As the Chair of the RMRT Legislation/Advocacy Committee I am the liaison to the ALA Advocacy Coordinating Group. I have also just been appointed to the Committee on Library Advocacy (COLA). I did attend the COLA meeting, but had a conflict for the Advocacy Coordinating Group meeting so Vivian Wynn represented RMRT.
Here are the notes and minutes of the two meetings. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks Ma’lis Wendt
mwendt@nyc.rr.com
COLA meeting notes:
- The Office of Library Advocacy and the Office of Intellectual Freedom have created an Advocacy Boot Camp program. The two offices presented pilot programs at six state library conferences and are planning a Train the Trainer session for Midwinter 2018.
- OLA has been working with AASL on training for the ESSA grants.
- OLA will be working with the new director at the Washington Office on more cooperative programs.
- OLA is also planning on working more cooperatively with United for Libraries on trustee programming.
- Key issues going forward include: Federal funding
More creative Advocacy efforts
New partnerships with groups such as La Raza and other NGOs
Here are the minutes of the Advocacy Coordinating Group meeting:
In attendance: Gina Millsap, 2016-2017 Chair, Committee on Library Advocacy and Advocacy Coordinating Group (ACG); Susan DiMattia, 2017-2018 Chair, Committee on Library Advocacy and Advocacy Coordinating Group; Callan Bignoli, LITA; Carol Brey, IRRT; Aaron Dobbs, OITP/RUSA; Dorcas Hand, AASL; Franklin Escobedo, YALSA; Kate McNair, YALSA; Paul Moeller, ALCTS; Rose Mosely, United for Libraries; Libby Post, COLA, Communication Services; Yiping Wang, CALA; Vivian Wynn, RMMT, Wynn Library Consulting
Staff Liaisons: Kathi Kromer, Associate Executive Director, ALA Washington Office; Marci Merola, Director, ALA Office for Library Advocacy; Jan Carmichael; Public Awareness Office; Megan Cusick, Office for Library Advocacy; Joaquin Falcon, Office for Library Advocacy
Welcome and Introductions
Gina welcomed everyone, asked for a round of introductions, and reminded the group that the Advocacy Coordinating Group’s (ACG) is a subset of the Committee for Library Advocacy (COLA), as well as that the Advocacy Implementation Plan that was adopted more than three years ago. In her four years as committee chair to both ACG and COLA, the consensus is that all library advocates all need to speak in one united voice and that the work we do is critical for the association and profession. She noted that many of our colleagues still do not see advocacy as being part of their daily job, and there is still work to do in that respect both internally and externally.
Gina said that she felt National Library Legislative Day this past May was successful. Members of Congress she spoke with sent the message that they, not the President, are in control of the budget. Kathi Kromer echoed her comment, saying that although nothing should be taken for granted, she is cautiously optimistic about the next budget, and that effective advocacy efforts to attract legislative interest in libraries is critical. The major change in ALA leadership was also discussed as well as the need to stay focused on efforts during the transition.
Report on Advocacy Bootcamp
Marci Merola briefed the group on Advocacy Bootcamp (http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advocacy-bootcamp) efforts, a new training program OLA and the Office for Intellectual Freedom piloted in fall of 2016.
Marci quickly reviewed the advocacy history of ALA, from the 1990s when President Pat Schuman introduced advocacy at a formal level, to present day where so many units of ALA and organizations have their own advocacy initiatives.
She believes that the time has come for the profession to speak with a unified voice, which is one of the main goals of the new training initiative, Advocacy Bootcamp (http://www.ala.org/advocacy/advocacy-bootcamp). She referenced the ALA crisis protocol (and noted that OLA does well with crises or “reactive advocacy,” but needs to work harder on “proactive advocacy,” which is a focus of Advocacy Bootcamp.) Advocacy Bootcamp brings together concepts from the Harwood Institute, OCLC’s From Awareness to Funding, and the Aspen Institute and makes them accessible at a more grassroots level. The group responded with the following comments:
- • It was asked if the team was going to be doing any additional training, Marci said they hope to do a “train the trainer” session at ALA Midwinter 2018 in Denver.
- • YALSA is trying a similar advocacy effort, and asked if they could adopt some of these techniques and messaging in their work as well. Local groups that promote school librarians and libraries could use Bootcamp techniques in their efforts. Information about Bootcamp has been distributed to this group, COLA, Chapters, various state and local groups, unit managers throughout ALA, and the Council list. The ALA Washington Office plans to partner with OLA to help cultivate the culture of advocacy within the association. In addition, they will be actively seeking partnerships, and informing people outside of the profession as to what we do as an association, and noting that nothing beats in-person, hands-on training. We need to share a common goal, as responses to advocacy efforts tend to be more reactive than proactive most of the time. We need to look at different models for library funding as well.
- • It was asked if ACG could turn into a working group, going across divisions and start a conversation about unifying the message, an opportunity that could move things forward and drive culture change within the ALA.
- • The group should figure out what tangible, constructive activity it can do in a short amount of time that has an active impact, and do it.
- • Is it possible to scale and deploy Bootcamp activity more effectively if a test model were to be run? How can we can speed up the impact of these trainings? Marci replied that she believes in these trainings, and that the program is still in its infancy. She mentioned that feedback forms are being collected during Bootcamp trainings, taking surveys and following up with attendees afterwards. Her goal is to get a grant to create a new system of advocacy training.
- • The strong message is that everyone in the profession knows that advocacy is part of their work, but that people have distinct roles, and that messaging will be different for different jobs. Knowing “who says what and when” is critical to effective messaging.
- • We should consider the end product, and ask “how do we get to the influencers?” People’s intentions are not an outcome, but if we start to look at behavior change, and see some change in activities, then we know we are reaping benefits.
- • There could be an offshoot of Bootcamp that targets today’s young librarians, some of whom will be library directors later in life, and they need to be immersed in advocacy activity from the get-go.
- • Recognizing the importance of advocacy comes from every level of the organization.
Strengthening Advocacy Efforts: Advice for the New Executive Director
Gina asked the group what advice they would give to the incoming ALA Executive Director if given the opportunity. Comments follow:
- • Advocacy efforts needs more money and staff.
- • Advocacy needs one voice or one message.
- • You can judge the priorities of an association by their expenditures and their budget.
- • Be proactive, not reactive.
- • Organizing priorities needs to be a top priority for the ALA. Form follows function, our tools should reflect this. We need clear, articulated goals, and determine where we want them to take us.
- • Encourage leadership to place advocacy in job descriptions, and it should be part of employee evaluations as well.
- • Every state should have an advocacy plan, this is a part of the Bootcamp messaging as well.
- • Bring groups together so that advocacy efforts use one voice.
- • Post-election and budget proposal, we are suddenly looking at the possible removal of cultural institutions, and everyone who we consider partners (NEA, PBS, etc.) should view this as an immediate threat.
- • We all talk about the value of libraries, but we all have a unique way of phrasing it.
- • The four key messages from the Libraries Transform campaign and Advocacy Bootcamp should be rote knowledge for all.
- • There is a difference between a marketing campaign and an advocacy plan, the two share many components -- marketing is the foundation for the advocacy effort.
- • ALA is a complex organization with multiple voices that need to be respected and listened to. It is better to harmonize these different voices, rather than conflicting with one another.
Gina then asked the group what their takeaway from the day was:
- • Dorcas said that she will be in contact with Kate and Franklin of YALSA, reiterated that they want to adopt the advocacy voice and message in their organization. Kate asked to see the strategic advocacy plan, Joaquin Falcon said he would email her a copy.
- • Does the strategic plan need to be reworked in terms of recent political activity?
• Is there a prototype for an advocacy plan, or a template in place? Some states do have advocacy plans, including New York and Massachusetts, and while there is not a boilerplate plan in place, basic steps are: o Identifying the top one to three priorities for the year.
o Identifying top goals to accomplish.
o Networking/communication/legislative steps.
o Establishing key dates.
Determining the role of everyone within the organization.
Meeting adjourned.