Retired librarians may be at an advantage when it comes to advocacy work.
“I can speak out. I’m not going to lose my job and salary,” said Barbara Stripling, a retired academic librarian and former president of both the American Library Association (ALA) and New York Library Association, who now lives in Philadelphia. “It’s really an ideal role to be a changemaker.”
“We have a voice that can’t be silenced in the way that employees’ can,” added Dorcas Hand. A retired school librarian living in Texas, Hand runs the grassroots advocacy group Students Need Libraries in Houston Independent School District.
At “Retired Librarians as Changemakers: Working Together on Advocacy,” a June 30 session at ALA’s 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Philadelphia, panelists offered tips for networking, coalition building, and relocating to new communities within the context of library advocacy. The program was presented jointly by United for Libraries and the Retired Members Round Table and moderated by United for Libraries President Deborah Doyle.
For Janice Welburn, retired dean of Marquette University Libraries in Milwaukee, advocacy starts with dialogue.
“I try to put myself in places where there are conversations where I can use my tools and let people know about libraries,” said Welburn, who now lives in Arlington, Virginia. “I’m even doing it in my condo building … We talk about why libraries are important.”
Welburn said she and her husband often carry signs at Washington, D.C.–area protests—including signs about why funding the Institute of Museum and Library Services is important—to spark conversations with like-minded people. She is also quick to dispel myths when she hears them, like when White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt alleged that the Library of Congress had inappropriate books for children in its collection.
“Apparently that person didn’t understand what the purpose of the Library of Congress is,” Welburn said.
Hand said she takes a similar approach in her community. “Activate the people around you—when you’re at the barbecue down the street, when you’re at the grocery store,” she said. “Those all are moments of opportunity to turn people’s minds around.”
Stripling noted that conversations help build coalitions: “There are a lot of organizations in the community beyond library associations that are interested in the same things.” In Philadelphia, where there are only five certified school librarians across 117 public schools, Stripling is working to close this gap through her work with the Philadelphia Alliance to Restore School Libraries (PARSL).
“Clarifying agendas and who can do what and what we can do together was really important” in getting PARSL off the ground, Stripling said. “If you want to advocate, you have to understand the priorities of the people you want to advocate with.”
Doyle suggested that retired librarians who volunteer on library Friends groups get involved with the group’s advocacy committee—or start one, if it doesn’t exist. “If your Friends are only selling books, they should be doing advocacy,” she said.
Panelists agreed that there are a lot advocacy avenues to take, and suggested retired librarians focus on the areas they are passionate about.
“You don’t have to do it all—but do a little bit,” Doyle said. “That’s our message, I think.”
