Read the latest Ward 5 news in the
Councilmember’s weekly newsletter:
Read the latest Ward 5 news in the Councilmember’s weekly newsletter:
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LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
October 4, 2024
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
“Bad libraries build collections,
good libraries build services,
great libraries build communities.”
– R. David Lankes (Director of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina)
If you’ve been to one of DC Public Library’s neighborhood locations or the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, then you know it’s no mystery why DC Public Library (DCPL) was a recipient of the 2024 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor celebrating institutions that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. The District also ranks as having the second highest public library visits per capita in the U.S. Truly, DC Public Library is one of the District’s most vibrant agenices, helping us build healthy communities through outstanding programming, vital community services, and equitable access to resources. Most recently, DCPL demonstrated this at their Art All Night Block Party where thousands of neighbors came together to celebrate DC culture.
LATEST WARD 5 WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Great Libraries Build Healthy Communities
October 4, 2024
Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
“Bad libraries build collections,
good libraries build services,
great libraries build communities.”
– R. David Lankes (Director of the School of Library and Information Science at the University of South Carolina)
If you’ve been to one of DC Public Library’s neighborhood locations or the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, then you know it’s no mystery why DC Public Library (DCPL) was a recipient of the 2024 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor celebrating institutions that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. The District also ranks as having the second highest public library visits per capita in the U.S. Truly, DC Public Library is one of the District’s most vibrant agenices, helping us build healthy communities through outstanding programming, vital community services, and equitable access to resources. Most recently, DCPL demonstrated this at their Art All Night Block Party where thousands of neighbors came together to celebrate DC culture.
The District faced many challenges in 2023: rising crime, Congressional interference, and looming budget pressures just to name a few. Yet in all of this, I witnessed time and again the resilience of Ward 5 neighbors and your commitment to working with my office to build healthy communities. I invite you to explore the 2023 Year in Review report to see all that we were able to accomplish together.
COUNCILMEMBER ZACHARY PARKER
Since taking office in January of 2023, Zachary has delivered for Ward 5 residents through responsive constituent services and significant budget wins. He has introduced dozens of transformative pieces of legislation, including bills to establish the District’s State Superintendent of Education’s School Support Office to improve low-performing schools, and the District Child Tax Credit which provides low-income and middle-class families fully refundable tax credits for children 17 years of age and younger.
LEGISLATION
Since taking office, Councilmember Parker has introduced more than 30 pieces of legislation, and co-introduced more than 150 additional bills. Learn about Councilmember Parker’s legislation, co-introductions, and committee assignments on the Legislation page.
COUNCILMEMBER ZACHARY PARKER
Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker is an educator and a public servant. He taught 7th-grade math in New Orleans, post-Katrina, with Teach For America, and spent nearly a decade supporting DC school administrators at Ward 5 schools like Dunbar High School and Mundo Verde PCS.
Zachary sees firsthand the human impact of a system that leaves our most vulnerable behind. He grew up watching his oldest brother struggle with a one-size-fits-all school system that did not have the resources to support him, and now sees the challenges he faces in life because of it.
And Zachary suffered alongside his middle brother through a long and exhaustive battle with a healthcare system that treated him more like a problem than a patient before he ultimately passed away at 36 from kidney failure. These shouldn’t be the experiences families have when interacting with our public institutions. Zachary has dedicated his life’s work to transforming the systems that failed his brothers and so many like them.
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