Get Funded

AFTER COMPLETING THIS COURSE, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO:

• Analyze the political, financial, and governance environments that influence funding decisions for their library.
• Interpret the priorities, responsibilities, and decision-making processes of elected officials and other public decision-makers.
• Evaluate their library's funding structures, governance model, and budget processes to identify opportunities for investment.
• Develop funding strategies that align library initiatives with community needs and public priorities.
• Communicate persuasive, evidence-based funding proposals that connect library goals to the priorities of elected officials and governing bodies.
• Strengthen organizational alignment among boards, leadership, and staff to improve the library's credibility and readiness for funding conversations.

Together, these outcomes equip participants with the tools and strategies needed to pursue funding opportunities and strengthen their library’s financial sustainability.

This course is especially helpful for:

• Public library directors and administrators responsible for budgeting and sustainability
• Managers and department heads trying to expand funding for programs, services, or staffing
• Staff involved in grants, partnerships, or community outreach
• Anyone who has been asked to “find more funding” without a clear strategy
• Libraries working to stretch limited budgets without overloading staff

If that sounds like your role, you will probably see yourself in this course.

This course will feel especially relevant if you:

• Know your library needs more funding but are not sure where to start
• Feel like funding opportunities exist but are difficult to identify or pursue
• Have tried grants before and want a more strategic, sustainable approach
• Need to make a stronger case for funding, support, or partnerships
• Want a clearer, more repeatable way to approach funding instead of starting from scratch each time

This course was built for libraries trying to close the gap between what they need and what they’re funded to do.

THIS COURSE CONSISTS OF 3 ON-DEMAND MODULES:

Module 1: Political Literacy

Knowing how an elected official thinks — their job, their incentives, their constraints — turns you from a petitioner into a partner. This module gives you the foundational vocabulary and mental map of the political landscape your library operates in: who your elected officials actually are, what authority they hold, and what they care about.

You'll learn to distinguish levels of government and understand where library funding decisions really get made and by whom. More importantly, you'll learn to read an elected official's platform, party positions, and public priorities so you can connect your library's goals to their agenda, not just yours. This module also introduces the narrative tools of political communication: how to tell a story of growth when extending a success, and a story of repair when addressing a failure or gap. By the end, you'll be able to build a working profile of a key elected official and identify the opening for your first conversation.

Module 2: Financial and Legal Numeracy

When you can speak the language of budgets and legal structures as confidently as your own mission, you meet a funder as a peer, not a petitioner. This module builds your comfort with the financial and legal language of local government: budgets, appropriations, capital plans, and the legal/structural frameworks that shape how your library is funded and governed.

You'll learn to read budget documents the way funders do, translate library needs into the terms decision-makers use, and understand how your library's specific structure (district, municipal, or nonprofit) shapes your funding pathways and constraints. The goal is to make sure you're confident about budget terms, funding mechanisms, and legal structure questions during high-stakes conversations.

Module 3: Governance and Management Competency

A unified board, executive team, and staff turn you from a lone advocate into an organization elected officials can trust. This module focuses on the governance and management competencies that let you align your whole organization behind a funding goal: your library or advisory board, your executive team, and the compliance obligations that come with your governance structure.

You'll clarify the specific role, authority, and level of compliance required of your governing or advisory board, and learn practical skills for managing up, down, and across your organization. You'll practice turning internal alignment into external credibility — so that when you go before elected officials, you're speaking for a unified organization with a clear ask.

John Chrastka, Executive Director, EveryLibrary

John Chrastka is the co-founder and executive director of EveryLibrary, the national political action committee for libraries, and the EveryLibrary Institute, a public policy and tax policy think tank for libraries. Since 2012, EveryLibrary has provided pro-bono support to 170 library communities with ballot measures and tax referendums, helping win more than $3 billion in stable tax funding. He is a former Board President of the Berwyn (IL) Public Library and RAILS, the Reaching Across Illinois Libraries System. Prior to EveryLibrary, he was a partner in AssociaDirect, an association consultancy, was Director for Membership Development at ALA, and a co-founder of the EdTech startup Classmap. He was recognized by Library Journal in 2014 as a Mover & Shaker, the Chicago Tribune in 2022 as a Chicagoan of the Year for his work opposing book bans, and a Publishers Weekly Notable Person for 2024.

Public library budgets are under increasing pressure, while expectations for services continue to grow. The gap between what libraries are funded to do and what communities need is getting harder to manage, and relying on traditional funding alone is often not enough.

This course is built for the library leader who has the vision, but who hesitates the moment the conversation turns to elected officials, budget cycles, and political capital. This meets you where you are: maybe you've had some success getting an official's attention, but you don't yet have a repeatable strategy. Maybe you can read a budget document but can't yet use it to make your case. Maybe you can speak confidently about library's mission, but aren't sure how it connects to a mayor's platform, a county legislator's priorities, or your own board's expectations.

Across three modules, you'll build the foundational vocabulary, financial literacy, and governance fluency to make a confident, well-framed case for your library. You'll leave with practical tools (including templates and real-world exercises) for turning community need into political will, so your next building project, program expansion, or budget ask has the support behind it to succeed.

SESSIONS AND PRICING

Early bird pricing ends one month before the registration deadline. Course materials become available on September 29, 2026 (Fall) or February 25 (Spring).

COURSE FORMAT

This is a fully self-paced course with 3 modules. Each module includes instruction, examples, and practical tools you can apply to your own library.

EXPECTED TIME COMMITMENT

This course is designed to take approximately 12 hours total. You can move through the material at your own pace and on your own schedule.

COURSE ACCESS

You will have access to all course materials for six months from the material release date.

CREDIT & CERTIFICATE

Complete the course to earn 12 professional development credit hours and a Library Journal certificate of completion.

ACCESSIBILITY

All video recordings include auto-captioning. If you require accommodations, please email course-support@libraryjournal.com.

SUPPORT

For support, contact course-support@libraryjournal.com.