Library advocates and other Californians are acutely aware of the increasing frequency of disruptive events—natural as well as human-caused. These events often overwhelm the public and individual capacity to respond in times of actual and/or perceived crisis, and chip away at our ability to rebound from small- as well as large-scale political, natural, and other disruptions and challenges. A key skill we clearly need to continue developing so we can respond to these events is resiliency—that ability to function effectively during and after those moments and events that push us into uncomfortable, disconcerting situations and circumstances.  

This free, highly-interactive 90-minute online workshop, under the auspices of the California Library Association Ursula Meyer Library Advocacy Training project, begins with an exploration of what makes us resilient as advocates on behalf of libraries and the communities they serve and offers tips on how to further develop our resiliency and antifragility skills, then examines the concept of community resiliency centers—safe, comfortable, and healthy spaces for residents facing challenging situations and circumstances—to see what we can learn about resiliency from those centers.  

Goal:

By participating in this session, you will learn how to hone your resiliency skills and adapt what others in the library community are doing to foster resiliency that strengthens us and the communities we serve.

By the end of the session, you will be able to:

Identify at least three ways successful advocates strengthen the resiliency that allows them to function effectively and avoid burnout

Describe how libraries can serve as community resiliency centers

Cite at least three parallels between the concept of community resiliency centers and the elements activists develop in their own continuing efforts to be resilient

Cite at least three resources they can use to further strengthen their own resiliency in their advocacy work and in other aspects of their lives

Presenters:

Chris Noll, a founding partner of Noll & Tam Architects, loves libraries and working with librarians. He is actively involved with the California Library Association (CLA)—including service as a member of the Ursula Meyer Endowment Committee—and the American Library Association (ALA). He feels that libraries carry the weight of history and represent the best ideals of democracy, freedom, and independent thinking.

Paul Signorelli, a San Francisco-based writer/trainer-facilitator/presenter/consultant, is project manager for the CLA Ursula Meyer Library Advocacy Training project and co-host of the San Jose State University iSchool podcast “Information Gone Wild”; his publications include “Change the World Using Social Media” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021). 

Patty Wong, Santa Clara City Librarian, served as president of the American Library Association (ALA) for the 2021–2022 term and has also served as president for the California Library Association. Her long-time highly-inspirational work as an advocate for libraries and their communities was partially captured in an interview she did for the Ursula Meyer Library Advocacy Training project in 2021: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.cla-net.org/resource/resmgr/advocacy/wong_patty--interview--2021-.pdf.

About the Ursula Meyer Advocacy Fund Training Series

This program is part of an ongoing series of monthly online sessions organized offered through the Ursula Meyer Advocacy Fund Training Series; sessions are generally held online on the second Wednesday of each month, beginning at 10 am PT. The series 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. Archived recordings of previous sessions are available on the California Library Association YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@californialibraryassociati2705/videos.

To support the series through a donation, please visit the CLA website at https://www.cla-net.org/donations/fund.asp?id=23440.