If you love libraries and librarians, EveryLibrary could be your jam

Who doesn’t love libraries? Apparently, right-wing power-mongers.

Libraries and librarians are under serious threat at the state and federal level. Perform a search under “rural libraries closing” and you will see a world on fire. According to recent reports it increasingly looks like America’s rural library systems are heading for collapse. Why? This administration has frozen all grant funding to libraries, archives and museums, and the effect on libraries is devastation. 

If you want to support something you can know with certainty is effective at mobilizing communities and achieving real, tangible results, here it is! EveryLibrary is as close to a superhero for the reading public as you can get. Cape flying, they work with citizen groups around the country to help them be effective protectors for these centers of civic good. Offering pro-bono consultants and advisors, digital strategies, toolkits and more, EveryLibrary works to fill in knowledge and skills gaps to get people galvanized in supporting and sometimes saving their libraries.

Here is just one recent example of what they can effect. (This was a story published by EveryLibrary. It has been edited slightly for this post.)

March 24, 2025: Without warning or stakeholder input, a draconian budget proposal would have shut down the oldest state library in America, gutting support for every local library in the state. But within 90 minutes, EveryLibrary launched a full-scale rapid response campaign—and within 24 hours, lawmakers reversed course.

The Threat
House Finance Amendment 2025-1300h was not about good governance. It was a politically motivated attack on one of New Hampshire’s most vital public institutions. If passed, it would have dismantled:

• Statewide interlibrary loan networks
• Professional development for librarians
• Technical support to rural and small-town libraries
• Core services to students, seniors, families, and communities

Every Library’s Rapid Response
Just before lunchtime on Monday, March 24th, EveryLibrary was alerted to the finance committee amendment. Within 90 minutes, they launched a complete campaign infrastructure:

• They published a dedicated action center to defend the NH State Library Budget
• Issued a strong, clear media statement.
• Sent direct email alerts to in-state supporters
• Distributed a rapid-response toolkit to local library stakeholders
• Deployed $2,000 in targeted digital ads on social media to mobilize as many Granite Staters as possible before the Tuesday vote.

At the same time, EveryLibrary reached out to their partners at New Hampshire MomsRising to ask them to mobilize more of their powerful network of members. They quickly sent out the call to action and put out creative outreach on TikTok and social media. The threat to the state library budget was covered by WMUR and InDepthNH, helping bring statewide visibility to the threat.

The Impact: Immediate, Unmistakable, and Powerful
In less than 24 hours, more than 4,400 people used EveryLibrary’s platform to contact their state legislators. The surge of public outcry was impossible to ignore. Lawmakers cited receiving hundreds of emails from constituents demanding they reject the amendment. By the morning of Tuesday, March 25, the House Finance Committee had reversed course. The proposal to defund and dismantle the New Hampshire State Library was withdrawn.

Infrastructure Meets Action
This wasn’t luck—it was readiness. EveryLibrary’s systems are built for speed and scale. Their tools are easy to use, and they’ve built an engaged, trusted network that takes action when it matters most. They invest when the stakes are high—whether that’s putting money behind digital ads or amplifying local partners on the ground. And they have allies ready to move. 

This win is proof: When libraries are attacked, EveryLibrary know how to fight back—and win.

I imagine that the good people at EveryLibrary are working in overdrive right now. When I interviewed co-founder Patrick Sweeney in March 2025 he laid out the stark realities facing libraries and their staff across the nation and what they were doing to prepare for the coming onslaught. I wonder if they are tired or inspired or both. What we can know is that they are making a difference, and you can help them.

You can help by taking part in their digital campaigns or you can Donate. Donations to EveryLibrary go far and have translated into billions of dollars in direct funding to libraries across the nation. How ever you choose to engage, know that you are helping to protect something everyone loves (except Authoritarian power mongers, of course).