Guest Post by Jennifer Egan

At the end of last year, I received thrilling news: my historical novel, Manhattan Beach, was the top checkout from New York City's public libraries in 2018.

This discovery was especially meaningful because libraries have been essential to my writing and research. In order to write Manhattan Beach—which takes place in all five boroughs and grew straight out of my love for this city—I spent years delving into topics like deep sea diving, New York's wartime shipbuilding industry, and organized crime. The resources available at The New York Public Library were pivotal, and I couldn’t have written this novel without them. Nor am I alone: countless works of literature and scholarship have come into the world thanks to the resources available at public libraries.

That’s the personal aspect of why libraries matter to me. But they matter for so many other reasons, and to so many other people—and right now, libraries could use your help.

As we speak, City leaders are discussing their funding decisions for next year, including the budget for libraries. Significant cuts are being proposed. So let's join forces to remind those leaders of how crucial our public libraries are to creative and civic life.

Join me in signing a letter urging City leaders to support the vital resources that only New York's public libraries provide: free access to millions of books, research materials, and more, for all New Yorkers—novelists, scholars, and book lovers alike.

Even more important than inspiring scholars and writers is the basic role that libraries play in our communities. Consider the thousands of kids who have fallen in love with reading and learning after attending a summer reading program or an early literacy workshop, or the adults who have mastered English through free classes and converted that mastery into professional opportunity.

Please take a moment to sign a letter to City leaders and urge them not to cut funding for libraries, but to strengthen it. Libraries need to maintain more days of service, hours, and staffing levels at a time when it's more important than ever for all New Yorkers to access essential books and information.

We need to get 50,000 letters signed before the next budget hearing at City Hall on May 21. Will you add your name?

Just as libraries have helped me write my books, they've also helped millions of New Yorkers from every neighborhood in every borough to find the resources they need to improve in school, gain new career skills—or write the next winner of One Book, One New York, another honor Manhattan Beach received in 2018. Join me and sign a letter to City leaders today.

Thank you for supporting our city's great libraries.