A group of publishers and trade associations formed the Corporate Committee for Library Investment (CCLI) to advocate for library funding and support in the face of proposed cuts or elimination of funding for public libraries. Do your part—check out the American Library Association’s awareness campaign now.

The CCLI was launched in May with a dozen members, including two Big Five publishers, Penguin Random House and Macmillan, the American Booksellers Association, the Software and Information Industry Association, and other groups. CCLI members said they believe America’s libraries are “business-building, job-creating, workforce-preparing engines of the U.S. economy.”

The present administration wants to eliminate almost all public library funding, as well as the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which distributes those funds to all 50 states. The administration’s proposed budget for next year will also get rid of funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH), which provide resources to low-income communities in all 50 states.

The American Library Association called the proposal counterproductive and short-sighted. The group is urging supporters to send email messages to their representatives and senators to fund the Library Services and Technology Act and the Innovative Approaches to Literacy program.

Learn more about this campaign, visit the ALA Washington Office’s website.

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