In December, state library association leaders from around the country gathered in Chicago to learn how to be exceptional political strategists, media spokespeople, funding champions, and freedom-to-read fighters—all within 48 hours. The Chapter Advocacy Workshop, organized and facilitated by the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), provided the training needed to prepare incoming state library association leaders to become the chief library ambassadors to state officials and national spokespeople. This year’s workshop included representatives from 49 states, including incoming presidents of state ALA and AASL chapters.
Prior to 2023, each chapter onboarded incoming chapter leaders individually, supplemented by ALA advocacy training focused on topics, not roles. But in response to rising attacks on libraries—including censorship of library materials, defunding efforts, and disinformation campaigns about the profession—ALA shifted its approach and began a new pilot program to provide intensive training to all chapter leaders.
The Chapter Advocacy Workshop is an intensive program that equips incoming leaders with critical advocacy skills such as building relationships with legislators, navigating media interviews on hot-button issues, and creating public advocacy campaigns for library support. It also establishes a cohort of state-level library leaders to share strategies, contacts, model legislation, and public campaign resources. Now in its third year, this program has successfully trained state library association leaders to be effective and coordinated advocates in their states.
The impact of dedicated training
From the first cohort in 2023 to the most recent cohort in December 2025, feedback from workshop attendees has been overwhelmingly positive.
“The sessions moved beyond theory, offering real-world strategies that librarians and library workers can immediately apply in their communities,” said Richard E. Ashby Jr., first vice president and president-elect of the Pennsylvania Library Association and 2025 workshop participant. “Perhaps most valuable was the sense of shared purpose and support it fostered—[we] left feeling better prepared, more confident, and less isolated in facing today’s challenges.”
“This workshop helped prepare me to step into a leadership role in our state teacher librarian association,” said Linda Smithson, vice president and president-elect of the Iowa Association of School Librarians and a 2025 workshop participant. “It also allowed me to connect and coordinate with our incoming Iowa Library Association president to be sure we are all on the same page, have aligned goals, and work together to make our presence known, coordinate advocacy, and involve more groups.”
Some attendees have even gone on to serve in ALA and divisional leadership positions. Sam Helmick and Stacey Nunn, who both attended in 2023, are serving as 2025–2026 ALA president and 2025–2027 director-at-large on the AASL board, respectively.
New leaders build a community
The Chapter Advocacy Workshop is organized and facilitated by ALA’s Chapter Relations Office and Public Policy and Advocacy Office (PPAO), with additional assistance from AASL. To make the workshop as accessible as possible, ALA substantially invests to ensure each attendee’s cost is limited and make the workshop as accessible as possible. ALA staff begin planning the workshop in July and recruit expert presenters from diverse regions, political climates, and roles.
While some content, such as media training, has remained consistent each year, ALA staff update the workshop curriculum annually in response to a pre-workshop survey of attendees that asks for their top advocacy priorities for the coming year. This year, attendees were concerned about threats to library funding, so presenters focused on how to effectively make the case for library funding and build relationships with decision makers.
For many attendees, the Chapter Advocacy Workshop is the first opportunity to meet ALA and AASL presidents and other state chapter leaders. In addition to presentations and hands-on training, attendees begin strategizing for the upcoming year with other chapter leaders. After the workshop ends, ALA organizes cohort check-ins and provides virtual spaces to connect in an effort to support the new network.
Along with meeting fellow chapter leaders, 2025 Chapter Advocacy Workshop attendees met and received training from ALA President Helmick, new ALA Executive Director Dan Montgomery, AASL President Amanda Kordeliski, Association of College and Research Libraries President Brad Warren, and United for Libraries President-Elect Lauren Trujillo.
In his message to the 2025 cohort, Montgomery shared his experience advocating for educators in his former role as president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. “There is power in coming together like this,” he said. “This type of training and coordination is critical.”
Looking to the future
The first two years of the Chapter Advocacy Workshop pilot program were funded by a private family foundation, and PPAO funded the 2025 workshop. As ALA launches its 150th anniversary year and the ALA150 fundraising campaign, Association staff and member leaders hope that library champions and members will invest in programs like the Chapter Advocacy Workshop to ensure that future generations inherit libraries that are strong, free, and open to all.
Helmick’s presence at the 2025 workshop represented a full circle in their career.
“The Chapter Advocacy Workshop is one of my favorite events by ALA,” they told attendees. “Two years ago, I sat in this room as the incoming president of the Iowa Library Association, and the training I received and the connections I made helped me advocate for not only Iowa libraries but all libraries.”
