I have been asked to share this discussion – taking place on the Public Librarians Interest Group (PLIG) list on the blog since it contains some good ideas for advocating for your public library at a time when this is sorely needed. We welcome your comments!
Deb Thomas, PLIG Chair
The discussion began with suggestions from one of our PLIG members:
Hi all, This seems – to me at any rate – to be an opportune time for PLIG’ers and anyone else working in libraries to use their knowledge and skills to outline and clarify to library users/members, what exactly the provincial grant means in terms of what it allows each library individually to do that it wouldn’t otherwise be able to. There has been a multitude of promotional material generated for the various provincial initiatives, programs and services over the years, i.e. for the Summer Reading Club, AskAway, OneCard, database bundles and talking books. A big visual display on bulletin boards and/or at information tables by library entrances using this ready-made material could very well speak volumes. A similar (and purely informational) package could also be sent to the media (big and small) for publication. The public ultimately decides which services will survive and which won’t and most people appreciate being given some facts to support their choice/voice – an example would be a simple cost analysis of what a single database would cost a small library compared to what a large library with bargaining leverage would be charged. Providing blank postcards with the library’s logo might also be an effective way of allowing the public a voice to say thank you for a particular program or service they have enjoyed and to ask for its continuation. My library has done this in previous years with the Summer Reading Club postcards – and both children and parents have shown appreciation for being given a place to express their gratitude. The library has been forwarding these postcards to the bodies responsible for the program’s respective parts: the reading program itself, the medals, the awards ceremony, etc. It’s a great time for clarification and advocacy – regardless of provincial political and monetary deliberations. – Lis ________________________________________________________________________________________ These are excellent suggestions. Focusing on programs and services that people in your communities use and value makes it easier for them to understand what cuts might mean to them. I am at the PNLA conference in Missoula, MT and went to a session on advocacy given by Camila Alire, the new President of the American Library Association. One of her points was that all staff in libraries–not just the senior staff–can and should be advocates. She recommends coming up with 3-5 “did you know…” questions that all staff can then work into conversations they have with patrons. “Did you know that 17,000 kids in our community participated in this year’s summer reading program?” “Did you know that all new mums in our community got a ‘read to your baby’ kit?” And so on… Think how many people circ staff interact with in a day! She also recommends coming up with 3-5 very simple charts that show exactly the sort of thing Lis suggests and displaying these, and giving them to elected officials during meetings. See http://www.camilaalire.com/initiatives.html for more on her ideas.
So, starting this sort of advocacy now is sensible, and continuing regardless of funding levels is even more sensible.
Alane Wilson, MLIS Executive Director British Columbia Library Association execdir@bcla.bc.ca ______________________________________________________________________________________________________ I whole-heartedly agree that this is an opportunity to raise awareness in our communities and among our politicians about the important work we do. A similar suggestion was made by a staff member at BPL – to create a display of the programs the province supports that could be at risk. I really like Alire’s suggestion of giving Circ staff points they can raise during those casual over the desk conversations. Our circ staff at BPL have been particularly assertive in getting those “Stop the Cuts” cards signed. Having a card to say “thanks” for what a patron appreciates about us and what they’d like to see continue can not only give us direct feedback on what patrons value but also give us testimonials to use for other aspects of advocacy – with politicians, in promo materials, in news releases, on our web pages, etc. Deb _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
