For the People: A Leftist Library Project (FTP) is an organization that aims to help left-of-center and radical-left activists become more involved in their libraries, combat conservative efforts to monitor the content of libraries or cut library funding, and expand the role of public libraries in the left-wing political agenda, including more public funding for libraries and allowing children to have access to LGBT-themed library materials. ^{1 2}

FTP states that its goal is to identify, train, and support 50 left-of-center candidates ascend to public library boards across the nation. It organizes online and local events, and many of its data collection and research efforts are run by volunteers. ³

FTP was co-founded by Mariame Kaba, a left-of-center police abolition activist and co-author of No More Police: A Case for Abolition. She publicly states that law enforcement is a tool of racial oppression. In Chicago, she founded We Charge Genocide, which calls for police abolition on the grounds that law enforcement actions are genocidal towards minorities. ⁴

Activities

For the People: A Leftist Library Project began organizing in March 2023, hosting organizing sessions online and in-person. In Missouri, it encouraged activists to attend a “teach-in” to learn how to get involved in local libraries and advocate against Missouri lawmakers’ efforts to ban sexually explicit material from school libraries. ⁵

A key early supporter was Emily Drabinski, a union organizer and president of the American Library Association for the 2023-2024 term. Drabinski emphasized political organizing of library workers as a key goal during her ALA campaign, and spoke to the FTP group about fighting for left-wing priorities in libraries. ⁶

For the People’s website and Substack site encourage members to attend library board meetings and advocate on their state and local levels against restrictions on library content, and asks supporters to volunteer and submit information about their local libraries’ governance process.  ⁷

FTP opposes the efforts of Moms for Liberty, a group of parents working to ensure age-appropriate curriculum and books in schools and public libraries. ⁸ It encouraged supporters to speak at library board meetings and published talking points to counter the assertions of Moms for Liberty and so-called “white supremacists” who are concerned about their children being exposed to inappropriate content. ⁹

Leadership

Mariame Kaba is the co-founder of For the People: A Leftist Library Project.  She is also the founder of Project NIA, which works to end incarceration, especially of young people. ¹⁰ She has co-founded multiple projects over the years, including We Charge Genocide, a far-left community organization in Chicago that calls for police abolition and claims that police are racist, and the Chicago Freedom School, which trains young Black people and other minorities to organize for left-wing causes in their communities. ¹¹

In 2018, Kaba served as Researcher in Residence at the Barnard Center for Research on Women (BCRW), and co-led an initiative called Interrupting Criminalization at the BCRW Social Justice Institute, which produced research and resources for left-leaning community organizers. ¹²

Following the death in police custody of George Floyd and ensuing protests in 2020, Kaba wrote an op-ed in the New York Times entitled “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police.” Her piece argued that the death of George Floyd at the hands of police was a natural consequence of American policing, which in her view has always been designed to oppress Black people. ¹³

Kaba has written several books that describe American society and the justice system as racist and oppressive. The 2021 book We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice and 2022’s No More Police: A Case for Abolition paint law enforcement as agents of racial oppression and argue that the only way to restore justice is to abolish the police entirely. ^{14 15 16}

Financials

According to the For the People: A Leftist Library Project website, the group does not fundraise or have any funds to spend on its efforts. It relies on decentralized, local groups and individuals to help collect data, support preferred candidates for library board positions, and mobilize like-minded neighbors in support of the leftist agenda for their public library. ¹⁷ Instead of soliciting funds, it offers resources for like-minded individuals to learn how to navigate public library leadership and speak out at meetings. ¹⁸

1. “Home Page”. For the People: A Leftist Library Project. Accessed May 6th, 2024. https://www.librariesforthepeople.org/
2. “Welcome to 2024 – let’s defend libraries together this year!” For the People – A Leftist Library Project. January 1st, 2024. Accessed May 6th, 2024. https://librariesforthepeople.substack.com/p/welcome-to-2024-lets-defend-libraries
3. “About”. For the People: A Leftist Library Project. Accessed May 1st, 2024. https://www.librariesforthepeople.org/about
4. “About Me.” Being MK – My Personal Website. Accessed May 6, 2024. https://mariamekaba.com/
5. “MIssouri lawmakers are trying to defund public libraries. What can you do about it?” For The People: A Leftist Library Project. March 31st, 2023. Accessed May 2nd, 2024. https://librariesforthepeople.substack.com/p/missouri-lawmakers-are-trying-to
6. Melissa Gira Grant. “Conservatives Are Trying to Ban Books in Your Town. Librarians are Fighting Back.” New Republic. March 16, 2023. Accessed May 2nd, 2024. https://newrepublic.com/article/170920/conservative-book-bans-libraries-fighting-back
7. “MIssouri lawmakers are trying to defund public libraries. What can you do about it?” For The People: A Leftist Library Project. March 31st, 2023. Accessed May 2nd, 2024. https://librariesforthepeople.substack.com/p/missouri-lawmakers-are-trying-to
8. “Home Page.” Moms for Liberty. Accessed May 2nd. 2024. https://www.momsforliberty.org/
9. “Board Meeting Talking Points.” For The People: A Leftist Library Project. Accessed May 3rd, 2024.  Board meeting talking points, top to bottom.pdf – Google Drive
10. “Home Page.” Project NIA. Accessed May 1st, 2024. https://project-nia.org/
11. “We Charge Genocide Sends Delegation to the United Nations.” We Charge Genocide. December 15, 2014. Accessed May 3rd, 2024. http://wechargegenocide.org/summary-of-we-charge-genocide-trip-to-united-nations-committee-against-torture/
12. “Interrupting Criminalization: Research in Action.” Barnard Center for Research on Women. Accessed May 1st, 2024. https://bcrw.barnard.edu/socialjusticeinstitute/interrupting-criminalization-research-in-action/.
13. Mariame Kaba. “Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police.” New York Times. June 12, 2020. Accessed May 3rd. 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abolish-defund-police.html
14. Marty Grundy. “We Do This ‘Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice.” Friends Journal. March 1, 2022. Accessed May 3rd, 2024. https://www.friendsjournal.org/book/we-do-this-til-we-free-us-abolitionist-organizing-and-transforming-justice/
15. “No More Police: A Case for Abolition.” Mariame Kaba, Andrea J. Ritchie. The New Press. Accessed May 2nd, 2024.  https://thenewpress.com/books/no-more-police
16. Mariame Kaba and Andrea J. Ritchie. “Why We Don’t Say ‘Reform the Police’”. The Nation. September 2nd, 2022. Accessed May 1st, 2024. https://www.thenation.com/article/society/no-more-police-excerpt/
17. “About”. For the People: A Leftist Library Project. Accessed May 1st, 2024. https://www.librariesforthepeople.org/about
18. “Board Watcher Bingo.” For the People: A Leftist Library Project. June 1st, 2023. Accessed May 1st, 2024. https://librariesforthepeople.substack.com/p/board-watcher-bingo