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MARKETING LIBRARY SERVICES
Where to Find Advocacy Tools
by Kathy Dempsey
Standing up for libraries and convincing others of their value has been important for decades. As libraries face strategized challenges—and as a new administration makes moves in Washington, D.C.—we need to step up and use legal means to protect our field. Library staffers are not allowed to speak out in certain situations—but they can ask their friends and partner organizations to do it! Here are some groups that offer guidance.
EveryLibrary (EveryLibrary.org) was the first official political action committee (PAC) created to support our field, and it initially focused on training public librarians to win funding votes and other ballot measures. EveryLibrary staffers have delved into tracking and addressing book challenges. To me, EveryLibrary is the pre-eminent nonprofit that focus on helping librarians defend their funding, collections, and occasionally, employees. There are petitions to share, a section on legislative news, info on crowdfunding campaigns, and more. One new section (bit.ly/EL-power) will be built up with tools to support your fight for local library freedoms.
LibraryPAC is as an “independent political action committee dedicated to supporting libraries in NYC.” Per its website (librarypac .nyc), its purpose is “to endorse and financially support candidates for local and state elected office in NYC who believe in the value and potential of libraries to improve the lives of all New Yorkers and subscribe to the principles of robust, equitable, and well-funded libraries in the city of New York.” Learn more from Information Today’s coverage at bit.ly/lib-PAC-NYC.
ACRL’s Academic Library Advocacy Toolkit (acrl.libguides.com/advocacytoolkit) is “a curated collection of resources to equip academic library administrators and library professionals with the resources they need to advocate for the value, roles, and contributions of academic libraries to their campus communities.” So it has the right info for the university audience.
ALA has a multifaceted Frontline Advocacy Toolkit (ala.org/advocacy/frontline-ad vocacy-toolkit). “The process of supporting a cause or course of action is called ‘advocacy.’ When your library has a message to convey, as a staff member, you are in a perfect position to help with that cause or action, to tell your library’s story, to become an effective advocate—a ‘frontline advocate,’” per its website. The site goes on to say that “sharing a simple smile” or “going the extra mile” for a customer counts as “frontline advocacy.” This is clearly a different sort of advocacy from organized, goal-oriented, often-legislative advocacy.
PLA’s Turning the Page project has a section on Putting Advocacy Into Practice (publiclibraryadvocacy.org/putting-advocacy-into-practice). It acknowledges that advocacy “can mean a lot of different things” and explains clearly that, for this “advocacy training curriculum,” it defines public library advocacy as “The actions individuals or organizations undertake to influence decision-making at the local, regional, state, national, and international level that help create a desired funding or policy change in support of public libraries.” I like that definition, although you still need strong outside voices to tackle many legislative challenges.
SLA has its own type of Advocacy Toolkit (login required; sla.org/page/advocacy-tool kit), which covers things such as storytelling, measuring metrics, and “Working with Disengaged Management”—all of which can be useful for proving the value of an information center. |
