Three More Wins Last Night and Now 101 Library Campaigns

We are celebrating three Election Day wins for libraries last night and we have now helped over 100 libraries at the ballot box in the last six years!

In Palatine, IL. voters approved a tax increase by 64% that will allow the library to maintain services while keeping its infrastructure up to date. In DeSoto, MO. 62% of voters said Yes to restoring the levy rate to 0.35 cents to dramatically increase services for all. In Rockton, IL. 69% said Yes, so the Talcott Free Library will now be able to finish their building expansion project and truly be an anchor for their main street. We are also mourning the loss last night alongside the River Grove, IL. library team. Their bond measure was turned down 462 to 1,016 in the face of strong anti-tax sentiments.

We spend thousands of dollars each week fighting for libraries at the ballot box and beyond. If you start a $1 or more per month donation, we’ll send you an “I Love My Library” sticker as a thank you.

EveryLibrary is proud to have worked with each of these library leadership teams and Vote Yes committees to help them carry their messages forward. And we could only do this because of our donors.

Because of our donors, EveryLibrary provided direct, personal, pro-bono campaign advising to each of these libraries. Sometimes we are involved with the library for years. In Palatine, we started working with the library board in July 2016 to help understand their community’s attitudes and evaluate their approach to a referendum. Our first visit with the Talcott Library board was in November 2017 to help them consider their options. In DeSoto, we first met their dedicated team in February 2018 and really dug in last September. This kind of long-term engagement with the library leadership teams is important and brings results on Election Day. Each library had their own plans for their specific communities. EveryLibrary was able to help them refine and amplify their message. It’s a great role for us to play.

Every successful Yes campaign starts out with a small group of volunteers who want to see their communities invest in their library. Because we are a political action committee we also work closely with a Vote Yes for the Library committee in town. We help these groups of neighbors with their campaign messaging, understanding their voter data, their social media strategy, and how to do effective Get Out the Vote techniques. Again, it’s all done for free because of donors like you. EveryLibrary’s vision is “Any library ballot measure anywhere should matter to every library everywhere.” We are proud that hundreds of donors around the country also share that vision and look to EveryLibrary as the organization who puts it to work.

Every $10 we raise helps us reach 1,000 more Americans when libraries are in crisis.
Please consider a $10-$25 donation today and help us continue to fight for libraries.

With these April 2019 Election Days, EveryLibrary now has 101 library campaigns behind us. We have helped over 80% of our libraries win their Election Days. With last night’s successes, we can point to helping secure over $322 million in stable tax money for our libraries. We are proud of that number. These are measurable, multi-year positive impacts on library budgets and building projects. But we are even more excited about how these three libraries will put new funding to work in their towns.

Because we can engage with the library team in person and over the long haul, we turn donations into taxpayer support for libraries. Our donor “return on investment” is for every $1 donated we return $1600 in stable tax funding for libraries. If you believe like we do that this is important work for the future of libraries across the United States, help us help “any library anywhere” with a donation today. A one-time $25 donation will let us jumpstart our next campaign. As little as a $2 monthly recurring donation will provide us with ongoing resources to help library campaigns everywhere. Thank you for the chance to put your support for library funding to work.