Advocacy

Even facing fierce political winds, Oklahoma librarians and colleagues Molly Dettmann, Amanda Kordeliski, and Cherity Pennington have successfully defended school libraries, devoting their energies to educating communities and state leaders on libraries’ advantages and responsibilities.

A new documentary, Banned Together—available to stream April 10—shines a spotlight on three young freedom to read advocates, and how, together and individually, they are standing up to make a difference.

Alan Inouye has led advocacy and public policy for the American Library Association (ALA) since 2007, where he’s touched everything from E-Rate to copyright to ebook access, securing hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for libraries. His retirement from ALA this month marks a crucial moment for the association, which has weathered significant challenges in recent years and cannot afford to lose ground with relationships in Washington, DC, and across the broader library landscape.

We cannot be caught flat-footed when library funding is called into question. Doing the work of capturing stories today will help ensure we’re prepared to deal with threats that we may face tomorrow.

As libraries face increasingly challenging funding landscapes, a key to securing public support lies in mobilizing a coalition of foundation donors, Friends members, and board volunteers. Successful advocacy campaigns happen when these key stakeholders unite behind the library’s mission, reinforcing its value and amplifying its message to decision-makers. To that end, library directors can use several types of advocacy to strengthen their budget campaigns, including community-driven advocacy, public-private partnerships, and the concept of advocacy through fundraising.

For the past four years, EveryLibrary has been working to fight the book-banning movement. A large part of that fight is developing effective messaging against book bans, as well as conducting extensive message testing, surveys, and focus groups to understand the impact of messaging and determine which messages perform best.

During voter education week, public and academic libraries step up efforts to ensure voters have what they need before they go to the polls.

As an American Library Association Emerging Leader, Nicollette Davis is always looking for ways to improve the library field. Through the We Here organization, she helps BIPOC library and information science professionals support each other in a welcoming space.

LaShawn Myles had not worked specifically with the disability community when she joined the Maryland State Library for the Blind and Print Disabled in 2018. Her work as an educator led her to libraries, where she quickly became a champion for visually impaired patrons, advocating for resources and finding ways to make materials more accessible.