In 2022, CSG, Montgomery for All, Action in Montgomery, and other organizations teamed up to rally for co-locating affordable housing with a redeveloped Chevy Chase Library—and won. The Council unanimously passed an unprecedented budget amendment calling for “a new library with a mixed-use development at the site of the existing library.”

Councilmember Will Jawando, who led the amendment, thanked advocates for raising the issue and wrote to colleagues: “Frankly, it does not make sense to refresh the Chevy Chase library, and I recommend we pursue other, more fiscally responsible and impactful options that include affordable housing.”

Now, in 2026, we need to speak up once again. The current draft capital budget omits mention of a mixed-use development, and allocates funding towards “improvements to the existing library”—suggesting a renovation rather than redevelopment.

Email the Council now and ask them not to pass any budget language that would commit funds to a full renovation and foreclose the possibility of a mixed-use redevelopment on this site for the foreseeable future.

Photo credit: Jane Lyons-Raeder; Carrie Kisicki