Search Results for: advocacy

Data, Metrics, and Storytelling for Advocacy at #alaac26

| Celeste Rhoads|Leave a comment

One of the highlights of my day on Saturday was the panel on the Invisible Labor of Library Work: Data, Metrics, and Storytelling for Advocacy. Let’s face it, most of the children’s and teens’ services librarians I know are great at hosting programs, but need help gathering data. This program promised to demonstrated how “data and storytelling can be used to strengthen advocacy, funding, and public understanding of the library’s role in the community,” but it offered so much more. The panelists all highlighted that any data gathering shouldn’t be done for the sole purpose of gathering numbers, but to help us advocate for our users and for each other. All panelists provided examples of how clear policies can help library workers carve out time for this important data collection. They also spoke about the need to build in support for staff so that all library workers can find success….

The Power of Stories for Library Advocacy

| Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee|Leave a comment

Do you ever check the Yelp or Google reviews of a restaurant before you go out to eat, or comb through the Amazon comments for a product before purchasing? Of course you do! People love to hear first-hand experiences, and who better to collect stories than a librarian? Why should we seek out stories? We all know the power of a story to reach readers hearts and minds! According to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, stories are remembered up to 22 times more than facts alone. I call this “stats + stories”. Giving out 173 books at an outreach event is a great statistic, but being able to recount the tale of the bright-eyed child thrilled to finally have their very own book makes an emotional impact. Gathering stories from our community, asking for feedback after popular programs, sharing ways our patrons can contact their local legislators to advocate…

Advocacy through Partnerships with Sports Organizations

| Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee|Leave a comment

It may be the dog days of summer where you live, but here in South Florida we are celebrating the ultimate cool cats and hockey champions, The Florida Panthers! Partnerships with sports teams and their non-profit foundations can be an impactful way to advocate for your library’s vision and mission and participate with a culture of enthusiasts.  The Florida Panthers Foundation was established to benefit the South Florida community by focusing on several priority areas, including supporting health and education initiatives for children.  Through this relationship, which has been built over multiple years, we’ve been able to create free family literacy bonding experiences and reach many new library card holders.  Several years ago, a Panthers Summer Reading Tour was started to build excitement and give residents a chance to learn more about hockey. Fans can connect with special guest readers (like players and broadcasters) at storytimes, meet the mascots, participate…

Everyday Advocacy: journey through our new webpage

| Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee|Leave a comment

Let’s all admit it, few of us spend much time really delving into organization web pages unless we need to use them for work or are specifically seeking out information.  We don’t tend to scroll them for fun.  Let’s change that!  I invite you all to take just a moment and look through our newly updated “Everyday Advocacy” page on the American Library Service to Children (ALSC) website.  The ALSC Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee has worked to update it over the past months, and it’s looking pretty great. The page can be found on the ALSC website under the “Initiatives” tab or at this handy dandy link https://www.ala.org/alsc/initiatives/everyday-advocacy.  In its most basic form it provides great information about what advocacy is and how to advocate for yourself, your programs, your library, and librarianship as a whole.  Information that is great for us all.  You should start with the “Be…

When it Comes to Advocacy, Language Matters

| Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee|1 Comment

The ALSC Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee is updating the ALSC “Everyday Advocacy” webpage. The page includes resources on how ALSC members can advocate for themselves and for children on the importance of library services for our youngest patrons. A new addition will be information on working with legislators.

TikTok as a Form of Advocacy

| ALSC Children and Technology committee|Leave a comment

Despite the fate of social media platform TikTok still being in limbo, librarians, authors, and educators continue to embrace it as a place for advocacy. As social media has grown and evolved over the past two decades, one thing is certain: people will always find ways to gather and create community on these virtual platforms. And while many parents and educators lament their children’s time being consumed by smartphones and social media, #BookTok seems to be having a positive impact on people’s reading habits.  Below is just a small sample of the types of community being centered around libraries, books, and intellectual freedom via TikTok (and Instagram). If TikTok is indeed banned, there is no doubt people will find other places to gather in community, but as of right now, the advocacy work continues.  This is just a selection of people/institutions doing the advocacy work. You do not need a…

Sneaky Advocacy and Award Winning Titles

| Guest Contributor|Leave a comment

In the last post from the  AASL/ALSC/YALSA Interdivisional Committee on School/Public Library Cooperation, titled Youth Books with an International Flair, the discussion was about non-ALA youth book awards. Considering the diversity of the winning titles and creators of the youth media award winners this year and the current hostilities towards diverse books for young readers, perhaps we might put on our advocacy hats and look to engaging the adults in our communities.