by Diantha Dow Schull, President, Americans for Libraries Council
and Bruce Astrein, Executive Director, Americans for Libraries Council
THE WORD ADVOCACY HAS MANY MEANINGS. It can conjure up images of passionate demonstrators, political lobbyists, cause-related campaigns or letters to the editor of the local paper. It can just as readily suggest other kinds of activities such as strategic partnerships, sustained outreach to public officials, outreach to new constituencies and inclusive public programming. Even standing up at a PTA meeting and mentioning the library counts as advocacy.
Act for Libraries helps advocates share successes, such as the New Haven students whose walk-a-thon helped fund a new branch library.
We at Act for Libraries support every type of advocacy. This site is designed to help all potential library advocates, from library trustees to those who just want to live near a strong library, strengthen their libraries and their communities.
Whatever your chosen form of advocacy, it is most likely to be effective if it has clear leadership from the community and if it is:
active rather than reactive
planned rather than crisis-driven
coordinated rather than fragmentary
and sustained rather than episodic.
ALC's Board and staff have had the opportunity to observe and to document many kinds of library advocacy over the years, including both successful and unsuccessful attempts to increase support or build constituencies for libraries. As a result, we have identified the Top Ten Advocacy Strategies—that is, strategies that should be considered in every library advocacy situation. They are:
Each strategy above offers "strategy in action" examples to show how individual libraries have employed these strategies successfully. In addition, Act for Libraries offers more extensive profiles of library campaigns that draw upon a combination of these advocacy strategies.
Act for Libraries is proud to launch with a focus on the New England states. Click here for a complete index of libraries mentioned, both within New England and nationally.
