Advocacy Archives | Page 2 of 42 | American Libraries Magazine

ALA Rallies Support for Congressional COVID-19 Relief Packages

By Kathi Kromer | May 12, 2020

According to the letter, “COVID-19 has caused significant revenue losses for libraries, resulting in thousands of furloughs and layoffs to date. Fiscal stabilization is needed to preserve crucial library services for students, job seekers, and small businesses.” Citing significant support for libraries in Congress, the letter’s signatories wrote, “We join with more than 100 bipartisan … Continue reading ALA Rallies Support for Congressional COVID-19 Relief Packages →

COVID-19: Filling the Learning Gap

By Marijke Visser | May 7, 2020

With stay-at-home orders reshaping education, many students are unable to participate in the online learning most states require. Members of Congress are now recognizing that the “homework gap”—experienced by the roughly 8–12 million K–12 students who lack broadband access at home—is only part of a larger learning gap. Libraries are a safety net for those … Continue reading COVID-19: Filling the Learning Gap →

Fund Libraries: Tell Congress to Invest in Libraries graphic, with red and white text on black background

Library Advocates Stay in Motion

February 10 may feel like 100 years ago, but that date marked—for a fourth consecutive year—the administration’s threat to eliminate all library funding from the federal budget. As ever, library advocates responded with emphatic determination. The annual campaign to gather support for the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL) program began with ALA’s annual fly-in, the timing of which aligned with the … Continue reading Library Advocates Stay in Motion →

Federal Relief Package Supports Libraries

By Kathi Kromer | March 27, 2020

In addition to supporting funding for libraries, the American Library Association (ALA) supported relief provisions for nonprofit organizations that will allow ALA and other library associations to continue to serve our professions during a crisis that has severely impacted revenue streams, such as conferences. The significant aid for workers across the country through stimulus checks, unemployment … Continue reading Federal Relief Package Supports Libraries →

States Act on Ebooks

By Alan S. Inouye and Emily Wagner | March 13, 2020

On March 3, library advocates in New York sent 10,000 letters to state lawmakers as part of a public campaign in response to recent efforts to limit library access to ebooks. The letters, drafted by the New York Library Association in partnership with the American Library Association (ALA), were in support of legislation that would require publishers who … Continue reading States Act on Ebooks →

Advocates in Motion to #FundLibraries

By Emily Wagner and Kevin Maher | March 3, 2020

For the fourth year in a row, the Trump administration has called for the elimination of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), currently funded at $195.4 million, and Innovative Approaches to Literacy (IAL), a school library-eligible program through the Department of Education, currently funded at $27 million. Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Susan Collins … Continue reading Advocates in Motion to #FundLibraries →

From left: Jillian Rael, Sharon Kay Edwards, and Patricia Rua-Bashir at the Public Library Association 2020 Conference in Nashville on February 25.

Advocacy Assets

By Terra Dankowski | February 26, 2020

“[People] think advocacy is marble steps and these throne rooms. [For me,] it’s handshakes and sweet tea and conversations,” said Sharon Kay Edwards, legislative monitor for the Tennessee Library Association (TLA), librarian at Motlow State Community College, and an American Library Association (ALA) Policy Corps member. Edwards and her Tennessee colleagues presented the preconference “Developing … Continue reading Advocacy Assets →

Incoming ALA Executive Director Tracie D. Hall addresses attendees at the second annual library advocacy fly-in in Washington, D.C., February 10.

Doubling Down on Strategic Library Advocacy

By Emily Wagner | February 13, 2020

This year, the fly-in aligned with the release of the White House budget proposal for FY2021, which—for a fourth consecutive year—lays out the closure of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). ALA responded to the budget proposal with a statement and call to action, and ALA’s incoming Executive Director Tracie D. Hall opened … Continue reading Doubling Down on Strategic Library Advocacy →

US Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I., left) and Julie Holden, president of the Rhode Island Library Association

Bringing Congress on Board with #eBooksForAll

By Ed Garcia and Julie Holden | February 11, 2020

Like many libraries and consortia around the country, RILA has denounced Macmillan Publishers’ policy that places an eight-week embargo on new ebook titles after libraries purchase one copy. Cranston Public Library (CPL), for example, has stopped buying any ebook or digital audio book published by Macmillan or its imprints. CPL has also stopped promoting Macmillan authors and … Continue reading Bringing Congress on Board with #eBooksForAll →

Left to right: John O’Brien, TyLisa Johnson, Christi Buker, Shawnda Hines.

Making the News

By Phil Morehart | January 27, 2020

Christi Buker, executive director of the Pennsylvania Library Association, stressed that libraries should focus on what they do best when conducting advocacy, highlighting successful programs and outreach efforts that can justify continued or new government funding. Alternately, Buker said that libraries need to focus on the bad, too. If libraries are hurting due to lack … Continue reading Making the News →

Dewey Decibel, episode 44: Advocacy: Anyone Can Do It

Dewey Decibel Podcast: Advocacy: Anyone Can Do It

November 22, 2019

First, American Libraries Senior Editor and Dewey Decibel host Phil Morehart speaks with Denis Cotter, chair of Loudon County (Va.) Public Library Board of Trustees, about how the board successfully lobbied the county board of supervisors for the elimination of fines at the library. Next, American Libraries Associate Editor Sallyann Price talks to John Windmueller, … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Advocacy: Anyone Can Do It →

Special Report: Democracy in Action

November 1, 2019

And libraries are especially well suited to be “democracy coaches,” in the words of Amanda Smithfield, a librarian at Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School in Nashville, Tennessee. Open to everyone regardless of political leanings, they serve as voter registration hubs and polling places and provide meeting space for community groups and forums. Our special report … Continue reading Special Report: Democracy in Action →

Latest Library Links

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Register to attend the Presidential Candidates Forum at ALA Midwinter Virtual on January 23 at 1 p.m. Central and engage in real time with ALA’s presidential candidates Stacey Aldrich, Ed Garcia, and Lessa Pelayo-Lozada. Renew your membership by January 31 to ensure that you receive a ballot for the election. The 2021 Virtual Membership Information Session takes place January 23 from 11–12:30 Central. Register to attend. Members are also invited to attend ALA Council sessions beginning January 24. These sessions offer a chance to learn more about the work of ALA’s governing body. For other Governance events, please check out the listings in the program scheduler. You do not need to register for the conference to attend these events.

ALA Governance Office
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After the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police in May 2020, Fox Sports analyst and former NFL linebacker Emmanuel Acho felt compelled to do something. By June, Acho decided to channel this discourse into a YouTube series called Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man. American Libraries caught up with Acho ahead of his January 24 appearance at the ALA 2021 Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits Virtual to discuss his series and book, as well as equity in professional sports and the power of libraries.

American Libraries Trend, Jan. 20
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ALA Treasurer Maggie Farrell writes: “Last year started off as a productive but worrisome one for ALA finances, as evidenced by critical conversations held at the 2020 Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia. Since then, additional circumstances—including the pandemic—have aggravated ALA finances as libraries struggle with their own budget declines. Despite everything, member leaders remain committed to addressing ALA’s ongoing budget concerns and to creating a path toward a healthy financial future.”

American Libraries column, Jan./Feb.
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How many times has ALA held Midwinter Meetings? What year was the ALA Code of Ethics adopted? When are this year’s Youth Media Awards? We’ve got the stats on the history and happenings of ALA’s Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in By the Numbers.

American Libraries Trend, Jan./Feb.
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Sarah Mangiola writes: “On January 20, 2021, Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in as president and vice president, respectively, of the United States. It’s a historic moment for the country, as Kamala Harris will be the first female, first Black, and first Indian American vice president. The kids in your life can join in the celebrations with these stories, including books written by Kamala Harris, a new picture book about White House dogs Champ and Major, and more.”

Brightly, Jan. 16
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As shared by the official Twitter account of Ursula K. Le Guin’s estate, the author is getting her own commemorative stamp from the United States Post Office. The stamp, the 33rd in USPS’s Literary Arts series, features a portrait of Le Guin in front of an illustration from a scene in The Left Hand of Darkness, her 1969 novel.

Gizmodo, Jan. 16
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The Food Timeline is an obsessively catalogued, exhaustively comprehensive resource on the history of what humans have been eating from from 17,000 B.C. onward. The site was the life’s work of reference librarian Lynne Olver, and it languished after her death in 2015. A profile in Eater last summer revived interest in the site from archivists, and now the Special Collections and University Archives department at Virginia Tech University has acquired Olver’s 2,300 books (right) and management of the site.

Eater, Jan. 12

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