Year Round Advocacy is key!

June 17, 2025

You can become a year-round champion for our community's beloved library! Your voice and involvement can make a difference in promoting intellectual freedom, the freedom to read, access, literacy, learning, and creativity in our community.

Here are some ways you can help champion your Library this summer!

Use your library card! A fun way to invigorate your Library usage is to register for the Summer Reading Program. Available to readers of all ages and abilities, babies through adults. Participants will receive a game card to track their summer reading goals. Children's prizes include gift certificates for Blank Park Zoo and the Iowa Children's Museum as well as a free book! Adults and teens can get a coupon for a free book at The Book End bookstore and be entered into the grand prize drawings for a downtown gift card.
Write an op-ed or letter to the editor about the importance of public libraries! Share your library story, the impact public libraries have had on your life and community, and discuss the importance of protecting Libraries from censorship and funding cuts.
Build Relationships with Lawmakers Take time to connect with local and state legislators now, before decisions are on the table.

Invite them to tour the library or attend a library event.
Send a personal letter or email about how the library has impacted you or your community.
Follow them on social media and comment on posts—establish a friendly, constructive rapport. Why it matters: Legislators are more likely to protect and fund libraries when they personally understand their value.

You can also invite others to join this list by forwarding this email or sharing this sign-up link with them: bit.ly/ICPLFF-Advocacy

Additional advocacy resources, including a list of places to send op-eds, can be found at: www.supportICPL.org/advocacy

Moving Forward: Shaping the Future in a Shifting Policy Landscape - A Panel Discussion at the Iowa City Public Library

Monday, June 23, 2025 - 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Nonprofits across Iowa are facing dramatic shifts in funding—changes that could redefine how we serve, who we serve, and how we sustain our work. Yet many members of the public don’t realize how deeply these policy shifts are affecting local organizations. It’s time to change that.

Join us for Moving Forward: Shaping the Future in a Shifting Policy Landscape, a focused panel discussion designed to explore how recent and proposed policy changes are impacting nonprofit fundraising—six months after major administrative changes began reshaping the landscape. This event will offer practical insight into what’s happening, how fundraising professionals are adapting, and what it means for the broader community.

Topics will include:

Putting funding shifts in perspective: how to move forward without panic
Advocacy: how the public can support local nonprofits and push for change
Education: how fundraising really works—and what the public should understand
Moving forward: how organizations can work together, tap into existing resources, and strengthen community ties

Whether you’re a fundraiser, nonprofit leader, or community member, this discussion will help you understand what’s at stake and what we can do—together—to shape a more sustainable future.

This event is the beginning of what we hope will be a broader series exploring the intersections of policy and philanthropy.

Book End Apparel available now!

We’re bringing back a classic Book End apparel look for pre-order!

The Book End is offering adult-size T-shirts and sweatshirts. Sweatshirts are $30 and T-shirts are $20. The online store closes at 11:59 pm on Monday, June 23, and we are anticipating items will be here and available for pick up in The Book End by August 1, if not sooner. You can pre-order items at our Square site, icplff.square.site.

JULY BOOK SALE!

Want More Ways to Support?

Join the Email list for the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation and be the first to know about fundraising opportunities, events, volunteering and more!

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