A Win in New Orleans is a 20 Year Win for their Library

The New Orleans Public Library passed a renewal of their core funding millage this weekend with a 70% YES vote. This means that the library will have stable and secure funding and community members will be able to access their library for 20 years to come. 

EveryLibrary was heavily involved in this campaign from its start. After the December 2020 levy campaign loss, it was important to reset the political conversation in town and look ahead to a dedicated renewal of the library millage. Unless the library millage was renewed by December 2021, the library would lose over half its funding.

I enjoyed working with the Yes For NOLA Libraries Campaign Committee, especially the co-chairs and leadership team including Dixon Stetler, Andrea Neighbors, Dana Henry, Shannan Cvitanovic, and Courtney Kearney. I appreciate what Dixon had to say about our work:

"EveryLibrary's unique role as the national political action committee for libraries was vitally important in this campaign. They came in with advice, support, and guidance at critical points in the campaign. We would not have been successful in moving forward together without EveryLibrary's partnership."

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Over the course of several months, I spoke with dozens of local community leaders, elected officials, stakeholders, and other mission-aligned organizations about the political challenges coming out of the last campaign. My biggest role was to help move the library back onto the path to Election Day. I am proud that the library board and other stakeholders trusted EveryLibrary to help. I knew we could a neutral, engaged, and knowledgeable campaign partner. 

I got to visit with a lot of folks over Zoom this year, but I also traveled to New Orleans in person after Hurricane IDA to train staff on their role in the campaign and meet with the Yes Committee in-person. It's so important to be able to show up and listen to what people need, and I am always humbled when I can. 

The City Council set a clear goal for the library to get on the ballot this year and ensure stable funding for a generation: develop a strategic plan through wide-ranging consultations across the community. I want to applaud Michelle Thomas from the Thomas Consulting Group (TCG) for her work with staff, stakeholders, and the board to create the Library Lifestyle 10-year strategic plan for the library. As we moved from plan development into organizing the campaign, EveryLibrary was able to continue to provide coaching, guidance, and direct support to staff and volunteers on both the Informational Communications Campaign and the Yes Campaign, separately of course.

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It is a real point of pride that I was part of the library team helped support the City post-Katrina. It is a wonderful professional accomplishment to have worked on their 2015 supplemental millage and this campaign to renew their core funding. This win on Saturday means the New Orleans Public Library has 20 years of stable funding for their library. At my age and place in life, I may never work on another funding campaign in New Orleans. But I'm not worried about them now. A properly-funded New Orleans Public Library will help the city rebuild from both COVID and any natural disaster that occurs. 

Our donors enable us to do this work every day for libraries like New Orleans - and 120 other campaigns over the last nine years - pro-bono and for free. 2021 looks to be a very complex year for libraries on the ballot. Coming through COVID, the questions libraries will need to remind people that a properly funded library is a solution to problems in communities. We will also need to be prepared to fight against political forces who are trying advance their agendas by attacking the library and, most concerningly, librarians and library workers themselves. We need everyone's help to be able to continue to show up authentically as a partner for libraries on the ballot. We need your support to reach out across social media with ad-supported digital advocacy campaigns to help any library anywhere confront these baseless attacks.

I hope you can help us as a donor as we help every library that needs us in 2021.