Thing 16: Advocacy

To date, most of my advocacy has been second-hand.  Rather than reaching out to policy-makers or users myself, I have supported others' efforts.  When I have seen something, such as an article about practicing driving by visiting all the branches in a library system, I have posted it on Twitter, posted it to online discussion groups, and shared it with my friends.  I have spread others' messages. 

I used this week's Thing as a prompt to write my own advocacy piece.  I believe self-advocacy is important, but I believe recommendations from other users is more effective.  For that reason, I chose to focus on a library where my only role has been being a patron.  I contacted my college's student newspaper and asked about submitting an opinion/letter to the editor piece.  One of the staff members responded almost immediately.  He answered my questions and shared a few loose guidelines.

Writing the article was much less difficult than I had imagined.  I was not sure what to say or how to say it.  When I sat down to write it, however, I had plenty to say.  I began with a short story of how the librarians caught me just as I was about to give up and showed me resources targeted to my topic.  I then mentioned other ways the librarians had helped me.  I encouraged current students to take advantage of the libraries' services.  The entire piece took at most half an hour to write.  Submitting was also a breeze.  Now, I will wait to hear if it will be accepted.

I debated whether I should add a note about sending feedback to the libraries.  I know that the library where I work welcomes feedback and uses it to plan future services.  I imagine that these libraries would react similarly, but I did not want to promise anything without checking with the librarians first.  I decided to leave this section out.  Next time, I will plan ahead and ask before I write. 

In writing the article, I also explored the libraries' website.  Much has changed in those few short years!  I enjoyed seeing some new features, such as video tutorials and a chat service.  I mentally compared their website to the site for the academic library where I work.  I have a few suggestions now for my own library. 

Advocacy of all sorts promotes the library's existence.  Resources, such as space and funding, are in high demand.  Advocacy helps libraries show decision makers that the library deserves these resources.  Advocacy allows libraries to reach out to new users and encourage current users to continue to use library services.  As I discovered, advocacy can also be a way to become inspired.  All of this energy serves strengthens the library, allowing it to continue to be a vital part of the community.