Description:

Whether you are new to advocacy on behalf of libraries and the communities they serve or you have been involved in advocacy for many years, there is always something new to learn. This two-hour highly-interactive introduction to advocacy, part of a new “Ursula Meyer Advocacy Fund Training” series, provides an opportunity to work with seasoned library advocates in surveying a variety of approaches to advocacy; introduces you to some of the key library-advocacy organizations; helps you understand how to reach out to library supporters and elected officials, and includes a brief primer on dealing with opposition to your ballot initiatives and other advocacy efforts.

Goals:

Upon completing the session, you will be able to:

Identify at least three key elements of successful advocacy efforts

Name three library-advocacy organizations which can serve as resources for you in your advocacy efforts

Cite at least one action you will take, as a library advocate, within the week following your participation in this session

Session Facilitators: 

Jayanti Addleman, Director of Library Services, Hayward Public Library; CLA President; and member of CLA’s Advocacy and Legislative Committee

Deborah Doyle, Chair of the Sonoma County Library Commission and member of CLA’s Advocacy and Legislative Committee

Mike Eitner, Deputy Director of the Solano County Library and member of CLA’s Advocacy and Legislative Committee

Paul Signorelli, CLA Library Advocacy Training Project Manager and author of Change the World Using Social Media (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021)

About the Ursula Meyer Advocacy Fund Training Series

This program, the first of four monthly online sessions organized and to be offered initially through the Ursula Meyer Advocacy Fund Training Series from September through December 2021, honors the memory of Ursula Meyer, 1977-78 CLA President, California Library Hall of Fame inductee, longtime director of the Stockton-San Joaquin Public Library, and fierce advocate for library services and intellectual freedom. The Ursula Meyer Fund was established to provide for the training of librarians in all stages of their careers, and library supporters, in political advocacy and political action, in honor of Ursula’s belief that librarians need effective political skills to advocate for library support at all levels of government.