Library Renaissance Project (LRP) was founded by consumer advocate Ralph Nader in 2002 in response to the dire condition into which the DC Public Library (DCPL) system had fallen.

As a result of the success of LRP’s campaign to raise civic awareness about the value of the library, the District and its Board of Library Trustees embarked on a process of “transformation” intended to provide residents with a state-of-the-art library system for the 21st Century.

Over the last five years, all of the city’s libraries were improved in various ways – with critical repairs to elevators and bathrooms, improved lighting, and the addition of wi-fi and many more computers.  Most significantly, half of the city’s 24 neighborhood libraries were rebuilt from the ground up or restored according to historic guidelines.

Today, in 2011, things are on “pause” due to a lack of funding, and the fate of the city’s central library — Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial — is also undetermined.

If you love libraries, your help is needed to advocate for increased funding to keep libraries open, to maintain the buildings, to keep collections up to date and to provide the kinds of programs and services that you think are needed.  Please check out our ADVOCACY page for ways you can help.