In this web-exclusive Bill Moyers Essay, Bill professes his lifelong love for libraries and their strong cultural value, and points to a crisis in public library funding across the country. But he also shares a unique and controversial community effort in Troy, Michigan that kept its library from becoming a political casualty, and serves as “a reminder of what can happen when we act together.”

Watch below the full video that explains how the Tea Party put the library in jeopardy, and how the town — with the help ad agency Leo Burnett — successfully fought back.