Until September 7th, members of Congress will be at home tending to their constituents. This time period, known as “District Days,” is a good time to touch base with both your Representatives in the House and your Senators to let them know about the importance of the work you do every day.
I know that most of you are tired, your Summer Reading program has just ended or is ending very soon and the start of the new school year is fast approaching, but here are some simple (and not so simple — for the energetic) things you can do:
- If your summer reading challenge hasn’t ended yet and a big party to celebrate another successful summer is in the works, invite your legislators to it. If it is over but you are hosting another event before Sept. 7th, invite them to that event. You can find contact information for members here. The YALSA District Days site has some great information on how to plan an event and make it effective.
- If your summer reading program is over, bring a photo album over to local Congressional offices, or if that won’t work, send it to them. You can ask kids to help you make it! Some things you might include are:
- Photos (of course) and or links to videos taken,
- Statistics detailing the number of participants and the number of days, minutes or pages read (whatever measurement you use),
- Statistics detailing the number of programs presented and the number of participants who attended,
- Information linking the types of programs offered to their educational value (i.e. STEM programs, early literacy storytimes, etc.). http://www.edutopia.org/stw-college-career-stem-infographic; digitalyouth.ischool.uw.edu and click on the “Project Views” link,
- Information on summer slip
- Stories or comments from patrons about why they love summer reading and/or the library.
- Personalized stories and numbers make a great combination. If an album won’t work, ask patrons to send comments individually to their representatives about how essential public libraries are to their daily lives.
- Remember to check with your library administrators before the outreach begins to make sure everybody is on the same page.
Finally, if it is too late to do any of the above, remember to mark your calendars for a date in early June 2015 so that you can plan to participate next summer. And, as always, stay tuned to this blog and our Everyday Advocacy weekly challenges for other things you can do during the year to advocate for your library.
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Today’s post was written by Helen Bloch, Librarian 2 in Children’s Services at the Oakland Public Library, for the Advocacy and Legislation committee.