Prattville, Alabama - Last month, Read Freely Alabama was awarded a $40,000 grant from Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF) to further civic engagement in advocating for Alabama’s public libraries.
The grant will allow Read Freely Alabama to host eight events– six in-person and two online– focusing on civic engagement and racial justice in the fight against censorship. These educational events will empower local communities to become more involved as racial justice advocates, challenging book bans and restrictive legislation across Alabama’s public libraries.
“Read Freely Alabama is honored to have been chosen to receive this $40,000 grant from the Nathan Cummings Foundation to further our mission. We believe Alabama's public libraries must remain equitable public spaces. These funds will allow us to expand our reach into rural communities of Alabama who have historically been most impacted by racial injustice, and where essential, small community libraries are most vulnerable to coercive threats to funding if they choose not to censor library materials. We hope to engage and partner with these communities as well as provide resources to empower them to become more civically engaged in the fight for their local libraries and beyond,” said Read Freely Alabama state leadership. “We look forward to partnering with other Alabama-based organizations as well as our sponsor, the EveryLibrary Institute, an organization monitoring and taking action against government overreach in school, college, and public libraries.”
“EveryLibrary Institute is proud to serve as the fiscal sponsor for Read Freely Alabama and to support the continued growth of their work across the state,” says John Chrastka, Executive Director. “This grant from Nathan Cummings Foundation is both a recognition of Read Freely Alabama’s effectiveness and an investment in the kind of community-based, values-driven advocacy that strengthens libraries as essential civic institutions. We are especially encouraged to see resources directed toward rural and historically underserved communities, where the stakes for access, equity, and the freedom to read are often the highest. Read Freely Alabama is building the kind of durable, local leadership that this moment demands.”
Nathan Cummings Foundation is a multigenerational family foundation, rooted in the Jewish tradition of social justice. NCF is working to help create a more just, vibrant, sustainable, and democratic society.
“We need to protect libraries as a public good, because they provide open, equitable access to knowledge and information, said Kristi Whitfield, Chief Impact & Partnerships Officer at Nathan Cummings Foundation. “Read Freely Alabama facilitates meaningful civic engagement by organizing regional chapters that protect the interests of local communities. Read Freely Alabama is doing essential work at the intersection of racial justice and civic participation, at a moment when those freedoms are under real pressure.”
Read Freely Alabama is a volunteer group of concerned citizens who oppose censorship in local libraries. As the scale of censorship efforts and attacks on libraries have expanded across the state, we have grown to meet the challenge. Read Freely Alabama is the state-wide resource hub for local chapters and affiliated groups fighting censorship. By connecting library advocates to one another and to state and national partners, Read Freely Alabama enables liberty-loving patriots across the state to stand together against this un-American campaign of bigotry.