While a starting a one-dollar per month donation doesn’t seem like a lot, it does mean that you would have helped us fight for nearly $20,000 in library funding by the end of the year. AND, if we reach our goal of 1,000 donors then we can help libraries receive nearly 20 million dollars in library funding every year.
As a gold-rated 501c4, in the last 4 years your donations have allowed us to work on political actions for libraries across the United States. We have worked on dozens of political actions against bad legislation and school library closures and we have even fought against the Koch Brothers. Through our direct political work with over 60 libraries we are able to turn your donations into over 230 million dollars in stable library funding. In fact, for every single dollar we’re raised, we’ve been able to win $1,600 in stable library funding. That’s why we think we’ve got the wining combination to ensure stable library funding across the country for years into the future with a donation from you of just one dollar a month!
If you were to donate just one dollar today, this is how we'd spend it.
But here is what would happen at other donor levels!
$2 dollars a month helps us win over $38,000 a year.
$3 dollars a month helps us win over $57,000 a year.
$5 dollars a month helps us win over $96,000 a year.
$10 dollars a month helps us win over $192,000 a year.
$25 dollars a month helps us win nearly a half a million dollars for libraries!
Why are we doing this work?
We’re doing this work because millions of Americans rely on the services provided to them by their local libraries. These services are provided to every American regardless of race, gender, political or religious affiliation, or socio-economic status. Anyone who wants to improve themselves by learning a new skill, finding a better career, developing their small business, or just reading for recreation can use the library to achieve their goals. The library is one institution in the county that truly serves American’s to make sure they achieve their dreams.
However, there are forces at work to diminish or eliminate this great foundational institution. Organizations like the Koch Brothers funded SuperPAC, Americans for Prosperity, don't seem to understand that libraries often return between $5 and $10 to the community for every dollar spent on them and provide services to the hundreds of millions of Americans that visit libraries every single year. There are many politicians like Donald Trump who are cutting libraries from the budget because they don't realize that libraries provide important programs and services like storytimes, after school help, resources and services for small business and startups, and services for returning veterans. Libraries have a huge impact in the lives and livelihoods of Americans throughout their lives. There are outspoken individuals who don't see the value of the information provided to citizens by libraries in an era of fake news.