Image credit: SFC Art Department
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Remember when the public library was somewhere you went simply to check out a book or study quietly with friends? America’s public libraries have come a long way since then. Walk into a library today, and you might find a job seeker updating a résumé, a senior getting tips on how to use their new smartphone, or a first-time voter picking up registration materials. Libraries have become a third place for many folks. It’s where they connect, participate, and engage with their community, and for city leaders and planners, that shift represents opportunity and a surprisingly strong return on public investment.
Before seeing what libraries can do for civic engagement, it’s worth asking why they’re a perfect fit for that role. In a time when trust in institutions may seem fragile, libraries remain an exception.
“Libraries are among the most trusted institutions in any community, and we view that trust as both an honor and a responsibility,” said Todd Frager, chief executive officer of Library Systems & Services (LS&S), a managed services partner with more than 40 years of experience operating and optimizing public libraries across the country. There are about 9,000 public libraries nationwide, each serving a civic role most people don’t even realize. Libraries offer a shared, nonpartisan space where anyone can access reliable information that can be hard to find elsewhere. As the American Library Association puts it, libraries are nonpartisan, but not indifferent.
According to an AAMC Center for Health Justice poll conducted between 2021 and 2024, fire departments and libraries were consistently ranked among the most trusted institutions in America for serving their communities fairly. And when people trust an institution, they’re more likely to walk through its doors, engage with its programs, and utilize the information they discover there.
“The library remains a staunch advocate for First Amendment rights … but because of the rise in book challenges, libraries now need to more actively protect the freedom to read,” said Christine Johnson, director of the Waterford Public Library in Waterford, Connecticut. In a media environment muddled with misinformation and political noise, that role has never been more important.
For city officials weighing budget priorities, the civic case for libraries is compelling enough. The economic case may be even more so.
A 2025 study by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at the University of Georgia, commissioned by the Georgia Public Library Service and using fiscal year 2024 data, found that every $1 of public funding delivered $3.75 in services and economic impact across the state’s library systems.
The pattern holds at the national level too. A 2024 study published in the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy by researchers from Montana State University, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Miami University found that local governments spend over $12 billion annually to fund more than 15,000 public libraries across the country.
The research found that library capital investment increases children’s attendance at library events by 18%, children’s checkouts by 21%, and total library visits by 21%, and that those usage gains translate directly into improved reading test scores in nearby school districts. For budget-minded officials, the implication is straightforward: investment in library infrastructure drives measurable community outcomes.
The placemaking dimension matters too. Libraries are increasingly being incorporated into downtown revitalization projects and urban development plans, with a growing body of evidence on their positive impacts on local economic development.
Today, libraries are being designed to serve as gathering places, learning hubs, and anchors for downtown reinvestment, repositioned as vital public assets rather than relics of a pre-digital era. When a library anchors a block, it generates consistent foot traffic, supports nearby retail, and signals civic investment in ways that attract further development.
For example, in Homestead, Florida, the city opened the world’s first “Cybrarium”in 2021. Located in the city’s downtown, the 23,000-square-foot, multi-floor hightech library anchors bustling entertainment, dining, and retail district.
“The Cybrarium is one of the highest drivers of traffic in our downtown. People are coming to downtown just to visit the Cybrarium,” said Zackery Good, former assistant city manager of Homestead. “And not only our residents, but people from outside the community are coming to see what it is about.”
Then there’s Manassas Park, Virginia, where the opening of the Park Central Library served as a cornerstone of the city’s downtown. “Opening the library was a huge milestone in our downtown redevelopment project,” said former city manager Laszlo Palko.
Image credit: Manassas Park City Library
Walk into a public library around election time, and you’ll most likely find more than books. Ballot drop boxes, voter registration tables, candidate forums, polling stations — these are now standard offerings at libraries across the country. A 2025 American Library Association survey found that 68% of public libraries offer some form of election support.
“[Attleboro Public Library] mostly offers passive election services, creating displays around voter information — and publishing links to reliable information sources,” said Amy Rhilinger, director of the Attleboro Public Library in Attleboro, Massachusetts.
That approach reflects a careful balance between active civic participation and political neutrality.
Other libraries take it a step further. For example, in Kansas, the Johnson County Library has partnered with the League of Women Voters since 2015 to host “Legislative Coffees,” bringing state lawmakers and constituents together for structured, nonpartisan Q&A discussions during each legislative session.
In El Paso, the public library system takes civic programming into neighborhoods through its Pop-Up Civics Lab, a mobile, multigenerational, bilingual initiative that brings materials and discussion on voting, citizenship, and civil rights directly to families across the city. For cities looking to increase civic participation without building new infrastructure, the solution may already exist on a familiar street corner.
The library’s civic role extends well beyond Election Day. Libraries have become major providers of workforce development and digital access — and the scale of that need is significant. As of 2025, just 54% of adults in the lowest-income households subscribed to home broadband, compared with 94% in six-figure households, according to Pew Research, a gap that has barely budged over the years. For many in that lowest-income group, a smartphone remains their only point of internet access.
Libraries are often the bridge. Nearly half of U.S. public libraries now circulate internet hotspots for off-site use, up from a third in 2020, according to the Public Library Association’s 2023 technology survey. Some are going further. “We’ve increased hotspot lending and even placed devices on permanent loan at community locations like the Council on Aging and the farmer’s market,” said Ms. Rhilinger.
The stakes are practical and immediate. Without reliable access, applying for a job, navigating a government benefits portal, or completing a child’s homework can become an insurmountable hurdle. “With many government services now only accessible online, library staff often assist patrons, especially older adults, in accessing these portals,” said Mrs. Johnson. “Most job applications must now be filed online. Librarians often provide individualized assistance.”
“Digital equity is a critical priority for LS&S-managed libraries as access to technology is increasingly tied to education, employment, healthcare, and civic participation,” Mr. Frager said.
Libraries have a way of bringing people together, be it schools, health departments, election offices, and community groups that don’t always cross paths. And in places where other civic spaces have faded, where local papers have closed, and public forums have disappeared, the library is often still there. And communities are asking more of it. “The large-scale need for housing and food — and the need for mental health support — we didn’t see the scale of that coming,” said Ms. Rhilinger.
In commenting on the role his organization’s partner libraries play in their communities, Mr. Frager said, “LS&S-managed libraries are constantly evolving to meet changing community needs; today, that includes providing spaces for civic dialogue, learning, collaboration, workforce support, digital access, and community connection. Fulfilling that role requires library staff and leadership to be deeply engaged with the communities they serve, listening closely to residents, identifying emerging needs, and building strong local partnerships.”
Although the programs filling those gaps look different city to city, the pattern is consistent:
Salt Lake City’s public library built a Resource Corner inside the building, giving partner organizations, including Mental Health America of Utah, a harm reduction service and a veterans housing provider, dedicated office hours, so patrons can connect with help instead of being sent elsewhere.
Downers Grove Public Library in Illinois partnered with Aurora University to place social work interns on-site. In one three-month period, they worked with over 100 residents and connected nine individuals with temporary housing.
Brown County Public Library in Wisconsin, named the 2023 Wisconsin Library of the Year, hosts a hydroponic vertical farm inside the building that grows fresh lettuce, free for anyone who needs it.
Hartford Public Library’s “We Belong Here” initiative offers programming in linguistics, civic integration, and economic stability, with a specific focus on immigrant youth ages 17 to 18 who are aging out of public schools and at risk of falling through the cracks academically and socially.
Los Angeles’s public library system runs New Americans Centers at multiple branches, offering free on-site immigration and naturalization services, from citizenship classes to green card renewals, in more than 10 languages.
That expanding role positions libraries as informal social service hubs, often without formal recognition or funding to match.
Libraries offer a neutral space for younger residents to explore civic identity, while providing language resources and pathways to integration for immigrants. For older adults, they can serve as one of the last consistent points of true human connection.
In his 2023 advisory on the loneliness epidemic, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy argued that social connection is a critical, and underappreciated, factor in community health. Libraries are already doing that work daily.
For mayors, city planners, and civic leaders, it’s a good reminder that the infrastructure already exists. Libraries operate in every neighborhood, serve every demographic, and maintain a level of trust most institutions spend decades trying to build. They’re already hosting civic programs, supporting job seekers, and connecting residents to services.
They don’t need reinvention; they need reinforcement, and that starts with investment.
“Modern libraries serve as essential community anchors that support economic development, workforce development, lifelong learning, and neighborhood revitalization, and investing in them is ultimately an investment in stronger, more connected, and more resilient communities,” added Mr. Frager.
“This library has a strong, respectful relationship with local government … support is clearly evident and regularly offered,” stated Ms. Rhilinger
In other communities, funding models reflect similar collaboration. “Our library is an example of a strong public-private partnership,” described Mrs. Johnson, highlighting a mix of municipal support, grants, and private funding that sustains operations and programming.
Understanding how libraries are funded helps clarify why such a partnership matters. Nationally, roughly 85–90% of public library funding comes from local governments through property taxes, municipal budgets, or county levies, covering core operations such as staffing, collections, and facilities.
State governments supplement that with direct aid or targeted grants, often administered by state library agencies. At the federal level, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is the largest source of federal funding for libraries, distributing funds primarily through its Grants to States program, which supports technology, literacy, and access initiatives.
In fiscal year 2024, IMLS awarded $266.7 million across its grantmaking programs supporting both libraries and museums nationwide. That federal support, while a small share of overall library budgets, often funds the programs, digital literacy training, hotspot lending, and summer reading that make libraries most responsive to changing community needs.
But gaps remain, and libraries are often viewed as easy budget cuts, which overlooks their role as civic infrastructure. “Libraries need staff training — trauma-informed care, de-escalation techniques, and new technologies,” Ms. Rhilinger noted.
“City and county leaders who do not yet view their libraries as key partners in civic planning may be overlooking one of the most effective and trusted assets available to help achieve broader community goals,” Mr. Frager said. “The opportunity leaders may be missing is that it’s not simply investing in a library building or service but leveraging a trusted institution that already has the reach, relationships, and community presence to be a powerful driver of the outcomes local governments are working to achieve.”
The cities getting this right are rethinking what the library represents: today, it’s a civic anchor, a workforce hub, and a digital access point—a place where democracy is practiced in small, everyday ways.
In a time of polarization and declining trust, that kind of space is essential. The front door of civic life has been there all along. It’s just waiting for more leaders to walk through it.
