The Urban Libraries Council is driving greater advocacy for urban libraries. Through engagement with lawmakers in Congress and U.S. federal agencies, we advocate for several key policy positions that center the critical role that public libraries play in urban communities.

The nation's largest public libraries anchor communities and serve as hubs for economic and community advancement. They provide critical resources across employment, health, information access, civic engagement and social services for jobseekers, small businesses, immigrants, seniors, families with children, students and those bridging the digital divide.

Libraries are not just for reading anymore. They are a quintessential third space — an accessible place outside the home or work that promotes connection, community and emotion. Libraries provide important services to residents and are a connective fiber to a wide range of people of across genders, races, ages and income levels, housed and unhoused alike.

As trusted public institutions, libraries are finding new and expanded roles to support their local economy, job seekers and small business owners. Libraries lead inclusive programs focused on creating economic opportunity and social mobility. They help community members build personal financial stability and contribute to the local economy. Libraries also provide job search assistance, career development programs, and resume help, as well as partner with social services agencies streamline access to workforce assistance.

“What other institution can offer storytime for children, entrepreneurial services and financial literacy for adults, programs ranging from author talks to musical acts, and a place to work remotely or get on a Zoom call with people from across the world?” —Brooks Rainwater and Richard Florida in Bloomberg.

Our libraries serve as community conveners — providing safe spaces for the exchange of ideas and information. The books and resources that public libraries have in their collections are meant to be engaged with and talked about, even when there is disagreement with their content. Public libraries are the spaces we go to learn new ideas, experience cultures unlike our own, be inquisitive and become better and more empathetic citizens.

Education and literacy across a lifetime remain core to a healthy economy and strong nation. From storytimes and after-school programs for children to safe and supportive spaces for teens to adult literacy programs, libraries help meet peoples’ educational needs wherever they are in life.

Urban libraries have essential mandates that are not fully recognized in federal funding opportunities, from providing access to health and mental health support to citizenship classes to supporting individuals experiencing homelessness. The programs and partnerships libraries lead around health services, affordable housing and pathways to citizenship create healthy, vibrant and diverse communities.

Libraries are central hubs not only of knowledge but of the resources needed to thrive in today's rapidly evolving job market, from starting your own business to workforce training and skills development to accessing high-speed internet at the library or at home. Supporting libraries in work uplifts the American workforce and the American economy.