The radical readers sick of settling for low library funding

A new activist group at City Hall is pushing for increased public library funding beyond recent budget reversals. After Mayor Zohran Mamdani restored some library money, the group said libraries remain underfunded and called for the mayor to meet a campaign pledge to allocate 0.5% of the city budget to the public library system. The group argues that meeting the pledge would add about $97 million for library branches. At a City Hall rally, a member said working people organizing can change what is politically possible and vowed not to accept austerity. The group also contrasted the proposed library share under Mamdani with the higher share under Eric Adams.

"Earlier this month, many New Yorkers breathed a sigh of relief when Mayor Zohran Mamdani decided to reverse budget cuts he made to libraries. For the New York Public Library Action Network (NYCPlan), the mayor's move presented an opportunity to press him for more. Immediately after Mamdani released his revised budget that touted an additional $31.7 million for libraries, the group issued a statement saying that libraries were "still underfunded.""

"The group has been lobbying on the system's behalf since 2024. It wants the mayor to commit to his campaign pledge of allocating a 0.5% of the city budget to the public library system - an idea modeled after the 25-year-old "1% for parks" campaign. Keeping that promise would mean another $97 million to library branches."

"Speaking at a rally at City Hall on Tuesday, Anastazia Neely, one of the group's members, quoted the mayor himself talking about his own budget earlier this month. "It is evidence of a new era," Neely said. "One that understands that when working people organize, they can fundamentally change what is politically possible.""

"She also compared Mamdani to his predecessor, Eric Adams. Under Mamdani's current proposal, libraries would receive 0.42% of the total budget - or 42 cents out of every $100. "In Eric Adams' budget, libraries got 45 cents out of every $100," she said, referring to the 2026 adopted budget."

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