Every spring, thousands of library advocates from around the country call on their elected officials to provide crucial funding for US libraries. This effort is part of the American Library Association’s #FundLibraries campaign, now in its eighth year.
This year, the campaign for the fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal budget kicked off April 15 and concluded May 10. During that time, members of Congress signed “Dear Appropriator” letters requesting increased funding for specific library programs. Advocates sent more than 20,000 messages to their elected officials—a figure up 11% from last year—in a single month.
During the appropriations process, library advocates asked members of Congress to fund the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) initiative, the only two federal programs dedicated to library funding. The Dear Appropriator letters are then delivered to the US House and Senate Appropriations committees, which are responsible for drafting spending bills, balancing the needs of hundreds of federal programs, and ultimately deciding which of them should see increases or cuts. This year, the IAL request was set at $50 million, while LSTA letters asked for funding up to the authorization level of $232 million.
Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), a longtime champion of libraries, led both the LSTA and IAL letters in the upper chamber. Forty-one senators signed on to support LSTA, while 33 signed on to support IAL.
In the House, 104 representatives signed on to support LSTA and 61 representatives signed on to support IAL. Despite this year’s shorter window to gather signatures, the LSTA letter saw an increase of 10 supporters over last year. The letters were a bipartisan effort in the House, with the LSTA letter again being led by Reps. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and the IAL letter being led by Bacon and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass).
“Access to high-quality literacy programming and resources remains a critical component of childhood literacy development,” the IAL letter states. “For American families living in poverty, the lack of access to quality reading materials and adequate learning facilities fosters chronic disadvantages for already underserved youth. Without critical literacy support, students often fall behind in school and struggle to achieve their full potential.”
The 20,000 campaign messages sent to elected officials demonstrating the demand for the LSTA and IAL programs were primarily emails and phone calls. Supporters from key districts continued their outreach during ALA’s legislative fly-in, held March 5–7 in Washington, D.C., at which they spoke directly to lawmakers about appropriations requests.
In March, the White House also weighed in with its FY25 budget recommendations. While the administration’s recommendation of $30 million for IAL matched last year’s level of funding, ALA was disappointed to see a $7.8 million decrease recommended for LSTA.
What’s next?
With the close of the Dear Appropriator campaign in May, House and Senate appropriators now put together the federal budget. Most of the final budget decisions will likely be made after the November elections, but the groundwork that ALA and library advocates have laid puts library funding in a strong starting position.
Federal spending falls into two categories: mandatory and discretionary. Library funding, like most education funding, is considered discretionary, meaning it can be increased, decreased, or eliminated on a yearly basis. This underscores an age-old D.C. adage: If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. Library advocates did a tremendous job showing up to the table this year, but outreach must be ongoing. If you’re not yet signed up for ALA’s advocacy email list, you can join here.
In the coming months, ALA’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office, Policy Corps, and Committee on Legislation will be busy attending committee hearings and work sessions. They will also be meeting with key congressional staffers to remind them that library funding is a national priority that can be felt in every community.
