The ALSC Leadership Meeting at the ALA Conference in Anaheim focused on Advocacy and how to identify and fulfill our promise to our community.<\/p>\n
The successful library builds a cadre of advocates who will work on its behalf. The successful library demonstrates that it has an integral role in creating the community\u2019s successful future.<\/p>\n
Keynote speaker David Lankes challenged us to engage in conversation and wrestle with the following questions to guide us in creating meaningful library services for our communities.<\/p>\n
(1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>How can we effectively identify specific community needs in terms of developing youth services and supporting literacy?<\/em><\/p>\n Communication was the major discussion point. Formal information-seeking mechanisms such as focus groups and surveys were mentioned.\u00a0 We talked about our classic constituencies and collaborators as school personnel, parents, students, HeadStarts and preschools.\u00a0 We also discussed the need to remember to look at alternatives within our communities such as private schools, charter schools, home schooling families, etc.<\/p>\n We talked at length about the importance of seeking broader input. In order to find out the dreams and aspirations of our community members, it is important to listen to people we don\u2019t normally hear from \u2014 inside and outside the library. We discussed seeking out individuals at healthcare centers, neighborhood or community centers.\u00a0 Social Service centers, homeless centers and\/or jails. We also talked about holding conversations with our professional colleagues in other human services professions.\u00a0 We talked about holding one-on-one discussions as we encountered community members at such places as Starbucks and in the supermarket line. It is important to ask people to tell us what they dream, rather than just what they want.<\/p>\n (2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>As professionals, what can we do to accomplish change to meet these needs?<\/em><\/p>\n The important thing is to listen to what folks have to say. Then we need to ask ourselves hard questions and seriously contemplate the answers.<\/p>\n What are their dreams and aspirations? What \u201cthemes\u201d\u009d are prevalent and consistent.\u00a0 How does the library fit in?<\/p>\n Then we must think about how the library can develop the resources and opportunities that our community members can use to forward these dreams.\u00a0 How do we change to meet the new realities as articulated by the community?<\/p>\n In some cases, we may need to change our own attitudes.\u00a0 We may need to look at our own traditions and the services we already provide\u2014 perhaps it means giving up something that we LOVE in order to meet changing community needs or desires.\u00a0 Maybe we need a new look or style.\u00a0 Perhaps it means leaving our own comfort zones or bending the rules.<\/p>\n Who are our natural collaborators?\u00a0 Can we identify local organizations or agencies which may be new to us?\u00a0 Can we find individuals with unique skills and interests to help us?<\/p>\n We must be willing to experiment and try out new ideas.\u00a0 We must be willing to fail.<\/p>\n (3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are there barriers<\/em>?<\/p>\n We never suffer from a lack of barriers or challenges.\u00a0 Many come quickly to mind — Money; time; administrative reluctance; staff morale; lack of credibility as individuals within our organization, lack of credibility as a community or educational institution; politics; competition, rivalries\u2026<\/p>\n The more important question becomes:<\/p>\n (4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How do we overcome the barriers<\/em>?<\/p>\n Communication again becomes central to the solution. We are the ones who must be change agents.\u00a0 We need to take the first steps or the obvious steps or the necessary steps.<\/p>\n Our brainstorming included \u201cpassion, thoughtful analysis and planning; communication with our administration; willingness to take chances and risks; willingness to adapt and compromise.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n Don\u2019t assume that the public knows what we do. Become engaged in the community.\u00a0 Seek out partners; look for resources both monetary and in-kind.<\/p>\n Be smart, be brave, be persistent.<\/p>\n Let us hear your thoughts!<\/p>\n SAVE THE DATE:<\/p>\n ALSC\u00a0 COMMUNITY FORUM II \u2014 DISCUSSION<\/p>\n TOPIC:\u00a0\u00a0ADVOCACY<\/p>\n Monday, December 3, 2012\u00a0 10:00 \u2014 11:00 AM EST<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Wednesday, December 5, 2012\u00a0\u00a0 2:00 \u2014 3:00 PM\u00a0 EST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The ALSC Leadership Meeting at the ALA Conference in Anaheim focused on Advocacy and how to identify and fulfill our promise to our community. The successful library builds a cadre of advocates who will work on its behalf. The successful library demonstrates that it has an integral role in creating the community\u2019s successful future. Keynote speaker David Lankes challenged us to engage in conversation and wrestle with the following questions to guide us in creating meaningful library services for our communities. (1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How can we effectively identify specific community needs in terms of developing youth services and supporting literacy? Communication was the major discussion point. Formal information-seeking mechanisms such as focus groups and surveys were mentioned.\u00a0 We talked about our classic constituencies and collaborators as school personnel, parents, students, HeadStarts and preschools.\u00a0 We also discussed the need to remember to look at alternatives within our communities such as private schools,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5462\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}