A Win for River East Library

Congratulations to River East Public Library and the Vote YES for River East Public Library committee for the win on April 7, 2015!

This was our first endorsed Election Day for 2015, and a great new opportunity for the community served by REPL to benefit from a better funded library. With this 55% to 45% win, we helped them secure $59,000 in new funding each year for the next 15 years.  The community service area is small, but it's 33% of their funding.  And a cut that big would have been a huge problem for all their residents.

REPL lost their last two attempts at passing this funding measure, most recently in November 2014 with only a 40% Yes vote. EveryLibrary worked with the staff and the committee since after their loss in November 2014.  The work that library director Cherie Wright did with Informational communications and outreach was fantastic.   She clearly defined what passage and failure meant for the community. And that Plan A / Plan B approach to communications helped make the choices clear in the community.

We are also grateful to the community volunteers who worked the Vote YES committee.  Their dedication, time, and efforts were the first- and last-mile for the success of the campaign, both in their neighborhoods and on social media.   EveryLibrary was proud to make a $750 donation to the committee while providing tactical and strategic assistance, pro bono, to support their GOTV work.

We are happy for this turn around and this win for River East. Going from a 60% NO just 5 months ago to a 55% YES takes engagement, money, and time. Your support and donations make our work possible. Please let people know about EveryLibrary and our impact.

And feel free to put a few bucks back into our bank so we can do this again for another library.

Resources: 

EveryLibrary Supports NOPL and River East Library (announcement)