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Legislation And Advocacy…

What Could Be More Not My Job!

Denise Zielinski

Perhaps you recognize yourself as one of these library staffers:

Are you the one that checks in and out the materials, greets the customers, and nicely asks for those lost materials or late fees? No? How about the librarian that answers questions about the smallest invertebrate on the continent of Asia, the latest information on a favorite stock or company, or how to locate information on where the first explorer landed in the wilds of Africa? Perhaps you are the shelver who puts the materials back on the shelving. Still not you? Then you must be one of the many individuals involved in ordering, cataloging, and processing materials.

“Yes,” you say, “one of those jobs is what I do at the library. But what does my position have to do with legislation and advocacy?” I say, “Everything!”

Every person connected to the library, from the governing board to the library staff to the volunteers, is an advocate for the library. We all represent the library in what we do and how well we do it. Advocacy is just telling your story—in this case, your library’s story. It’s talking about the library in the community: in line at the grocery store, in the audience at your child’s sporting event, and even when you’re waiting to be seated for dinner.

Advocacy is seizing the opportunity to talk about the library—the need for a referendum or a new building, a new program or collection of materials, better salaries and benefits or anything at all—when you are with others. This kind of advocacy can be intimidating and many say you can’t do it, but if you are already talking with your family or your friends about the library then you ARE advocating for the library and the library staff.

When I left college in 1983, I had my bachelor’s degree in library science and I knew all about libraries—reference, cataloging, administration, and programming. I even knew how to use some of those new computer systems—OCLC and CLSI. I was armed and ready for anything!

I started working in public libraries in children’s services. By 1989, I was a youth services department head in a public library with a good budget and a great staff. In addition, I had an excellent reputation with the community and my colleagues. I was ready to get professionally involved and to share my passion for libraries with others. I started locally and regionally, and in 1992 I was elected to the executive board of the state association. That was when I really learned about advocacy and legislation. My state association had a lobbyist who came to the board meetings and talked about bills and legislation—what, at the time, I thought was boring stuff that someone else would be handling.

Eventually, there were issues that I was interested in—filtering, for one. I started paying attention, and I attended a meeting to prepare people to go to the state library day. At this session we learned from the state association’s lobbyist what the issues were and what our responses were to those issues. Later, the legislators joined us for lunch. Of course, my legislators weren’t there, so I sat with some other attendees who were talking to another state representative about the issues. I chimed in on filtering and explained why I thought it wasn’t a good bill to pass. As I left that meeting, I felt confident that I was ready to meet the legislators on their own turf in the state capitol.

Library Legislative Day loomed and there I was—on a bus with other people who were just like me—ready to talk to the legislators about the issues. Unfortunately, on that occasion, there were no other representatives from my library going to library legislative day. I spent the time on the ride going over my notes like a high school student cramming for a final exam.

We finally arrived in the State Capitol. I had appointments to meet with about five legislators, but I had no idea where their offices were located, and I hoped others would be there with me. And they were—for all but one legislator. I can still see the representative seated at his desk in a cramped, small office, while I sat across from him. I introduced myself, gave him his packet of materials and my business card, and started going over the materials and discussing the issues. Things were going fine until he asked me the dreaded question, “What about this filter issue?” and I had to defend the library’s position. Suddenly I found that I couldn’t remember a thing about filtering—pro or con—and there was no one else to help me! After panicking for what seemed to be forever, but was actually a few seconds, I took a deep breath and somehow got through the visit with credibility intact.

That visit taught me lessons that I have never forgot about advocacy.

1. Know facts about your legislator. Know who they are, both for your home and for your library. When you visit his/her office, mention bills that they s/he has  introduced, or discuss his/her biography before you broach library issues. This courtesy shows that you cared enough to do some homework before the visits.

2. Get to know the district office staff for your legislators. These folks are the eyes and ears for their legislators. When an issue arises that affects your library, you can call the district office staff to discuss the matter. In many cases, they know more about pending legislation than the legislators and they can bring the elected officials up to speed quickly and effectively.

3. Schedule a visit to your local legislator in their district office, not in Washington or your state capitol. In their home office, they can spend some time with you and you can get to know them. If your legislator lives in another town, contact the library staff there to arrange a group visit if possible. Visiting in the state capitol or Washington, DC, is important, but because you usually have a limited amount of time, legislators are not able to completely focus on you and your message without thinking about where they have to be next.

4. Go in a group. For visits to legislators, regardless of where, I find it less intimidating for library representatives to go in groups. In that way, issues can be parceled out so that everyone gets a chance to speak (or not) and no one has to “go it alone.” This helps everyone feel comfortable with the process, be familiar with the issues, and allows all to participate in the discussion.

5. Be specific about the issues. Make sure you discuss only library issues if your meeting is arranged for that purpose. Talk about the impact of the legislation on the Senator’s or Representative’s constituents and leave documentation that supports your position.

6. Follow up each visit with a thank you letter. A brief, courteous letter reminds the legislator of the visit and reiterates your discussion of the issues. It is especially important to write a thank-you letter to a legislator you were unable to meet with. In this case, a letter lets the legislator know that you were there and that you wanted to speak with him/her. Also write a thank-you note when an issue affecting libraries comes to a vote and your legislator votes pro-library, Conversely, if s/he voted the other way, write a note explaining why you disagree with his/her vote. Legislators appreciate the input and this shows that you care enough to take the time to write.

7. Invite your legislators to any open house or special events sponsored by your library. This gives you the chance to “show off” your library and discuss your problems and other issues. As an added benefit, you can also make your legislators aware that they can use the library staff to get information quickly when they need it. Legislators often need background information on issues that your library can easily provide.

Let’s get back to my story about my state representative. Today, that state representative is now a state senator who just ran for and won the congressional seat in my home district.

Because I have been in contact with him for years, talked about families—his and mine, and debated the issues (and agreed to disagree in some cases), I am able to call and get an appointment with him when others cannot. He calls me to discuss the issues affecting libraries when I haven’t been able to see him. And, when he decided to run for Congress, he contacted me about the national issues facing libraries and I shared literature with him that I had obtained from the ALA Washington Office.

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Copyright 2004–2008 ALA-APA. Contact Jenifer Grady, 50 E. Huron, Chicago, IL 60611, 312-280-2424, jgrady@ala.org for more information.