Library Funding Stances by Mayoral Candidates
Demanding half of 1% for NYC’s Public Libraries
NYC PLAN is asking all candidates for mayor in NYC to commit to increasing public library funding to at least half of 1% of the annual city expense budget in each financial plan they release while in office.
Over 950 New Yorkers have taken action and joined us in making this demand, and you can too. Sending our letter takes less than one minute!
Who has agreed to our demand?
See who has agreed below:
Zohran Mamdani
Agreed to our demand!
See his public commitment here: https://www.zohranfornyc.com/platform#libraries
Andrew Cuomo
Waiting for Response
Curtis Sliwa
Waiting for Response
Eric Adams
Waiting for Response
Dropped out!
Photos above are courtesy of the Wikimedia Commons collection
Join NYC PLAN in making this demand
Email the Candidates to insist they increase and stabilize funding for our public libraries
How much is half of 1%?
- Planned library funding for FY ‘26 is only 0.42% ($480,334,000) of the total New York City expense budget.
- An increase to half of 1% (0.50%) would mean $572,500,000.
- This is about $92 million more in public library funding in the FY ’26 cycle than is currently planned, or a 19% increase in total library funding in this upcoming fiscal year.
- This is a realistic but significant number which will allow libraries to better serve NYC.