Read FPP’s City Council testimony on the Executive Budget here
Parents understand intuitively that raising children can be made easier, or harder, by the conditions that surround families. A playground down the block, a local library with ‘mommy & me’ classes, or a nearby grocery store with healthy food options—simple neighborhood amenities can make everyday life feel more supported. Research has documented that neighborhood conditions shape family stress, safety, connection in ways that can safeguard against or compound hardship.
Public libraries serve as an especially vital resource. “Libraries don’t just provide free access to books and other cultural materials,” NYU sociologist Eric Klinenberg has written, “they also offer things like companionship for older adults, de facto child care for busy parents, language instruction for immigrants and welcoming public spaces for the poor, the homeless and young people.” Parents have described shared public places like libraries as “relief valves” that give children outlets and allow caregivers to rest and connect with others.
The organizing group NYC Public Library Action Network (PLAN) has called for 0.5% of the city budget to be committed to libraries. While Mayor Mamdani has guaranteed stable library funding at $526 million for three years––that represents just 0.42% of the city budget, and is down from 0.45% committed last year.
Here, PLAN members Abby Emerson, Dylan Flesch and Mariame Kaba share why they’re advocating for 0.5% of the total city expense budget to be baselined for libraries and how to get involved.
Q: What brought you to NYC PLAN?
Mariame Kaba: I was born and raised in New York City and I’ve always loved libraries. My mom moved here very young and didn’t speak the language, and we spent a lot of time at the library together. While she was doing ESL, I was doing story hours. That marked me quite a bit. My first job was as an Information Specialist, and I went back to school for library and information science during the pandemic.
Over the last decade, I’ve been getting more and more frustrated. Libraries are being defunded nationally. Budgets are constantly contested, even in a city like New York. We started NYC PLAN in 2024 in response to the budget dance––where mayors play around with the library budget, everybody rushes to fill the cut and the library is always trying to keep its head above water.
Dylan Flesch: I live in Sunset Park, I’m a patron of the Brooklyn Public Library as well as a member of NYC PLAN. I love libraries, and I’ve loved them long enough to know that love doesn’t pay their bills.
Abby Emerson: I’m an assistant professor of childhood education and a former elementary school teacher. I’m also a mom of three, so I’m at the library every freaking day, especially because it’s right next to my kids’ school. It’s a central part of our lives.
I joined NYC PLAN in early 2025. I was attracted to the idea of the library as a public good. Especially as capitalism eats away at every space that we have, the library is a ‘commons,’ where there isn’t a demand for financial contribution to participate.
Q: What is the current state of library funding in NYC?
Mariame: Mayors will often start with a lowball in the preliminary budget, which causes a panic, and then they move it up in the executive budget. That’s usually not enough, so advocates will go to hearings to say, ‘We need more.’ In the end, it’s rarely enough. That’s the budget dance. That constant up-and-down cuts into the library’s ability to plan.
That is what we seek to end through our advocacy. Our demand is 0.5% of the city expense budget as the floor.
Abby: The preliminary budget in January put forth just 0.39%, even though Mamdani campaigned on 0.5%. Advocates, including from NYC PLAN, reached out to their Council members and testified to the City Council in March. In the executive budget, funding came up to 0.42%.
Dylan: We want the half-percent commitment to become the minimum benchmark for all future funding discussions. This would mean $97 million more than what was included in the executive budget.
Q: What is the role of libraries in supporting families and communities?
Abby: The library offers a powerful third space for families––especially when parks are not as accessible or enjoyable due to heat or cold. It’s a place to go and connect that isn’t your house, especially if you feel like you’re on top of each other in a smaller apartment.
Early literacy is developed for students and supported for families through libraries, whether through baby story times or sing-alongs. Schools and libraries are closely tied as well––many teachers do field trips or have library workers do sessions for students.
Mariame: Families, or anybody who’s part of the library, can learn from library workers. The workers get to know you, and your kids have another adult in the world that they can count on. That was the case for me growing up at my library. My siblings and I would go after school because both my parents worked and couldn’t get a babysitter.
My librarian became a trusted friend and confidant––somebody I saw all the time who was always there. For people that are struggling to be single parents for example, or that don’t have a community of folks, this is another way we’re building community.
Dylan: We visit the Sunset Park branch of BPL all the time. My son Griffin got his library card when he was two months old. Roxanna, the wonderful branch manager greets Griffin and other little ones by name and provides amazing programming.
Everything we love about the library is brought to us directly by library workers. But they, like most branches, are short staffed and spread thin. We desperately need to hire more staff and raise worker pay so they can safely expand service hours and keep providing programming.
Abby: An article in the Journal of Cultural Economics talked about how the presence of libraries appears to lead to a decrease in crime. Thinking about upstream solutions, libraries are a community hub where people can get resources or attend workshops about writing a resume. But libraries can’t offer those things with a lack of funding and if they don’t have workers to make them happen. That’s why we need this budget––so that opportunities are available and taking place in the library.
Q: How can folks get involved in library advocacy in NYC?
Abby: Find ways that you can plug in! For folks that are interested in getting involved, we have a website. If you have three minutes, send a letter to the City Council in support of libraries. If you have more time, email or call your City Council member and ask for a meeting. We’re always happy to join those meetings.
Mariame: One of the things we do poorly in our country is to see ourselves as co-builders of our institutions. We are constituents, contributors and citizens––helping to build and sustain these institutions we care about. Learning how to be a ‘small-c citizen’ involves being active.
Whether it’s the great work with Abby, Dylan and the rest of the crew at NYC PLAN, or my other political homes––this is what has kept me from going off the deep end. Isolation and not doing anything are toxic brews, and this work is a soft place to land with other people.
An organizing flyer from the NYC Public Library Action Network (NYC PLAN).
Interview by Mahima Golani