With the unprecedented number of book challenges in the United States this past year, “the rubber meets the road on advocacy when we’re working at the local and community levels,” said moderator Kent Oliver, retired Nashville (Tenn.) Public Library director and senior policy fellow in ALA’s Public Policy and Advocacy Office. Oliver and a panel … Continue reading Louder Together
“ALA welcomes our fourth Policy Corps cohort of library professionals dedicated to advocacy,” said ALA President Patricia “Patty” M. Wong in a statement. “From continued lack of affordable access to digital content to the unprecedented volume of book challenges, the past year has shown the imperative for library advocates to protect our core values. Thanks … Continue reading Meet the 2022 ALA Policy Corps
Since the Policy Corps’ founding in 2018, members have been active on a range of issues that have increased their expertise and networks while expanding ALA’s policy advocacy reach. As ALA begins to accept applications for its fourth cohort, here’s an update on members’ recent activities. School library funding When the American Rescue Plan Act … Continue reading Catching Up with ALA Policy Corps
“ALA is proud to welcome our third cohort of Policy Corps members,” said ALA President Wanda Kay Brown in a March 25 statement. “As the number of Policy Corps members grows, so does the power and strength of our overall network for library advocacy across all library types. As our libraries—and the nation—struggle to respond … Continue reading Meet the 2020 ALA Policy Corps
“[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
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
As part of our special package on libraries and civic engagement, we asked a few members of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Policy Corps—library workers specially trained in advocacy and policy issues—to give us their tips and best practices for being effective library advocates. Here’s what they had to say about what works and what … Continue reading Advocacy Tips from ALA’s Policy Corps
Policy Corps members will attend two training sessions in Washington, D.C. The first is a spring meeting, which will provide a survey of key library advocacy issues, major players in the legislative and policy processes, and the processes of engaging national decision makers and influencers. A second workshop will take place in the fall. Regular … Continue reading Meet the 2019 ALA Policy Corps
“We were able to get the Tea Party to support our millage increase. That’s probably the first and last time that would happen in Kent County,” he joked to attendees at the United for Libraries President’s Program, “Engaging Elected Officials with Your Library,” at the American Library Association’s Annual Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans … Continue reading Everyday Advocacy
In Episode 26, American Libraries Associate Editor and Dewey Decibel host Phil Morehart speaks with four Policy Corps members—Lisa Varga, executive director of the Virginia Library Association; Qiana Johnson, collection and organizational data analysis librarian at Northwestern University Libraries in Evanston, Illinois; Larry Neal, director of Clinton–Macomb (Mich.) Public Library, who is the ALA Policy … Continue reading Dewey Decibel Podcast: Becoming a Library Advocate
The Policy Corps team will meet at the Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits in Denver in February, attend a workshop about political activism and the legislative process in March, and attend ALA’s National Library Legislative Day in May. Meet the first members of Policy Corps, a dozen people with diverse backgrounds and experiences who are united … Continue reading Meet the 2018 ALA Policy Corps
Neal says the Association has always had a group of library workers with practical and policy experience it could call on to testify before national committees and speak with the press on behalf of libraries. But that advocacy network, which was already small, is shrinking even more as longtime advocates retire or move out of … Continue reading Policy Corps: A New Generation of Advocacy
