New York City Public Library Action Network Newsletter, Issue #1

A graphic reading “Libraries are essential” with drawings of a Black girl reading a pink book, an older white man reading a book to children, and an androgynous librarian in a red shirt showing someone with shoulder-length grey hair in a yellow shirt a computer. Each image is captioned “Knowledge,” “Community,” and “Resources” respectively

NYC Public Library People’s Assembly

Join us on Saturday, May 17th at Greenpoint Reformed Church from 1:30 – 5:30pm for a discussion about our visions for NYC libraries & how we will increase their funding.

We’ll be hosting a teach-in on Library Funding 101 and breakouts to discuss what you want for and from the public libraries.

RSVP Here!

A photo of an arm holding a megaphone up in the air with the Brooklyn Bridge in the background

Photo credit: Lara Jameson, Pexels

Make Your Voice Heard at Mayoral Forums and Debates

The Democratic Primary Election for New York City Mayor is June 24, and we’re pushing EVERY candidate to increase library funding to 0.5% of the city’s budget.

We’re putting the pressure on at Mayoral forums and debates, and hope that you’ll join us to ask questions about each candidate’s plan to raise New Yorker’s standards of living through decarceration and public projects.

Upcoming Forums & Debates:

May 8 at 6pm
Mayoral forum with the ACLU and NAACP at The Cooper Union. RSVP here.
May 14 from 7 to 8:30pm
Mayoral forum with the Five Borough Waterfront over Zoom. Register here.
May 15 at 8pm
Mayoral forum with Hellgate and New York Focus at The Public Theater
June 4 at 7pm
1st Democratic Primary Election Debate at WNYC
June 12 at 7pm
Leading Contender Democratic Primary Election Debate at NY1

The New York Public Library main branch reading room

Photo Credit: Oscar Ovalle Pexels

Call to Action – Fund our Libraries!

We’re canvassing to show support for the library budget increase. Our public libraries have been underfunded for too long.

Send a letter telling NYC’s mayoral candidates that our libraries deserve at least half of 1% of the annual city expense budget (0.5%) in the upcoming budget and into the future. You can sign a letter online here.

Feel free to add details on why public libraries are important to you, or just send as is! If you prefer to sign a paper copy, let us know, and we can connect you to an NYC PLAN tabling event in your area. A copy of your letter will be sent to each mayoral candidate.

Send a letter

Want to know more about NYC PLAN?

Check out the NYC PLAN website and our FAQ explaining what we do, why we do it, and how we get things done. It outlines our values, structure, and the ways you can help us help the libraries.
If you want to get involved with NYC PLAN, we’d love to see you at our next meeting! Email info@nycplan.org, and we’ll give you details regarding our meeting dates and locations.