New ALA Tough Economy Toolkit

Chicago — A new web-based resource has just been released that will help library advocates make the case for libraries during times of economic downturn (such as now). The “Advocating in a Tough Economy” toolkit is available here.

“With city, county, state and federal budgets under increasing pressure, we need to be making the case for libraries more than ever. All too often, libraries are the first to receive budget cuts. Funders need to understand the essential role that libraries play in our society and economy, with usage up significantly, and increasing numbers of people coming to libraries for job-related services, for access to government assistance programs, and as a way of making their money go further.” says Keith Michael Fiels, ALA Executive Director. “The new toolkit will arm librarians and library supporters with the facts and strategies they need to speak out effectively for libraries in this tough economy.”

The toolkit contains information on how to work with decision-makers, ways to work with the media, and talking points to help libraries articulate the role of libraries in times of economic downturn. Talking points on the economic value of libraries, with return-on-investment examples; libraries and the economy; and upswings in library usage are included. Users are also invited to share their stories of how they have successfully advocated. Recent media coverage of libraries is also featured.

This resource is part of the “Advocacy U”, ALA’s new initiative geared to providing tools, training and resources to library advocates achieve real advocacy goals in real situations at the local level. Learn more at www.ala.org/advocacyuniversity.

“The Advocating in a Tough Economy Toolkit” is also a work in process. Updates and improvements will be implemented as new information and new success stories become available.

Re-post: What Do Library Staff Want President Obama to Know?

What Do Library Staff Want President Obama to Know?

During the economic downturn, library services are in greater demand for access to and assistance with job searching, financial aid, class assignments, lifetime learning, free Internet for poor families, government forms and programs. Just when families need libraries more, budgets, services, and hours are being cut. How can libraries serve as catalysts in communities to help the administration put its agenda into motion? ALA’s Executive Board and Membership Meeting Committee are sponsoring a Special Membership Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, Jan. 24th, from 3 PM to 4:30 PM in the Four Seasons Ballroom at the Colorado Convention Center. ALA wants to hear from you!

Because not everyone is able to participate in and ask questions of the candidates at the presidential candidates’ forum, anyone who can’t be there can still participate by submitting YouTube videos to ask the candidates their questions.

YouTube Candidates Forum Submission guidelines:

. Questions should be submitted as videos and posted to YouTube
. Maximum running time for a video is 90 seconds
. Every submission must be tagged: ALAelection09
. The individual/group submitting a video must use their true name/s
. Anyone interested in the election and/or candidates may submit

Deadline for submissions: January 16, 2009

Your suggestions and comments will help develop what ALA President Jim Rettig will share with President Obama and the new administration.

Reflections on Librarianship

The following is a letter which was recently posted to the ALA Council List by PLG member Elaine Harger in which she reflects on where libraries, specifically public libraries, fit into the communities in which they are situated. She brings important questions to the table with regard to the roles and responsibilities held by both individual libraries and larger library affiliated institutions in light of economic and environmental disaster. Please read as food for thought and thank you to Kathleen de la Peña McCook for making this available to the broader PLG community!

Dear colleagues,

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about all the suggestions made this past week regarding topics for discussion at the Membership Meeting at annual. I have also been thinking about ALA and librarianship in general in regard to environmental issues and have yet another idea to add to the hopper.

How do we make libraries relevant in the face of ecological degradation and disaster? For instance, did libraries in New Orleans inform their users about the probability that a hurricane like Katrina might cause the kind of damage that it, in fact, did? It was well known to civil engineers, journalists and others that a big hurricane would devastate the region, but did libraries ever highlight that information so that people might be better prepared? And, what role did libraries in wealthy areas play in fostering a spirit of civic unity with people in poor areas? How did libraries inform users of the likelihood of massive numbers of people becoming refugees? And, what should a library’s responsibility be in the face of the ecological stresses scientists are now warning us about? What is ALA’s responsibility as a leader within our profession? These are not academic questions — each one of our communities is vulnerable and we are all interconnected in vital ways. I think it is time for a discussion of these issues, as they are at the heart of a conversation that the entire nation needs to engage in. Yes, we can discuss what we’d like to see an Obama administration do in regard to libraries, but we need a _vision_ of the direction librarianship must head toward in the face of environmental (and economic, social and political) problems before we can take a wish list to the new president.

Librarianship needs to take a good, hard, eyes-wide-open look at where we are physically, historically and morally in order to transition the profession to meet the pressures of a future the likes of which we’ve never seen. If we are to make good on our promises to bear witness of what happened in New Orleans, then we need to reflect on what our responsibility is in preparing our own users and communities for the “disasters” that await us. We can certainly “hope” that President Obama will lead us in the right direction regarding these matters, but we really should be proactive and let him know that we have been thinking about the role librarianship could play in the transition to a more just and healthy world.

This afternoon I read an essay by Arundhati Roy entitled “Do Turkeys Enjoy Thanksgiving?” In it she makes a special point about honorable people who get elected to positions of power. I highly recommend this essay, which can be found at:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/95259/Do-Turkeys-Enjoy-Thanksgiving

We can’t passively “hope” for a better world, we need to be that change, and in order for this to happen within librarianship we need to do some serious reflection on where we fit into society, what that society is truly like and what we would like it to become.

All my best,

Elaine Harger
Councilor-at-Large

Banned Books Week

Since its beginnings in 1982, Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. This year (September 27 – October 4) marks BBW’s 27th anniversary and to kick off Banned Books Week in Chicago, the American Library Association, the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, and the Chicago Tribune will host a Banned Books Week Read-Out! The event will feature popular banned or challenged authors and local Chicago celebrities on Saturday, September 27, from noon to 3:00, at Pioneer Plaza.

Banned Books Week raises awareness both in the United States and internationally about threats to free speech. Banned Books Week was started by the Office for Intellectual Freedom of the American Library Association.

If you are in the Chicago area, why not drop by to hear noted, banned authors including Judy Blume, Stephen Chbosky, Chris Crutcher, Lois Lowry, Lauren Myracle, and Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell. Rumor has it that book signings will follow their readings. Far from Chicago? Consider hosting your own Read Out. Info is available on how to do an effective event, big or small.at:
http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/actionguide/actionguide.cfm

Rally for School Libraries

Grassroots Advocacy: More than 100 people gathered earlier this year (February) at the state capitol steps in Olympia, Washington to rally for school libraries. The rally, as well as an all-day summit, was the culmination of the work of a group of concerned Spokane mothers troubled at the cuts to school library media programs.