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Library Advocacy
The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) provides a collaborative foundation within the community for all Prince Georgians to create the world they want to see. Community members have an important role to play in championing the essential services and programs that the PGCMLS provides to enhance life in Prince George’s County. Together, the Library, Board of Library Trustees, PGCMLS Foundation, friends groups, and customers shape the future of PGCMLS by sharing stories, strengthening relationships with partners, and celebrating the transformational work the Library carries out each day.
Show Up for Our Libraries! – #ForOurLibraries
Federal support for libraries is under direct attack, following the White House’s March 14 Executive Order aimed at dismantling the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Your voice is needed to show up for your local library and community!
BACKGROUND:
- While IMLS might not be a federal agency everyone knows by name, it provides crucial support to services to more than 125,000 libraries across the United States – services you and your neighbors use every day!
- As the American Library Association (ALA) notes in their FAQ about this action, Library funding draws less than 0.003% of the annual federal budget yet has enormous impact in communities nationwide. From technology classes for jobseekers to services for people with disabilities, from library delivery for older Americans to summer reading programs for families, IMLS funding makes a real, concrete difference in the lives of Americans every day.
- In the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, this impact is felt in our deepest core support systems: without IMLS support, all the cogs that keep PGCMLS’s gears turning would be sluggish and much less efficient.
- For PGCMLS, this impact is felt in our core structures: in recent years, IMLS support has helped fund and/or expand lifelong learning programs like January’s Career Success Month and children’s literacy programs like Hatchlings; has helped support strategic planning, staff training, and other infrastructure refurbishments; and has even funded the statewide One Maryland One Book program.
- On March 14, the White House issued an Executive Order to demand that the IMLS only do what is “statutorily required,” and directed the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to reject any funding requests from IMLS “except insofar as necessary to effectuate an expected [agency] termination.”
- While this Executive Order does not officially terminate the IMLS, its intention to make it easier to eventually terminate this critical agency is clear.
- But that doesn’t mean that the dismantlement of IMLS is inevitable! In fact, on the same day this Executive Order was issued, the Senate passed (and President Trump signed) a continuing resolution which provides funding for IMLS through September 2025.
Again from the ALA’s FAQ, here are the ways that the Executive Order targeting IMLS could be halted or limited:
- Congress could enact a law that overrides the president’s action.
- A court can overturn provisions of the executive order, or actions taken to implement the executive order, that it finds to violate the Constitution or a federal law.
- President Trump, or a future president, could rescind or modify the executive order, or direct that it be interpreted in ways that reduce the disruption of IMLS’s activities and programs.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SHOW UP FOR OUR LIBRARIES TODAY:
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Call your representatives.
Phone calls are one of the most effective actions any library user can take to send a strong message to elected officials. A phone call says that you, as their constituent, care so much about a specific issue that you are willing to take five minutes out of your busy life to make your voice heard. And we know from other recent actions that when Congress gets flooded with calls supporting agencies and workers who provide critical services to American communities, that pressure can have a real impact.
The ALA has already prepared a form and script for community members to use to call their representatives directly. Call now!
Note from Maryland ALA Chapter Councilor Joe Thompson: If leaving a voicemail, please leave your full street address to ensure that your call is tallied.
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Send your representatives a letter.
Phone calls aren’t the only way to tell your representatives exactly how much libraries mean to you. The ALA has also prepared this form to help you send a letter in support of the IMLS
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Write a letter to the editor in your local newspaper, and/or share your story for ALA’s story collection about the impact of federal funding on your community.
The American Library Association is collecting first-hand stories about libraries in order to better promote the value of libraries in our communities and to build support for libraries through public advocacy across the country.
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Ask your family, friends and neighbors to write letters and make calls with you.
The more voices your representatives hear from, the stronger your message will be. And taking action together can be fun! You can even make it a party: bring some snacks, your favorite books, and a couple memories about the role libraries have played in your life – you might be surprised at how much stronger your testimonial will be when you’re making a call knowing exactly how important libraries are not just to you, but to your closest community!
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Learn more about how the IMLS supports your local library.
The Urban Libraries Council has compiled a comprehensive collection of accessible explainers on all the ways libraries make our communities – and economies! – stronger.
- Become a Supporter of the American Library Association, or donate to the PGCMLS Foundation to support PGCMLS directly.
Banned and Challenged Books
Most Challenged Books
State and Local Advocacy
The Prince George's County Memorial Library System was recently awarded $2.2 million in the FY24 federal budget to obtain and launch "Rover: Library 2Go," a new mobile library unit that will provide internet access, multilingual library services, immigrant and refugee support, and job search and career assistance throughout Prince George’s County, with a focus on areas that do not have current access (via public transportation and walking) to a permanent neighborhood branch library. This opportunity was made possible by Representative Anthony Brown (MD-4) and Senator Chris Van Hollen through their FY24 community project program. Additional support from community members like you demonstrated the need for this important resource.
Library customers are encouraged to contact their federal representatives to thank them for supporting federal budget increases for libraries. Please contact your legislators today using the American Library Association’s engagement website or calling their offices (see phone numbers for the House and Senate). Prince George’s County’s federal representatives in the 119th Congress are:
The 2025 Session of the General Assembly of Maryland takes place from January 8 - April 7, 2025. The statewide public library community engages with state lawmakers year-round to promote awareness of the work of local public libraries. Maryland Library Legislative Day (February 7) is an annual event that brings library leaders and advocates together with lawmakers in Annapolis to discuss important legislative issues. In 2025, public libraries are advocating for increasing per capita funding for the Maryland State Library Resource Center, supporting the Freedom to Read Act to codify professional statewide standards for libraries, and more.
Prince George’s County Budget
The Prince George’s County government approved the Library’s FY25 operating budget on May 25, 2023. The budget includes funding for increased staff compensation and operating costs, and more. Thank County Executive Alsobrooks and the Prince George’s County Council for their support of PGCMLS.
Find your county elected representatives.
Advocacy Resources
American Library Association Advocacy and Public Policy
American Library Association Maryland State Fact Sheet
Citizens for Maryland Libraries
Maryland Library Association Engage and Advocacy
Maryland Libraries Report (IMLS)
National Council of Nonprofits Advocacy Resources
United for Libraries
Indiana Library Federation
Maryland Advocacy Resources
Library association reports record number book ban attempts in 2023
The American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) has released new data documenting book challenges throughout the United States, finding that challenges of unique titles surged 65% in 2023 compared to 2022 numbers, reaching the highest level ever documented by ALA.
Follow Unite Against Book Bans on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Check the updated Unite Against Book Bans website for more information.
PGCMLS believes that every story deserves to be told, and each reader should be trusted to make their own decisions about what to read.
Full poll results and key findings available via the American Library Association.
Rock Banned Books
The Prince George’s County Memorial Library System (PGCMLS) partnered with former President Barack Obama and the Obama Foundation in a national campaign with libraries to promote the freedom to read, featuring a video that includes the Library’s year-round Rock Banned campaign. The video by PGCMLS, shared on TikTok and Instagram, features staff and customers at PGCMLS branch libraries with a selection of favorite banned books. The video, shared on TikTok and Instagram, has generated more than 315,000 Instagram views as of March 2024.
PGCMLS launched its award-winning Rock Banned campaign in 2022 to build public awareness among residents about the importance of the freedom to read as staff and programs were targeted online, branches were vandalized, and programs were disrupted because of the library's visible commitment to Black Lives Matters and the LGBTQ+ community. The same year the campaign started, the ALA documented 1,269 challenges to library books and materials, the highest number since it began compiling the data more than 20 years ago and nearly double the number of challenges from the year before. Nationally, the challenges in 2022 targeted 2,571 unique titles, many either by or about members of the LGBTQ+ community, as well as by or about Black or Indigenous communities, and people of color.
Books broaden readers' perspectives. Books reach across boundaries and build connections between readers. Censorship divides communities and creates barriers. Book bans deny readers the opportunity to expand their horizons and encounter new perspectives.
Books are tools for understanding complex issues. When books are banned from libraries and schools, students cannot access critical information to help them understand themselves and the world around them. Parents lose the opportunity to engage in teachable moments with their kids, and communities lose the opportunity to learn and build mutual understanding. Limiting young people's access to books does not protect them from life's complex and challenging issues.
Books give readers and families the freedom of choice. Reading opens doors to new ideas and experiences. Each reader should be trusted to make their own decisions about what to read. Librarians and educators are trained to make all kinds of knowledge and ideas available so that people have the freedom to choose what to read. These professionals respect the rights of parents to decide which book their children are exposed to, and work closely with parents to help them decide the best books for their children.
Community Feedback
"Just wanted to thank Greenbelt Branch Library staff for the great book bundle - these picks are a hit!!"
"Big supporter/fan of my local @PGCMLS and all they are doing to keep staff safe while providing curbside service."
"Just got back from a curbside pickup. Oxon Hill staff were super helpful, as always."
"I miss hanging out at my local library so much! I hope all of you are well and I can’t wait to get books in person again!"
"Thank you for the work you do to keep resources available to patrons and the creative ways you are reaching out to encourage all to take advantage of they online programs you offer."
"I have been using the curbside pickup. I would not ask for better service. Not only that, but the efficiency and the kindness of the entire staff, from the people who put the books out to the guard, are noteworthy. Wonderful experience all around. Thank you."
"The library has been a consistent, reliable resource for me and my family to meet our academic, social and personal development needs. And the librarians are the BEST!!!!! Over the last 20 years I'm come to know many of the librarians and they've always been extremely helpful. The children's programming is amazing. And the ease of use of online services. For all these reasons I love and appreciate the services of PGCMLS."
"I love the Prince George's library system. A lot of thought went into your offerings and I, for one, and very grateful. I use your audiobook and ebook collection heavily. And while using the actual libraries is not an option right now when it is back on offer I will be there!"
"We really relied on the library curbside pickup services and digital services during this pandemic, especially this winter when outdoor activities were hard to plan for our elementary school aged kids. We appreciate the libraries and librarians stepping it up during this time of need and tirelessly serving their communities!"
