{"id":7854,"date":"2014-01-19T12:01:44","date_gmt":"2014-01-19T17:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/?p=7854"},"modified":"2014-01-15T13:50:18","modified_gmt":"2014-01-15T18:50:18","slug":"new-year-new-resolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/2014\/01\/new-year-new-resolution\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year, New Resolution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><b>\u00a0<\/b>Happy New Year, everyone!\u00a0 I hope that 2014 is a stellar year for you and for your library.<\/p>\n<p>Now is the time that many of us are engaging in New Year\u2019s resolutions.\u00a0 They no doubt run the gamut from dropping that last five pounds to taking up a new hobby or making a trip to that exotic locale that you&#8217;ve always wanted to visit.<\/p>\n<p>I would like you to consider another resolution.\u00a0 What about making one related to advocacy and the services you provide for the children of your community?\u00a0 Think about something you would like to accomplish with regard to advocacy during this year.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be overwhelming; it can be something small.\u00a0 Many resolutions fail because people set the bar too high and give up in frustration.\u00a0 For example, instead of planning to walk two miles to work each day, a person would be better off deciding to get off the bus two stops early and walking those last four blocks.\u00a0 A reasonable goal provides a better chance of success and can even energize you to do more.<\/p>\n<p>So instead of planning to write and implement a half million dollar grant with little or no help, look for something small and practical that can make a difference.\u00a0 For instance, you might:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Meet with adult services staff to talk with them about how important they are to the success of children\u2019s services.\u00a0 Let them know what is happening so that they can share with adult patrons.<\/li>\n<li>Prepare that elevator speech with three or four points about how important library children\u2019s services are for your community.<\/li>\n<li>Pick one organization that you are not working with, make note of some services and resources that you offer that support their mission, or that you could easily implement, and make an appointment to talk with them.<\/li>\n<li>If you have volunteers, let them know that they are also library advocates.\u00a0 Provide them with some talking points and encourage them to share them with their friends and neighbors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are many more ways that you can advocate for children\u2019s services in your library.\u00a0 For additional suggestions and ideas, I encourage you to become familiar with the ALSC Everyday Advocacy web site at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ala.org\/everday-advocacy\">www.ala.org\/everday-advocacy<\/a> .\u00a0 It is a wonderful resource for anyone in children\u2019s services.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, remember that what you do every day advocates for services to children.\u00a0 The fact that you assist young people in finding information, provide reader\u2019s advisory to help them discover the perfect story to read, create community-responsive programs and ensure a welcoming, child-friendly atmosphere in your library builds relationships and support across your community.\u00a0\u00a0 You are already an advocate, so use a New Year\u2019s resolution take it one small step farther.<\/p>\n<p>Happy 2014!<\/p>\n<p>Toni Bernardi<br \/>\nChair, ALSC Advocacy and Legislation Committee<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0Happy New Year, everyone!\u00a0 I hope that 2014 is a stellar year for you and for your library. Now is the time that many of us are engaging in New Year\u2019s resolutions.\u00a0 They no doubt run the gamut from dropping that last five pounds to taking up a new hobby or making a trip to that exotic locale that you&#8217;ve always wanted to visit. I would like you to consider another resolution.\u00a0 What about making one related to advocacy and the services you provide for the children of your community?\u00a0 Think about something you would like to accomplish with regard to advocacy during this year.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be overwhelming; it can be something small.\u00a0 Many resolutions fail because people set the bar too high and give up in frustration.\u00a0 For example, instead of planning to walk two miles to work each day, a person would be better off&#8230;<\/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":[270],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogger-advocacy-and-legislation-committee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7854","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=7854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7854\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alsc.ala.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}