by Sally Gardner Reed
Trustees, advocates, Friends, and foundations unite in support of libraries! Tough financial times, combined with the exponential increase in demand for library services that they bring, spell perfect timing for the formation of a new division of the American Library Association that can rally the nation’s library lovers under the banner of the Association for Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations—ALTAFF. But library aficionados did not unite overnight; that public support began many years ago.
As early as 1890, ALA recognized the importance of trustees by forming its Trustee Section just 14 years after the establishment of the Association itself. That division grew and evolved over a century, finally becoming the Association of Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA). Throughout the years, many of ALA’s most prominent leaders have helmed this venerable organization, including Richard Rogers Bowker, Virginia Young, Bessie Boehm Moore, Alice Ihrig, and Daniel W. Casey.
Library promotion and advocacy has had a long history within ALTA. In 1959, for example, the organization (then called the American Library Trustee Association) sponsored special events in Washington, D.C., during lobbying days for the then-new Library Services Act that included a lunch with Congress. And later, in the 1960s, ALTA leadership assisted in governor’s conferences on libraries across the country. As Peggy Sullivan points out in her 1990 booklet Bold Planners and Wise Draftsmen: Trustees in the American Library Association, “There can be little doubt that these governor’s conferences were excellent prototypes for the White House Conference on Libraries and Information Services, which was held in Washington, D.C., in 1979.”
Creating a circle of friends
Working in a far less formalized way, Friends of the Library groups—nonprofit bodies formed to support libraries in their communities—have been raising money for their libraries for a century and, like trustees, working to promote and advocate for them as well. Because the 1979 White House Conference on Library and Information Services brought advocacy to the forefront, it was decided that the loose network of library Friends should be formalized to increase their potential to promote libraries. As a result, a new organization named Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA) was formed that year.
Friends, like trustees, have taken the opportunity provided by library legislation days to promote libraries to members of Congress. Since 1989, FOLUSA has annually honored a member of Congress for exceptional support for libraries. Beginning with Rep. Major Owens (D-N.Y.) and continuing with other such library supporters as Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.), Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Rep. Bernie Sanders (Ind-Vt.), and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), the organization has ensured that leaders in federal government are highlighted and honored for their work on behalf of libraries.
At the local level, librarians have long recognized the political power that trustees and Friends have as advocates for libraries, a power that is significantly magnified when they work together. Indeed, it has been the citizen voice that has been the determining factor in passing bonds and referenda across the country and over the years. The trustees’ call for an increase in the operating budget is made stronger when backed by a campaign of those in the community who use and volunteer for their library—in other words, the Friends.
Examples of this collaborative power can be found throughout the library world.
In Norfolk, Virginia, for example, the library trustees prevailed upon the Friends group to join them in setting up an advocacy task force in the year 2000 with a goal of convincing the city council to give a $1-million boost to the library’s operating expenses. What ensued was a grassroots campaign orchestrated by the task force called “1% for Libraries”: To bring the library’s funding up to 1% of the city’s operating budget from its then-current level of 0.85%.
The core task force, made up of two trustees and three Friends members, developed various strategies that included asking citizens to send thousands of postcards to their council members, sign petitions, write letters to the editor, and call the mayor. Their efforts, adopted and heavily supported by the local media, resulted in a nearly $900,000 increase for library operations and improvements.
In Fargo, North Dakota, the library’s board of directors decided in 2004 to go directly to the citizens to gain support for the funds needed to expand the system to accommodate their growing community. After lobbying to get the three city council votes needed to put the question to a vote, the board joined the Citizens for Better Libraries committee, developed by the local Friends group, to seek passage of the Home Rule Charter Amendment to authorize the collection of a one-half-of-one-percent sales/use tax for a year-and-a-half for library improvement. They had only five weeks to wage a successful campaign requiring a 60% yes vote, but together they did it.
In 2002, Wisconsin libraries were facing a reduction in state support of 5%, on top of an already stagnant budget. To battle the cutback, an advocacy campaign was developed, spearheaded by Friends, trustees, and librarians of the South Central Library System in Madison. Together they developed advocacy training seminars, had citizens send over 3,000 postcards to the governor, and collected over 2,000 names in a new advocacy database. While they weren’t able to stave off a cut altogether, they were able to reduce it and have now created a more fertile field for future advocacy efforts.
As the national economy weakens, we are seeing renewed efforts to reduce library budgets, shorten hours, and even close branches altogether. Often these cuts are enacted because funding bodies see libraries as expendable. Too often, libraries are seen as poor competition for the internet, big-box bookstores with public programming, and a burgeoning number of entertainment opportunities. Libraries make up an extremely small portion of any municipality’s operating budget, but they are nonetheless seen as tempting targets even if the cuts yield little reward relative to the overall municipal budget.
Promoting public awareness
Now, more than ever, Friends and trustees are beginning to understand that the library is not always seen as a self-evident good. Public awareness campaigns across the country are focusing on how libraries contribute to communities by offering early-childhood opportunities for learning, assistance for job-seekers, reading fun in the summer so students return to school ready to learn, and a resource for infinite opportunities for lifelong learning.
While citizens and librarians do the work of educating local leaders about the value of libraries and the incredible return on investment that their tax support delivers, they know that in the near term they must bring their many and united voices together to demand support for library services. They are reminding community leaders that the library belongs to the people.
The formation of ALTAFF is a bold new step to expand and reenergize the voice for America’s libraries. Combining ALTA’s and FOLUSA’s dedication and expertise in library promotion will create a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. At the local, state, and national levels, citizens must make their voices heard; ALTAFF intends to lead the way.
Famous FOLUSA Friends
Friends of Libraries U.S.A. got its start with Sandy Dolnick, a Friend of the Milwaukee Public Library, after she attended the 1979 ALA Annual Conference in Dallas. Her idea—to connect Friends groups across the country so they could share best practices—began with little more than a typewriter and a bundle of newsletters from various Friends groups. She began a national newsletter that reprinted the best ideas she could find and sent it out to those who were interested for a modest “membership” fee.
FOLUSA, of course, has come a long way since those salad days, much to Dolnick’s credit but impossible without the help of some heavy hitters in libraryland. Providing both leadership and financial assistance, giants in the library corporate world joined the first board of directors in 1981 and set the course for an organization that would finally reach over 3,500 Friends groups across the country.
The names—or at least their companies—are familiar to many of us in the field. After earning a degree in chemical engineering from Cornell, Joe Fitzsimmons started work in 1957 for Xerox Corporation, which sent him to oversee the development of a recent acquisition, University Microfilm. Later he became president of that company, which we now know as UMI.
In 1939, Arthur Brody started supplying plastic bookjacket covers to libraries, later expanding to other materials they needed to get books on the shelf, leading to the company now known as Brodart. As a founding member of FOLUSA, Arthur sat on the board of directors for several terms and continues to support the organization with gifts of both money and support.
Even if you haven’t heard of Fred Ruffner, you certainly know the firm he and his wife Mary founded, the Gale Research Company, and Omnigraphics, which he later started with his son Peter. Ruffner was one of FOLUSA’s first presidents and in the organization’s early years lent monetary support, recruited other corporate donations, and even once provided the board with meeting space on his yacht in Florida! Generous with both time and money, Ruffner also had big ideas, including what is now FOLUSA’s prized Literary Landmarks program.
These leaders from the library-support industry recognized early on the importance of Friends to their libraries. They understood that library lovers enhanced their libraries’ budgets by raising money. And they believed that Friends could become increasingly outspoken on their libraries’ behalf if they could get education, resources, good ideas, and support from a national organization—FOLUSA.
Sally Gardner Reed is the executive director of the Association for Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations, a division of ALA. She has presented programs to hundreds of library supporters and librarians nationally and internationally.