2. What We’ll Learn Together Today
• Why Be an Advocate
• What Advocacy Is All About
• What Are The Basics
– Organizing
– Message
– Determining Strategy
– Implementation
3. What We’ll Learn Together Today
• Developing an Effective Message
• Case Studies
– Jervis Public Library
– White Plains Public Library
– The Relationship with Your Electeds
• Building Your Friends Group
4. Giving Credit Where It Is Due
• Wellstone Action
– Founded in memory of Paul Wellstone, MN
Senator who believed in the power of
grassroots advocacy and action
• ALA’s Library Advocate’s Handbook
• Experience gathered working as an
advocate for over 30 years
5. Some Advocates We’ve Known
• John Brown
– Leading Abolitionist
– Anti-Slavery Advocate
6. Some Advocates We’ve Known
• Eleanor Roosevelt
– First Lady
– Human Rights
Advocate
7. Some Advocates We’ve Known
• Eunice Kennedy
Shriver
– Founder of the Special
Olympics
– Disabilities Advocate
8. Some Advocates We’ve Known
• Cesar Chavez
– President, United
Farm Workers
– Migrant Workers
Advocate
9. Some Advocates We’ve Known
• Marian Wright
Edelman
– President, Children’s
Defense Fund
– Children’s Rights
Advocate
10. Some Advocates We’ve Known
• Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.
– President, Southern
Christian Leadership
Council
– Civil Rights Advocate
11. Some Advocates We’ve Known
• Harvey Milk
– Martyred San
Francisco Supervisor
– Lesbian and Gay
Rights Advocate
12. Some Advocates We’ve Known
• Ted Kennedy
– U.S. Senator
– Health Care Reform
Advocate
14. Why Be An Advocate?
• “If I am not for myself,
who will be for me?
And when I am for
myself, what am 'I'?
And if not now,
when?“
– Hillel
15. Why Be An Advocate
• If we don’t stand up for libraries, who will?
• If we do stand up for libraries
– Our staff will
– Our trustees will
– Our patrons will
– Our community leaders will
– Our elected officials possibly will (if we make it
politically safe for them)
16. Why Be An Advocate?
• Stand up for what you believe in
– Frame the debate and determine the message
• Express your passion about libraries
• Become a leader
• Organize supporters
– Allow them to express their passion as well
• Develop strategies
• Execute and analyze
17. What Is Advocacy All About?
• Taking action to impact an issue
– Why you want to take action?
– What do you want to accomplish?
– How can you be best prepared?
– What resources will you need?
– Who will lead?
18. What Is Advocacy All About?
• Advocacy comes alive as a campaign
– Effective message that moves people to
action
– Series of tactics based on message and
resources
– Clear attainable goal
• Internal goal
• External goal
19. Advocacy as Program
• Develop a core advocacy group
• Develop advocacy programs where the
public can come and learn
• Make sure you have something for folks
“to do”
• Always be on the look out for new board
members and leadership
20. Lobbying as an Advocacy Tactic
• Lobbying is a specific form of advocacy
• Ask an elected official to take a stand and
vote a certain way
– It’s what Lobby Day is all about
• Lobbying is narrowly defined
– Regulated by law
• Advocacy is broadly defined
– No legal constraints
21. Key Components of
an Advocacy Campaign
• Strong leadership • Determine targets to
– Coordinate with the pressure
Library board • Organize people
• Clear goals • Determine tactics
– Written plan
• Use media
• Strong, clear – Traditional
message – New
– Core message same
as library’s
• Celebrate
22. Strong Leadership
• Essential to have someone in charge
– Campaigns require planning, focus, discipline
and organization
– Coordinating with Library
• Decisions need to be made quickly and
decisively
• Everyone has a role to play
23. Clear Goals
• Articulate vision
– Have a clear understanding of what you’re
trying to accomplish
– Can not be all things to all people
– May not be able to talk about other important
issues
• Written plan drives strategy and tactics
• Define victory
24. Strong, clear message
• Clear, concise
• You define it
– Don’t let opposition define your message
• Internal message
– What you use to engage and motivate your base
• External message
– What you communicate in various ways to your
intended targets—policy makers, elected, etc.
25. Determine targets
• Who are you trying to impact
– Policy makers
– Decision makers
– Elected Officials
• Helps determine where you have or where
you need to build supporters
26. Organize people
• Organize People
– Excite your base with your message
– Gain their commitment to act
– Give them specific things to do
– Constantly reach out and bring in new people
27. Determine tactics
• Personal visits with targets
• Letters, faxes, e-mails, postcards and phone
calls to targets
• Rallies and demonstrations
• Direct action strategies
– Book In: Pile up books in front of a legislators’ office
to show value of one visit
• Political theater
– Bread and Puppet
28. Determine tactics
• Remember, balance resources with tactics
• The more personal the tactic, the greater
the impact
– In-district visit has more of an impact than use
of generic postcards
29. Things to remember
• Coordinate efforts and message with the
Library
• Define victory by having realistic goals
– Celebrate small victories
• Need strong leadership
• Won’t be all things to all people
• Match resources to campaign
30. Focus: Developing Your Message
• Can have great goals, innovative tactics,
know who to target
• But without clear, compelling message you
won’t be able to celebrate!
31. Focus: Developing Your Message
• Your message is the core argument
• Must be the foundation upon which all
organizing is based
• Bold, clear, concise
• People should feel their self-interests are
connected to the interests of the campaign
• Talk directly to people in plain language
32. Focus: Developing Your Message
• Message based in values should be succinct,
compelling and understandable
• Paul Wellstone:
– “People respond according to their sense of right and
wrong. They respond to a leadership of values.”
• Never assume people will see the inherent logic
of our view and support us
– Have to give them a reason to support us before
asking for their support
33. Why Friends Groups Can Develop Compelling
Messages on Behalf of their Library
• Because it can be grounded in the experiences
and circumstances of its intended audience(s)
• Because it can easily be based on values
shared by both the advocacy effort and its
audience(s)
• Because libraries are credible, you can use their
facts and figures to back up your assertions and
support your message
• Friends are seen as trustworthy people
34. What Makes a Message Good?
• Connecting a person’s interests and
values
– Start with what a person already knows and
thinks and then move them to where you want
them to be
• Like being in a good conversation where a
person knows values are shared and
walks away empowered
35. What Makes a Message Good?
• Empowering people to participate and act
• Take away a good feeling from being a
part of the campaign
– Emotional hook
• Want to inspire people to take action
– Depends on whether message leaves people
feeling hopeful, energized and that their
contribution will make a difference
36. What Do We Mean By
“Essential Service?”
Library
Fire Police
Health Care Schools
38. But, Libraries Help People Find Jobs
• Less than 44% of top 100 US retailers accept in-
store applications
– People come to the library, use public computers,
apply for jobs
• An overwhelming majority of NY’s libraries are
helping people search for jobs and access public
assistance
– 1/09 NYLA survey found that over 80% of NY’s
libraries had helped a patron apply for a job online
39. We Help People Save Money
• Borrowing from
collections saves
people money
– Americans visited 1.3
billion times, check out
2.1 billion items
www.masslib.org/LibraryValue.html
40. We Put Hard-Earned Tax Dollars
To Good Use
• Libraries demonstrate a great public
service return on investment
• ROI calculator at the MHLS site
– www.midhudson.org/admin/eco_impact.htm
• Using it we’ve found
– Jervis in Rome, NY has a $1:$6 PSROI
– Pawling Library has a $1:$5.68 PSROI
– Hudson Area Library has a $1:$8 PSROI
41. We Put Hard-Earned Tax Dollars
To Good Use
• Not just hardware, also expertise
– Google gives patron 50,000 responses
– Librarian give patrons help in finding the one
answer they need
• Most effective use of all public services
• Serve 2/3 of the public using less than
2% of all tax dollars
42. Focus: Developing Your Message
• Message Box
What we are saying What they are saying
about ourselves about themselves
What we are saying What they are saying
about them about us
43. Message Box
What Library Says What the anti-tax
About Itself people say about
themselves
Our library is an essential We know what the
service community needs—no new
taxes for anything
• Jobs and opportunity
•Lifelong learning
•Quality of Life
•Community Empowerment
44. Message Box
Library on Anti-Tax Anti-Tax on Library
Anti-library=anti-family, Waste of taxpayer
anti-children, anti-senior money
• library fosters community • Why should I pay if I don’t
• library provides great use it
dividends on tax dollars
• library provides opportunity
for all Library’s response: Library is an essential community service. X% of
the community are patrons. We help people search for new jobs. We
teach people how to use computers and apply for jobs online.
45. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
Association Library, chartered to serve the City of Rome, service pop. 34,950
• Jervis was functioning with a budget that
equaled its 2001 budget in terms of real
dollars
• Cuts from City of Rome and Oneida
County
• Needed to make up for budget shortfalls
as well as solidify position in community to
stave off further threats
46. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Rebrand based on community values
• Advocacy campaign based on clear
message that the library is grounded in the
experiences of its patrons/voters
• School District Ballot in 2009
• Impact local budget process
47. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Strong leadership
– Lisa Matte, library director, with solid support
of her board
• Clear goals
– Pass a school district ballot for $250,000
while not experiencing further cuts in local
2010 local budget process
48. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Strong, clear message
– Jervis is essential to the vitality of our
community and to our families
• Determine targets to pressure
– Voters
– County Executive and Legislators
– Mayor and City Council
49. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Organize people
– Board and volunteers
– Supporters
• Determine tactics
– Targeted mail to targeted voters
– Phone banking to identify voters
– Targeted mail to electeds based on identified
voters
50. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Use media
– Traditional
• Strategy was to keep it out of the daily paper
• Letters to the Editor only in the last week
– New
• Online petition through
www.voteyesforourlibrary.org
• Celebrate
51. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Focus Groups
• Brand essence: Growing Potential
• New logo
61. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Phone banking
– Based on past voter turn out for school
budget votes, determined had to identify at
least 1,600 yes voters
– Two rounds of voter ID
– One rounds of GOTV calls
• Tracked voters
• Identified 1,718 yes voters
62. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Held a school district ballot vote on May
19th, 2009
– 1,833 Yes/647 No
– Won the vote with 74%
– Increased library’s funding by $250,000!
• Matched identified voters with local
elected officials and mobilized them for
local budget process
63. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
Personalized
Postcard
Sheets
Tied it in with
Vote Yes website
64. Case Study: Jervis Public Library
• Meetings with City and County Elected
officials
• Heard that folks were getting postcards
• City and County funding has been
maintained
65. Case Study:
White Plains Public Library
• Municipal library serving a large, diverse
urban/suburban population
• Cut $500,000 in 2010 budget
• City Hall was looking to make even more
cuts for 2011
68. Case Study:
White Plains Public Library
• Need to get the message to the Mayor and
the Common Council to protect the
library’s funding from any further cuts
• The Westchester Library System
purchased Communication Services’ Local
Library Online Advocacy System tailored
just for the system
69. Case Study:
White Plains Public Library
• On the Friday evening before the Council
meeting on Monday night, WPPL
Foundation sent out an e-mail to 2,000
library card holders
• Concise and straightforward message with
a call to action
71. Case Study:
White Plains Public Library
• The Mayor and the Common Council
heard from over 300 people
• Library got great feedback from elected
officials
– How great it was to hear from folks supporting
the library
• Funding wasn’t cut!
72. Your and Your Elected Officials
• The next steps
– Building relationships with
elected officials and community
leaders
– Understanding your job
– Understanding their job
– Making the library a political+
– Mobilizing your constituency
– Getting your message out
73. Key Points
• Taxpayers use your library and get one of
the best returns on investment in public
service
• Let your electeds know who you are and
what the library does
• Local, state, national
• Having support from opinion
leaders/community groups will help
74. The Relationship
• Your job is to educate them on your library and
how they can help you
• Build relationships
• Go to Town Board meetings
• Make sure they know who you are
– But in a nice way. Don’t be obnoxious. You’ll stand
out.
• Develop contact lists
– Snail and e-mail, phone, etc.
75. No Matter What Level
• Remember what Tip O’Neill said:
“ALL POLITICS
IS LOCAL!”
76. Take Tip’s Tip to Heart
• Bring the library home to your electeds
– Personal stories about their constituents and
how library has made a difference
– Brainstorm with staff, board and stakeholders
to develop
– Ask patrons why they feel the library is an
essential service
– Personalize the benefits
77. Them Know What People
Say About Your Library
• Not everyone has the resources in their home to allow them to be
excellent students or competitive in the job market. Libraries provide
this equity of access to information and librarians are the keys and
interpreters for this information!
• It provides literacy support and reading materials to my 3 kids! I can't
live without it!
• It is essential to the educational growth of our youth and the future of
our town.
• Our library provides services in an area that badly needs it. Our
surrounding community is low income and we serve a high
number of unemployed people. Our computer lab is extremely
important for this community since many people do not have
computers.
78. You and Your Electeds
• Schedule a meeting
• Have a clear agenda
• Know who will do the talking
• Have specific talking points developed
• 10-15 minutes max
• Be prepared to meet with staff
– May be more effective
79. You and Your Electeds
• Ask, Ask, Ask—persistence pays off
• If answer is no, ask another question
• Let them know who supports the library
• Remember—they’re public servants too
• Follow up with a letter
• Keep the relationship going
– Provide library events s/he would want to come to
– Make the library a political+
80. Wrap Up
• Advocacy is key to • All types of
our success campaigns
– Plan – Vote
– Develop compelling – Issue
message • Use new tools as they
– Organize are developed
– Target
• Nurture the
– Tactics
relationship between
• Coordinate with you and your electeds
Library Board
