Whereas library staff are cornerstones of their communities in the United States, providing visitors with access to books and media, delivering high-quality programming to visitors of all ages, ensuring equitable internet access for all, and linking people to crucial information about accessing social services;

Whereas libraries are an economic powerhouse in their communities, providing resources to small business owners, job seekers, and individuals learning new skills;

Whereas, in recent years, library staff have been called on to address the fallout from difficult public crises in the United States, taking on roles that exceed the traditional role of providing a space for, and access to, educational and cultural enrichment;

Whereas library staff provide lifesaving care to members of their communities who are suffering the effects of the ongoing and tragic opioid epidemic in the United States, including being called on to administer medication to treat overdoses;

Whereas libraries are a safe haven for individuals and families who are unhoused, and library workers provide the supportive community environment and resources needed by unhoused individuals and families;

Whereas libraries are often the only source of internet for underserved communities;

Whereas library staff maintained public access to essential library services and were relied on to distribute personal protective equipment and provide testing to the public during the worst days of the COVID–19 pandemic;

Whereas libraries have met an expanded and intensified demand for community, public health, and safety net services, often while contending with severe funding cuts, creating unsustainable and frequently unsafe working conditions for library staff;

Whereas the EveryLibrary Institute recently found that Project 2025 encourages the mistreatment and misrepresentation of minority communities as well as the harassment of library staff;

Whereas, on March 14, 2025, President Trump signed Executive Order 14238 (90 Fed. Reg. 13043; relating to continuing the reduction of the Federal bureaucracy) to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services;

Whereas eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services would harm the ability of libraries to provide critical resources to millions of people in the United States, especially in rural, Tribal, and other underserved communities;

Whereas the health and survival of democracy in the United States requires that everyone be able to exercise rights to information and services, and it is especially important for young people to have the opportunity to learn, encounter, and debate all manner of ideas, including controversial ones;

Whereas students have been shown to spend more time reading and exhibit higher reading scores when given access to diverse titles, and library staff play a crucial role in curating diverse book offerings for young readers;

Whereas a fundamental responsibility of the job of library staff is making decisions about the books and media in their collections and assisting visitors in accessing those materials without fear of censorship or reprisal for fulfilling the role of providing information and resources to the public;

Whereas PEN America found 10,046 instances of book bans in school libraries and classrooms during the 2023 to 2024 school year;

Whereas libraries and library staff are more capable of providing their communities with access to a diverse, inclusive, and comprehensive selection of books and media when they operate free from threats of book bans and censorship;

Whereas library staff have faced termination and criminalization for refusing to remove banned books from their libraries;

Whereas, from 2024 to 2025, there were deplorable incidents throughout the United States that were orchestrated to intimidate library staff and prevent them from fulfilling their central work responsibility to provide the public with free and unfettered access to information;

Whereas library staff across the United States are mobilizing for a collective union voice in their workplaces to elevate their profession, to ensure safe and adequately resourced spaces that meet the needs of the communities they serve, and to protect the essential role of libraries in the democracy of the United States; and

Whereas the week of April 6 through April 12, 2025, would be an appropriate time to celebrate National Library Week: Now, therefore, be it