- Quick links:
- 2027 Budget Campaign Toolkit
- 2027 Budget In the News
- 2026 Budget Campaign (aka What We Did in fall 2025)
- General History and Resources
Current Campaign: 2027 city of chicago BudgeT
We demand a library that works for Chicagoans – No cuts in 2027, and long-term funding to fuel lifelong literacy.
Actions for Everyone
- Call / email / meet with your alder(s) – tell the alders where you live and work why the library matters to you and ask them how they are supporting Chicago’s public libraries! (More resources below.) Remind them of our demands for libraries Chicagoans deserve:
- No Layoffs. No vacancy cuts. No cuts to the collection budget. Support the library funding in the Mayor’s Fair Share budget.
- Commit to finding long term funding for the 2028 budget. Deliver on the promise the City made in 2019 to employ 1,409 CPL workers in order to open on Sundays. We still have only 1,080 staff today.
- Host a postcard party
- We’ve got pre-stamped cards to send all our alders!
- Reach out to Organizing Committee to coordinate a postcard handoff
- What is your dream Chicago Public Library? See some of ours and tag us in yours @afscme1215!
- Table at community events
- Post up at your farmer’s market, fall fest, or neighborhood park with library info, Patron Action Team sign ups, and alder postcards (email Organizing Committee to pick up postcards).
- Folder with printable flyers and tabling resources
- SAVE THE DATE: CPL’s Budget Hearing is set for November 6th (more details to come)
Resources for library supporters
- Find your Alder: bit.ly/callmyward
- How to Request a Meeting with your Alder – guidance from 2025 on how to have a one-on-one meeting with your alder about library funding
- Budget 101 slides
In the News
- Thousands Of Books Are Piling Up In Chicago Libraries Due To Staffing Shortage – Rachel Hinton for Block Club Chicago, August 2026
- Still Waiting For That Library Book You Put On Hold? Driver Shortage Is To Blame – Rachel Hinton for Block Club Chicago, May 2026
in the past: 2026 Budget Campaign
After the Mayor proposed a budget for the year 2026, we noted some key takeaways for CPL and put together a full response. This initial proposal eliminated 89 vacant staff positions (more than one staff member per branch across the system) and halved our budget for books and other materials. (Better Government Association has a great snapshot of the proposed budget.)
After months of actions taken by Local members and our supporters, City Council reversed the staffing and collections cuts.
- Staff and supporters sent 3,800 letters to Alders – bit.ly/LetterFundCPL
- We compiled staff testimonials: Stories about Understaffing – read them organized by category – or by library branch
- We distributed hundreds of staff pins that said “Ask Me About Layoffs” and supporter pins that said “I <3 my library”
- Nov. 4: picket and press conference at City Hall with AFSCME 31 ahead of CPL’s Budget Hearing
- We spoke out at CPL’s Budget Hearing at City Council
- Nov. 18: Patrons spoke at 2025’s fourth quarter CPL Board meeting
- Social media highlights:
- Initial statement on the proposed cuts
- Highlighting understaffing stories through images and videos
- Stories from library patrons on how they use the library
- Halloween themed posts: halloween call in power hour, ghost jobs, skeleton memes
- Highlighting speeches from alders, and members at city hall. (memes and videos)
- A cut to library workers = a cut to (youth employment, civic digital and workforce literacy, childhood enrichment)
- Strictly romance book club
- Staff images holding signs with SEIU and CPL solidarity, library cuts are service cuts
- Collab post with Council 31 that clarify our demands
- Op-eds and letters to the editor:
- “Opinion: The Chicago Public Library budget is under threat. Let’s remember what libraries do for us” by K. Ancrum in the Triibe
- “Letters: Why we need a fully funded Chicago Public Library” by Bridget Green in the Chicago Tribune
- “Don’t shortchange Chicago Public Library” by Skye Alex Jackson, founder, Handwoven Youth, in the Chicago Sun-Times
- “Ald. Samantha Nugent: Libraries in Chicago are essential. Why is the mayor cutting CPL’s budget?” in the Chicago Tribune
- “Chicago Public Library doesn’t exist without its workers” by Local 1215 Board Member-at-large Emma Ramirez in the Chicago Reader
General History and Resources
The Health and Safety Emergency in Chicago Public Libraries – a report from AFSCME Local 1215 and Council 31, created in 2025, summarizing many of the healthy and safety issues escalating at library branches.
Understaffing at CPL: A Partial History – a short timeline of events that led to the chronic understaffing of the Chicago Public Library
May 2018 Office of the Inspector General CPL Staffing Audit – “While CPL’s staffing plan improves upon its previous uniform staffing approach, OIG determined that due to deficiencies in its design and implementation, the plan is not sufficient to align library branch staffing with community needs.”
May 2019 OIG Staffing Audit Follow-up Inquiry – “OIG concludes that the Department has not fully implemented any of the four corrective actions related to the audit findings and recommendations.”