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Literacy organizations urge sustained investment in libraries as engines for learning and workforce development
Summary
Nonprofit partners told council that libraries are essential infrastructure for early childhood and adult literacy and called for stable, multi‑year funding so programs can operate consistently; Be Lit and Barbershop Books described program scale and the harms of intermittent closures.
Representatives from literacy organizations told the council hearing that libraries are indispensable platforms for early literacy, adult education and workforce readiness and urged sustained funding beyond one‑off grants.
Vanessa Lloyd Scambati, founder of the African American Children's Book Project, described the role libraries play in helping children see themselves reflected in books and to discover interests beyond their immediate neighborhoods.
Dawn Hannah, chief program and impact officer at Beyond Literacy (Be Lit), said the organization serves nearly 2,000 adults and families annually and argued that intermittent closures and staffing instability undercut long‑term learning; she proposed a framework of sustained, aligned funding that matches the scale of adult learning needs.
Dr. Angela Crumde, director of programs and research at Barbershop Books, described a local model serving nearly 4,000 children monthly through barbershop programs and said that when library facilities are reliable and well funded, community partners can scale successful programs to reach more children.
Nonprofit witnesses urged council to think of libraries as part of an ecosystem—spaces for instruction, devices, connectivity and wraparound services—and to align capital and operating investments to support programming continuity. Councilmembers reiterated willingness to work with partners and to consider programmatic needs alongside building repairs.
