essential resources for aligning on messaging and connecting with diverse audiences, but what was fundamental to the work reminded me of why many choose to pursue library careers: the value of stories.

Our efforts were immediately put to the test as, within days of convening, book bans were declared a “hoax” and libraries—along with nonprofits, schools, healthcare institutions, and governmental agencies, to name a few—found themselves navigating a flurry of executive orders impacting the future of federal funding.

Although the executive order specific to freezing federal grants was rescinded within 48 hours, the American Library Association (ALA) quickly issued a call to action that positions libraries to respond when funding is inevitably threatened once again and created a portal for libraries to share stories.

According to ALA President Cindy Hohl, “Now more than ever, policymakers need to have positive, personal connections with library advocates—preferably before they are approached with false narratives by library opponents. One of libraries’ biggest assets are positive impact stories. It is essential we document and magnify what is at stake when policies and funding that enable access to information and resources through libraries is threatened. We must show up for our libraries and library workers by reminding elected leaders that their constituents love, trust, and depend on libraries and the freedom to read.”

A similar “flood the zone” strategy was highlighted a few months ago at the 2024 LJ Directors’ Summit, where several attendees described the need for libraries everywhere to “get loud” about their work—to make their impact and importance known.

Within a few days of placing the action alert, ALA received more than 150 stories. The Montrose Regional Library, CO, described how federal funding ensures that their rural library can help seniors, homeschool families, and those needing one-on-one help with job and food assistance applications; Carlsbad Public Library, NM, shared how federal grants made it possible for them to purchase Wi-Fi hotspots and laptops during the pandemic and funded an adult literacy program in their county, where one in three adults reads below a third grade level; a nursing college in New York wrote about their students who rely on Pell grants and federally funded student work programs, and the need for consistent funding to ensure they can remain in a program training them to fill critically needed medical roles.

Telling the library story is far more nuanced today than it once was. As Alan Inouye, ALA’s outgoing head of public policy and advocacy, reminded me in a recent conversation, “In the 20th century, it was a pretty easy branding for libraries—providing access to print books through the distributed system of libraries made sense. Now, it’s a rather different situation: What is the new brand of libraries? I don’t think we’ve solved that so far.”

Arriving at a clear story for libraries will take great effort—there’s no easy sound bite that encompasses all that libraries provide for their communities. But it’s critically important for future funding. LJ’s annual Budgets & Funding survey (“What’s Up, What’s Down”) reveals an increasingly uncertain funding landscape, with libraries relying on state and federal grant funding for everything from professional development to supplementing materials budgets.

Here at LJ, we’re deeply invested in library stories, so we’ll continue to do our part reporting on library innovations, tracking research, and highlighting the great work of exceptional libraries. We also want to keep the story submission process top of mind, so we’ll regularly partner with ALA to share stories that are submitted. If you haven’t done so already, please go online and share your library story.

We cannot be caught flat-footed when library funding is called into question. Doing the work of capturing stories today will help ensure we’re prepared to deal with threats that we may face tomorrow.