Libraries are the Living Rooms of Communities Situated in the Scholarly and Public Spheres

The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) hosts the Bateman Competition each year to help university students hone their skills by allowing them to create and implement a campaign from start to finish on a real client and submit a report of their success and findings. The competition has had a variety of clients but focuses on teaching students how public relations looks in the ‘real world.’ It allows students to practice what they are taught in the classroom on a real campaign. The 2025 client was EveryLibrary, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for libraries across the country on issues like funding and book banning. This Capstone project aims to showcase the work of the six students on the RWU PRSSA Bateman team, highlighting the campaign we created to support and advocate for EveryLibrary. The campaign was centered around bringing access to education/knowledge to underrepresented communities, educating residents on book banning, and creating a new wave of advocates on college campuses. A final copy of the case and report was submitted to the PRSSA National Board for review and is currently being assessed against other competition submissions.