Dear A.R.T. Members,

You may have seen recent headlines claiming that Mayor Mamdani has restored library funding in his recent updated proposal for the city's FY27 budget. Unfortunately, while the new proposal has increased library funding from the Mayor's original FY27 financial plan, the new budget is still short (by $97 million) of meeting his campaign promise of allocating .5% of the city budget to its public libraries. You can read a more detailed breakdown of the numbers from our colleagues at the NYC Public Library Action Network (PLAN).

What you can do:

1. Send a letter (or two) to your NYC Council Member 

NYC PLAN has set up a campaign that allows you to send an email to your Council Member in just a few seconds: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/city-council-we-demand-half-a-percent-of-the-overall-city-budget-for-libraries.

You can also send a letter through Urban Librarians Unite’s campaign to support NYC Libraries with additional funding: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/help-support-nyc-libraries-with-additional-funding/ 

2. Give your Council Member a quick call

NYC PLAN has a webpage that makes it easy to look up your Council Member, along with a script you can reference during your call: https://nycplan.org/actions/call-your-city-councilmember/

3. Testify before City Council on June 10th 

When the City Council's Committee on Finance meets on June 10th, the public has the opportunity to testify either:

• in person at City Hall or over Zoom. 
  
• By submitting a written testimony 

NYC PLAN has a document with instructions on how to sign up, along with recommendations on how to testify effectively: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QWwqgrv0SfajB-BKVsym5b6nedhSuA_TqznbN1hLcWg/edit?tab=t.0 

- A.R.T. Advocacy Committee

Please feel free to reach out to the Advocacy Committee with questions, comments, and suggestions at advocacy@nycarchivists.org.