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A School Library Advocacy Alphabet

On June 29, 2010 librarians stormed Capitol Hill by the busload wearing red shirts with the slogan "Vote for Libraries." This event was coordinated by ALA and coincided with the annual conference in Washington, D. C., to ensure the event was heavily attended. I was able to participate in this National Library Legislative Day thanks to a travel stipend awarded by the Friends of YALSA. It was just the incentive I needed to get over my fear and take my concerns about the lack of funding for libraries straight to the decision makers at the top. Legislative advocacy is what most people think of as the BIG ADVOCACY with a capital "A," the one that is scary and takes up a lot of time. Often people feel helpless in the face of the giant political machine and think, "How can one person make a difference?" Participating in National Library Legislative Day made me realize that I am not just one person. As a part of ALA, I am a voice in a very big organization with thousands of members nationwide. Armed with palm cards and talking points from ALA, my meetings with legislators were not as scary as I'd anticipated. The fact that I'm a registered voter was my ticket to some face-to-face time with my state representative, Dana Rohrabacher. Although I don't think I changed his mind about spending federal dollars, I do think I was able to make him aware of some of the issues faced by school libraries today. I specifically asked for a teacher librarian in every school through the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). (1) This was the beginning of my adventures in advocacy, and since then I have made it a mission to advocate for my school library teen programs every day. After spending a year focusing on advocacy, I came to realize that there are many ways to practice advocacy besides legislative advocacy. If you are ready to begin your own adventures in advocacy, here's an A to Z guide. A = Advocacy First, we must start with a definition of advocacy. What is it and what does it mean? For many people employed in the library community, it means, "How can I keep my job?" My initial interest in advocacy began when teacher librarian positions were scheduled for elimination in my school district. So many library programs are being cut due to budget problems that it is hard not to sound like you are only acting in self-interest when trying to save your program. Advocacy should not only be a focus when facing a budget crisis, it should be a plan that you work on every day. According to the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), "Advocacy is a long-term, deliberate plan that is designed to build stakeholder support. True advocacy is when stakeholders stand up and speak out on behalf of a cause, idea, program or organization. Stakeholder support is built through program design, marketing and education. It is the job of school librarians to design programs around stakeholder needs and to educate stakeholders about how school libraries connect to stakeholders' priorities. Data and evidence are key educational tools as school librarians work to educate stakeholders about the school library's role in preparing students to live work and learn in the 21st Century." (2) The main focus here is on the stakeholder, not on books, libraries, or librarians. For YALSA members, our stakeholders are the teens we serve and their parents. We need to design programs that meet the needs of teens, advertise and market these programs in order to increase participation, collect data and evidence about the programs' successes, and then educate our community about the importance of continuing these programs by helping them to understand the benefit of the programs to teens. B = Branding Branding is a marketing strategy that helps patrons instantly recognize the company. Simple logos such as McDonald's Golden Arches or the Target bull's-eye ensure that their brand is easily recognized regardless of location. …