Staff/Library Advocates
- Advertise through other businesses' staff meetings
- Advocate for legislators, councils, etc... (return the favor)
- Assign staff or volunteers to do weekly PR for library services and activities
- Assist town department/local organization with grant proposal
- Attend a legislative luncheon
- Become a "green" library
- Be involved in local city council (designate staff member to attend) to demonstrate library's importance in community
- Be present at community functions
- Buy a scanner for every library branch (scanners are crucial for sight-impaired individuals- once a book has been scanned blind people can use the Braille readers)
- Create a logo and use it on all print ads
- Create a long range planning committee for advocacy for library
- Create advisory board of local businesses and community leaders to help with funding and other areas such as, tech support, legal advising, etc.
- Create friends group/foundation
- Create 2 minute and 5 minute "drill" or "elevator spiel" for all library staff to use any time the opportunity arises
- Design web links for the library web page that targets the needs of patrons
- Director attends monthly city council meetings
- During new employee orientation set aside 15 minutes to deliver PR for their use
- Good customer service and friendliness can be the absolute best advocacy
- Have the community advocate for the library to be on the cutting edge of technology
- Have director belong to organizations in community
- Have staff from other libraries meet, not just the directors
- Hire a "Lobbyist"
- Hire a p.r. firm
- Host a community forum and communicate what the library is doing
- Initiate a Library Advocacy Campaign
- Intern or staffed position to garner financial support for rural libraries (operating money)
- Let community members post flyers, etc...at the library
- Local business resources & business models as ways to advocate
- Make space for a central online community bulletin board
- Make sure collection matches community needs
- Make special library bookmarks
- Make web page "user friendly"
- Offer incentives to staff members who advocate at social and civic functions and report about contacts
- Online Resources for Rural Librarians Promoting Public Libraries
- Partner with other libraries in the same school district
- Plan a focus group
- Post pictures on website of library programs
- Promote National Library Week
- Promote regional, state and national library associations
- Read Talking to Power
- Reconvene long range planning committee
- Require annual board training to get state aid
- Small is Powerful Toolkit for Winning Support for Your Rural Library
- State resources to advocate/coordinate rural libraries to seek grant & foundation funding
- Statewide mascot representing libraries
- Survey public for needs/wants
- Talk about the library to anyone who will listen
- Talk to each patron at circulation desk
- Train librarians to be politicians in a fun "good" way
- Train local board members in advocacy techniques
Community Advocates
- Adult education partnerships- skilled workforce
- Advocate at story hour - involve these parents
- Ask for specific public speaking opportunities from Kiwanis, Rotary, Chamber, local service organization, fraternal organizations
- Ask children and teens for their opinion and try to use their ideas
- Awareness for tribal leaders & council of library needs
- Children can draw what the library means to them
- College Board
- Create a "PTA" for youth services
- Film groups
- Game or movie night at the library or local schools
- Get County Conservation District Admin to look for and write Grants
- Get retired teachers involved
- Get rid of overdue fines for the positive PR
- Give books to babies born in town (including info on early literacy/brain development) wrapped and hand delivered by volunteer
- Grocery stores
- Hikers
- History Groups
- Hold a "family council" program to promote connectivity
- Home Schoolers
- Host a candidates forum
- Host community bulletin board
- Invite editors/publishers of local area papers to library
- Judges
- Laundromat
- Local sports players
- Local Techies
- Make library meeting space available to community groups, especially those who are non-users
- Mutually beneficial partnerships like Arts Council (for financial and actions)
- Obtain/publicize materials that support school curriculum
- Offer library's "wireless lab" to community groups for training
- Our best advocates are our patrons, use them to advocate!
- Our post mistress is an advocate- she did a superhero stamp party for our end of summer party
- Provide prizes (free drink at local grocery store) for patrons wearing "I love my library" buttons
- Provide access to materials useful to home-schooling families
- Provide training to advocate for library
- Recognize volunteers via a grand shindig
- Recruit a local "celebrity" library user to promore library technology services
- Rock Climbers
- School Groups i.e. National Honor Society
- Seek business partners so they can become advocates
- Senior Center
- Share library space with others who have audiences but no room for events
- State resources to coordinate rural libraries to seek grant and foundation funding
- Summer Reading
- Survey- Leaders, groups, etc...
- Talk to Boy Scouts & Girl Scouts about how the library can help them
- Talk to church groups-ask for donations
- Teens to write essays on the value of library
- Use local heroes to speak-up for your library
- Visit teacher meetings
- Volunteers active in decision making
- Wear library sweat shirts, t-shirts, lapel pins, etc...
- Young Adult Advisory Council- use them to spread the library message in the schools, myspace, etc..
- Young Professionals
City/State Official Advocates
- Advocacy for Trustees
- Appreciation tea for council, board members, patrons
- Ask local leaders/policy makers to work the desk during a busy shift
- Birthday postcards to magistrates and city council
- Contact Literacy Council and make sure they use library as a resource
- Contact local civic organizations i.e. Art Guild, Book Club, Historical Society
- Develop relationship with families of City Council "persons"
- Energize your trustees, Board and Friends group - Get them do to PR
- Ex-library board members and ex-town officials, ex-mayor
- Friends host dinner for leaders
- Get Chamber to meet at library
- Go with Board president to see County Commissioner
- Host lunch every 6 months for village/town gov't and State legislators
- Invite city commissioners, city managers, and city clerks to library for a special evening to share what the library has and what services it offers-have the Friends group help with refreshments
- Invite county agency wives to help with fundraising drives
- Invite your state senator and representative to your library and sign them up
- Join and attend the Chamber of Commerce
- Keep city governing body apprised of technology needs
- Learn who is on city council and prime them about library
- Make cookies for council or city hall or board meetings
- School district superintendent
- Send city council members library cards and brochures
- Share success stories with city leaders on a monthly basis
- Place photos of elected officials where the staff will see them frequently so that when they enter the library the staff will recognize them and be able to communicate library needs
Data on Impact
- Collect success stories to tell legislators (like New York Library Association's Libraries Change Lives: Tell Us Your Story or have an "Impact Box" on your public desk instead of a suggestion box)
- Create a yearly monetary value chart
- Create an annual report about what the library has done during the year. Mail them to local decision makers and invite them to come and see the impact that the library has. The report can include things such as:
- Number of materials used
- Number of children that attended programs
- Number of programs offered at the library
- How many hours people used computer services
- Demonstrating Impact Road Map
- Make patrons and community leaders aware of any public access computing issues or challenges
- Postcards with bi-monthly stats to city and county officials
- Pring report of annual statistics in newspaper
- Testimonials from patrons- when we get an especially good compliment- we ask them to write it down or e-mail it, so we have a concrete copy
- Show impact on schools- Before and after partnerships
- Track web hits and use
- Work on testimonials from the business community, featuring someone who used the library to research something to enhance their business
Getting the Word Out
- Advertise new technology with library blog
- Advertise the library's technology "wish list" in city council newsletter, local papers, website, school newsletter
- Brochure- "Your library needs you!", "Did you know you could..."
- Create a poster of local personalities that love the library
- Design and produce a fabulous brochure to encourage visibility and fund raising
- Develop a quarterly newsletter to keep patrons & residents informed of the happenings, needs, & services of the library
- Develop on-line 24 hour PAC assistance with list of "how many served so far"
- Distribute brochures widely
- Distribute library cards and handouts to condo associations and chamber of Commerce to encourage new residents to visit and join
- Do PowerPoint presentation on library at additional clubs and organization (ask board members to do this as well!)
- Establish firm link with newspaper
- Find out if there is a business/group meeting & talk to them
- Have library brochures at realtors, alumni meetings, lawyer offices, local stores
- Get a light display sign in front of library that says # of community served
- Good Year Blimp
- Highlight patron stories in library display and library publications
- "Libraries Connect" column in local paper
- Maintain web link - newsletters - library information
- Monthly newsletter to City Council about what is going on
- Monthly report to board, patrons, city
- More publicity for community leaders helping the library
- Open House with selectmen/city council, state senator or representative, send letters, follow up with phone calls, inviting them to specific library event, sign them up for library card, hand them a library card in public
- Order a new printer to print brochures
- Produce a video highlighting the library's computer expertise and value to community
- PSAs for local radio
- Put messages on library doors (even bathroom stalls)
- Put the doorcount on a sign in the window
- Rent a billboard
- School newspaper advertising
- Self publish newsletters, etc...
- Send "Did you know" statistic about your library to local paper
- Sponsor a contest: "What my library has done for me" and publish winning essays
- Structured marketing (templates, PSAs, etc.)
- Compile outreach ideas and programs. Provide contact info for people doing the programming.
- Scholarship programs.
- Reconsider budget allocations.
- Circulation Exchange
- Paraprofessional Exchange
- Dedicated library consultants from the State Library
- Tell The Library Story with help from the State Library of Iowa's toolkit
- Use bulletin boards around town: Senior Center, college board
- Use website calendars
- Weekly article in newspaper
- Write a monthly letter to legislator about what's happening in library
- Write newspaper articles
Advocacy via Sponsorship
- Ask businesses to adopt a PC
- Bank employees pick a book on their birthday; library orders the copy; it is given to the bank; bank employee reads and gives back to the library; bank pays for the book
- Get local businesses to sponsor periodicals
- Give kids a "piggy bank" with Friends of the Library advertisement and plea to "save for the library"
- Library buttons- each library has own button to sell and trade
- Targeted sponsorships to bring local wireless
What can we/they advocate for?
- Expensive library technology (automation system, network support), often unseen, people don’t realize how expensive some resources actually are
- Facilities (more space!)
- Faster internet service
- Funding
- Literacy
- Political support
- Programming
- Public awareness
- Staffing
- The library as a center of connections
- The library as a part of the community
- Training, Continuing Education for staff
- Wireless
If you have advocacy ideas or resources to add, please share them in the comments below. Thank you for all your great work!! |
