Macon-Bibb Libraries Were Saved!

This week we are excited to announce that the Board of County Commissioners in Bibb-County Georgia finally passed a budget that includes permanent funding for the Middle Georgia Regional Library.  

We began working with the leadership at MGRL in late June when we found out about the cuts to the Macon Libraries and the potential closure of 3 branches in the library system. We were able to quickly build a petition campaign on our action platform that allowed concerned community members to contact the commissioners to express their concern about the loss of the libraries. We spent significant funds to put the petition in front of hundreds of thousands of Americans and tens of thousands of local residents. We were also able to email our growing network of over 100,000 identified library supporters who quickly helped contact representatives and spread word about this crisis to help make the library closures a national issue. Finally, we supported the advocates on the ground by alerting local supporters to attend a rally on the night of the first budget vote. We kept pressure on County Commissioners by asking supporters to continue to attend meetings until the final vote was cast.

A donation of $25-50 funds our political actions for libraries

While it took significant resources to build this action, we are pleased that ultimately the county commissioners voted for emergency funding to keep the libraries open and for a millage rate that secures funding for the libraries into the foreseeable future.

We were proud to lend our networks, funds, tools and resources to the local fight for the Macon-Bibb library. We know that our methodology works because we’ve put it into action fighting for public and school libraries across the country. We know that the threats to libraries are not over and that we need to keep fighting by building the tools and resources that libraries need to win. We also know that we need to continue to identify library supporters across the country so that we can activate millions of Americans anytime a library is threatened in the United States. That is just what the first and only National Political Action Committee for libraries should do.

If we want to continue to support libraries, we need your support. There are two important ways that you can help. First, please take a moment and invite your friends and family to like our Facebook page. If we can reach one million Americans through Facebook whenever a library is threatened, we’ll be able to apply significant pressure to any politicians who want to close or defund libraries. Second, please consider starting a monthly donation of just $1, $3, or $5. Sign up while supplies last and the first month of your monthly donations while be matched by ByWater Solutions. You’ll also receive an “I Love My Library” pin as a thank you.