For The People Newsletter Vol. XXIII

For everyone working to strengthen and expand public libraries

FTP’s 2025 Public Library Challenge

It’s 2025 and For The People is ready to energize and prepare more folks to show up strong for their public libraries! We know the Trump administration will bring new challenges on top of the work library defenders are already engaged in. And we know that libraries will be both increasingly important to their communities and increasingly the target of book bans, funding cuts, and other efforts to restrict the role of this critical third space. But that future isn’t inevitable; we can fight back and we can fight for more, for strengthened libraries that truly meet the needs of our communities.

FTP remains focused on organizing people to connect with each other and build power around public libraries at the local level. We’ve conducted ground-breaking research about the governance structures of public library systems across the country; we’re training folks to become library commission candidates; and we’ve created tools and resources to help everyone learn more about and get involved with their library--and the word is getting out!

Each of us taking action is what will make a difference, so take FTP’s 2025 public library challenge and become a library champion:

1. Get a library card if you don’t have one.

2. Check out books and other items from your local library branch or attend an event at your local library branch.

3. Join your local Friend of the Library group if one exists.

4. Attend at least 4 public library board meetings and use our Board Watcher Bingo Card.

5. Learn how your public library works by filling out a copy of our Public Libraries 101 zine and share it with folks in your network.

6. Research how someone can become an elected or appointed member of your library board (email us with subject line “Stumped on Board” if you can’t find this information).

Let us know when you’ve completed the challenge and we’ll send you a “Library Champion” badge that you can use in your email signature, online profile, website, or anywhere else you share your ideas!

Lucy Bellwood (@lubellwood) created this Sketchbook (CC BY-NC-SA) during FTP’s Open House for our 2025 Candidate Cohort. She was also inspired to get in touch with someone on her local library commission, as she describes in her blog.

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#Warm4Holidays Updates

Our December and January newsletters include a #Warm4Holidays call to contact your local public library and ask if they can receive and distribute winter kits for folks needing a bit of extra care during this season. Amber and Pooja, who heard about the initiative on social media, shared their #Warm4Holidays experiences with us and sent along photos of what they put in their kits:

Amber: “I just wanted to send an update on me putting together some kits- with the help of my friends and former students (who all helped donate supplies), I was able to put together 9 kits. I dropped a few off at my local library, and have some in my car to help unhoused members in my community. I was so touched by how quickly my community of friends, former students, and their parents helped me to donate supplies, it was beautiful to experience. I am so glad I could do something to help others, and I’ve been inspired to continue making these every year for sure!

Pooja: “I dropped off a second set of kits with my local library today. The librarian said they're very appreciated, especially as the temps drop around here. Thank you for the breakdown you gave in the google doc - it gave me a roadmap to make the kits a lot better than they would have been otherwise. Hoping now that I've done it a couple of times I can loop in some friends and we can do many more bags.”

#Warm4Holiday kits from Amber and Pooja

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Updates from Library Land

Here’s a roundup of interesting reading and listening material that we think you’ll appreciate. Sometimes articles may be paywalled. In other news, sometimes it’s nice to use tools like Archive.today or the Wayback Machine.

• The Pro-Censorship, Anti-Library Bills Already Filed for 2025 by Kelly Jenson for Well Sourced

• The "Little Free Pantry" at the Ukiah Branch Library, Mendocino County, California by the Ukiah Branch Library

• New toolkit from Shareable will help you start (and grow) a Library of Things in YOUR community from Shareable

• Governor signs Freedom to Read Bill by Mark Estes for California Library Association

• Censorship Trends For 2025, Part I by Kelly Jenson for Book Riot

• How To Explain Book Bans to Those Who Want to Understand by Kelly Jenson for Book Riot

• Libraries are offering free health and wellness classes across the US by Devi Shastri for AP News

• Book Drop Nourishes Native Youth by Kimberly Blaeser for Poets & Writers

• Empathy, Homelessness, and the Library by Phil Morehart for i love libraries, American Library Association

• Libraries & Well-Being: A Case Study from The New York Public Library by By Daphna Blatt, Dr. E.K. Maloney, Dr. James O. Pawelski & Dr. Katherine N. Cotter, for the New York Public Library

• Libraries Play a Role in the Civic Commons by Kathy Ishizuka for School Library Journal

• New book filled with tips for creating joy in libraries for American Library Association

• Under pressure from some conservative activists, Sununu pulls state librarian nominee by Annmarie Timmins for New Hampshire Public Radio

• Federal Judge Strikes Down Parts of Arkansas’s Library Laws in Win for First Amendment by Kelly Jenson for Book Riot

• New Jersey becomes latest state to prohibit bans on books in school, public libraries by Mike Catalini for Associated Press

• Nashville Libraries Branch Out With Yoga, Barber Shops and Tools for Rent by Stephen Elliott for Nashville Banner

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Upcoming Events of Interest

• Anytime this winter - #Warm4Holidays 2024 Public Library Edition - This winter, create winter kits and distribute them to local public libraries that might want/need them. Winter kits can vary. Some include scarves, transportation cards, socks, hats, etc… You can include anything that might be of use to a houseless person. // If you are a crafter, you can make winter items and you can ask other crafters in your communities to do the same. Then you can meet up to put kits together and drop them off to a local public library that can use them. It’s important that you first reach out to your local branch library to talk to library workers about whether they can use such kits.

• January 4 - Application deadline for public library workers to apply for a grant opportunity from Library Innovation Lab (LIL). The grant enables librarians to design and implement new public humanities projects that reach and engage underserved immigrant groups. Apply by January 4th, the theme is “Welcoming Immigrants at America’s Public Libraries.” LIL will support a cohort of 10 public library professionals as they plan, implement and assess a small scale, short-term public humanities project between February and December of 2025. h/t to the Libraries, Integration and New Americans (LINA) listserv for bringing this to our attention.

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