A pro-library non-profit based in the Chicago area is voicing support for the Fairhope Public Library under the false pretense that it has been defunded.
EveryLibrary tracks legislation, crowd funds for libraries, and provides petitions and emails for people to send to local leaders. It was founded in 2012 and claims to have supported communities at the ballot box with 110 wins by influencing local elections.
The organization claims it is non-partisan, but its progressive and liberal roots are clear.
The website states, "We have helped secure over $2.9 billion in stable annual tax revenue for operations and facilities across those various measures."
The organization has recently published articles stating that the Trump administration and Elon Musk are targeting the Department of Education and "voiding book ban investigations."
EveryLibrary's founder, John Chrastka, has spoken against organizations such as Moms for Liberty, saying they are "pro-censorship groups" that do not represent the majority of parents.
The left-wing group's board of directors consists of Gwen Camp, the executive director of Team Democracy; Amy Garmer, the director of special initiatives at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP); and Patrick Sweeney, co-author of Winning Elections and Influencing Politicians for Library Funding" and "Before the Ballot; Building Support for Library Funding."
Associate director and board member Peter Bromberg, the former executive director of Salt Lake City Public Library, took to social media platform Bluesky to ask for donations for the Fairhope Public Library.
Over 600 donors committed nearly $45,000 to the cause in seven days after Read Freely began a false campaign to "Help Save the Fairhope Library." The donation page said state funding was stripped from the library due to "age-appropriate sex education materials."
The Alabama Public Library Service (APLS) only paused funding until the library can become compliant with guidelines. APLS has already sent half of its yearly funding to the Fairhope Public Library, and although the funding was paused, it is expected to resume before the next installment is sent this summer.
Fairhope Mayor Sherry Sullivan said the City has no intention of defunding the library and is not concerned about its closing.
"The city provides, I think, close to $900,000 in funding to the library," Sullivan said at a council meeting. "We also funded a capital campaign for about $300,000 in the capital campaign. We have no desire to cut any of that funding, and again, there was only a portion of that funding from the state that is only paused right now, and we think we can get that reinstated pretty quickly."
Multiple EveryLibrary board members shared the misinformation on the donation page and on the EveryLibrary X page, prompting people from across the nation to give their money to the unjustified cause.
It is unclear what the library will do with the funds.
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