Colorful stacked books with worn covers and spines, arranged vertically.

The American Library Project

The Project

The American Library Project is a storytelling initiative that investigates the changing role of public libraries across America by asking:

  • Why do libraries matter today?

  • How do libraries connect people with the world around them?

  • How are libraries responding to today’s most urgent social issues?

To answer these questions, journalists Carmen Vintro & Oliver Jakes are driving across the US, library by library, to meet the communities that create and are formed by America’s public libraries.

Featured Stories

Coming soon: Who cares about libraries?

Forests of knowledge and portals to exciting new worlds: we discuss the ways that American libraries are adapting to the modern world.

Coming soon: Do children still read?

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 33 per cent of eighth graders have a ‘below basic’ reading level.

Our People

Young man with glasses smiling outdoors, wearing a denim jacket, near a wooden railing and yellow structures, with trees and a partly cloudy sky in the background.

Oliver Jakes

Writer
National Geographic, The Camera

A woman with curly brown hair and a black shirt smiling in front of beige curtains.

Carmen Vintro

Writer
The Camera

Contact Us

Have a story you want to see included in The American Library Project? We want to hear from you.