Resilience in a Time of Great Pressure – EveryLibrary Institute 2025 Annual Report
In 2025, the EveryLibrary Institute operated at the intersection of law, policy, research, and civic life at a scale that reflects the evolving role of libraries in American democracy. Our impact is best understood not through isolated metrics, but through the cumulative strengthening of the systems that sustain public, school, academic, and state libraries across the country.
At the level of policy and law, the Institute shaped legislative and regulatory outcomes in multiple states while contributing to national conversations about federal authority and the rule of law. Our guidance informed the passage of Right to Read protections, supported successful veto efforts against anti-access legislation, and advanced the Libraries for All Act as a model for embedding civil rights protections into library law. At the federal level, our early and sustained analysis regarding attempts to dismantle IMLS clarified the statutory framework protecting federal library funding and reinforced the principle that libraries are grounded in law, not political discretion.
Your donations to the EveryLibrary Institute (501c3) are tax-deductible.
Through civic infrastructure initiatives such as FightForTheFirst.org and FundLibraries.org, research and policy were translated into measurable public engagement. More than 150 local petitions were launched in 2025, activating tens of thousands of individuals and generating over 100,000 messages to decision-makers. In communities facing coordinated censorship campaigns, organized local action, supported by the EveryLibrary Institute's infrastructure, successfully restored or protected access in the majority of affected districts. Rapid-response fundraising replaced politically revoked funding in Fairhope, Alabama, in less than a week, demonstrating the power of coordinated civic action to defend library institutions.
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The Institute’s research portfolio expanded the field’s knowledge base at a critical moment. The Book Censorship Database, major analytical reports such as The Censorship Acceleration, the Freckle Project surveys, peer-reviewed scholarship, and two special issues of The Political Librarian elevated national discourse at the intersection of libraries, education policy, and civil rights. This research informed litigation strategies, legislative drafting, professional training, and nationwide institutional planning.
In higher education, the Institute’s work on accreditation and governance positioned academic libraries as essential actors within institutional quality and research integrity frameworks. Through coalition leadership, including the Right to Read Working Group, the national IMLS Coalition, and #DefendResearch, and through convenings such as the Common Ground for Intellectual Freedom Conference, the Institute strengthened alliances that extend beyond the library sector and connect directly to broader movements for civil liberties and democratic resilience.
Our measurable impact of 2025 is best understood as institutional strengthening at scale. Libraries across public, school, academic, and state systems are better equipped to operate as policy actors, to defend free expression and civil rights, and to serve as resilient institutions of civil society. The EveryLibrary Institute exists to provide that capacity, and in 2025, that mission translated into tangible, national outcomes.
Join Us in the Work
The EveryLibrary Institute exists to provide unique kinds of support to libraries, library stakeholders, and library patrons. We serve as an anchor of research, policy, and professional infrastructure for a field whose responsibilities now extend far beyond any single institution or community.
Your donations to the EveryLibrary Institute (501c3) are tax-deductible.
Democratic institutions do not endure on principle alone. They rely on a complex network of educational, informational, legal, and civic support systems. As we look to 2026, the task before us is not merely to preserve libraries as they have been, but to strengthen them for the role they now play: as policy actors, civic institutions, and stewards of access to knowledge in a democratic society. Our key initiatives for the year are:
- Protecting the Rule of Law and Federal Support for Libraries
- Opposing Government Speech Doctrine
- Defending the Rights of Readers through FightForTheFirst.org
- Safeguarding the Role of Academic Libraries in Higher Ed Accreditation
- Writing Civil Rights into Library Laws through the “Libraries for All Act”
- Thinking about Emerging Issues Like AI
- Strengthening the Library Ecosystem through FundLibraries.org
We invite our partners, supporters, and colleagues to continue this work with us. Please consider making a sustaining donation today at EveryLibraryInstitute.org/donate.