There’s a new radical group of activists at City Hall. Their demands? Don’t just save libraries, boost them up.
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.”
“Well, here we are. We’ve organized,” she continued. “We will not accept austerity.”
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. “If you let him out-swag you on this, we will never hear the end of it.”
The group – which counts around 40 members made up of patrons and library staffers — says that at their current funding level, libraries still need more capital and programmatic support. Many branches aren’t open seven days a week. The New York Public Library, which runs 88 branches in Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, estimated that only around a dozen of its libraries are open on Sunday.
On Tuesday, Brooklyn Public Library President Linda Johnson and Queens Public Library President Dennis Walcott joined New York Public Library President Anthony Marx in saying that Mamdani’s latest budget proposal had “established a new funding floor.” Without additional funding, branches “will be stretched further on collections, programming, and essential public services,” the leaders said.
“Now is the time to build on that toward a future in which libraries are fully funded,” they said in a statement.
Asked about the activists’ campaign, a City Hall spokesperson said the mayor “is committed to continuing to work with advocates and the City Council toward a total commitment of 0.5%” but did not specify a timeline.
Mamdani has previously said that reaching 0.5% was something he would “accomplish by the time that I’m done being the mayor of the city.”
Abby Emerson, an NYCPlan member, called that distant promise “frankly not good enough for us.”
Some government experts question the goal of setting aside a fixed allocation to libraries every year given the city’s changing fiscal picture and priorities.
“Libraries are deserving, the question is how do we provide more,” said Mitchell Moss, an urban planning professor at NYU. “There is competing pressure for public funds.”
But after public backlash from cuts in recent years, library activists believe they can make the case. A New York Times survey last year showed that libraries, along with parks, rank as top priorities for New Yorkers.
NYCPlan said that 11 city councilmembers have signed on so far to its campaign to commit 0.5% of the budget to libraries. The group says it won’t stop until it gets the mayor on board, too.
“We know he believes in this,” Emerson said.
