Recordings & Resources

Strong relationships with your elected officials are key to library advocacy. Learn how to connect with your electeds (and their staffs) and consistently demonstrate the value of your library, whether you are a library Trustee/board member, Friends of the Library, affiliated with a library Foundation, or are a library staff member. Find out valuable tips, whether you are making your first contacts, or continuing longstanding relationships. 

Ray Lockman (they/them) will equip Wisconsin trustees and library directors to be queer- and trans-inclusive advocates for their library communities. Participants will learn helpful language and practical tips before we put our new skills to work by grappling with tough real-world scenarios.

Reading and understanding laws and regulations can be daunting, even more so when you are a trustee or on a library board. This session will focus on demystifying the law and focus on specific statutes and cases that affect Wisconsin libraries as well as a discussion of how to best answer legal questions when they inevitably arise. Topics covered include open meeting laws, statutory delegation of library board authority, basics of legal research, and more. When the session has concluded, you will be able to better locate and answer legal questions that you may face as a library board member and also know what resources are available to you to get these difficult and stressful questions answered.

On top of everything else they need to do, libraries increasingly find themselves at the center of controversy. The American Library Association reports a substantial increase in the number of book bans and challenges in 2022 (double the number of reports from 2021). Oftentimes, the library’s efforts to create collection and service policies that fulfill its mission statement of inclusion are the focus of these challenges. These attacks cost money, lower morale, and reduce productivity amongst the staff. They also threaten the very existence of libraries. But libraries do have some power, and it comes in the form of promotion. In this session, you’ll learn marketing tactics you can use now to clarify your library’s policies, solidify your library’s positions, and clearly communicate your mission, vision, and values. And you’ll hear tactics to use to rally community and stakeholder support if your library should face such a challenge.

Three learning outcomes:

• Concrete tips for strengthening the public’s perception of libraries now, including tips on how to promote their mission, vision, and values, the policies they create to protect intellectual freedom, and their place in the community as a safe and welcoming space.
• Marketing strategies for handling a censorship challenge, including strategies for responding to statements from critics via email, social media, and in the press.
• Promotional ideas designed to rally library supporters to their defense.

The core of any library's strategic plan, management plan, or development plan is the organization's own mission, vision, and values system. But very often, the plans describe the “features” of the library, like hours, collections, staffing levels, and facilities rather than the expected or hoped for outcomes. And library leaders are ready to share powerful stories about how the library impacts users, but not often about their own work. Learn how to talk about your funding in a new way by talking about you, your staff and board, and why you do the work you do.