Libraries Prosper with Passion,Purpose Persuasion

2007 ALA Annual Conference session

Susan Hildreth: PLA Toolkit for library success.

Out-going president of PLA and state librarian of California Susan Hildreth reviewed PLA's commitment to public library advocacy.

PLA hired an outside consultant to conduct research and development in the area of public library advocacy. A number of values shared by a majority of Americans were identified in the research:

• Public Libraries are partners for vibrant and educated communities.
• Public libraries are essential for a free people.
• Pubic libraries are places of opportunities

The PR firm Metropolitan Group was hired to develop a toolkit on advocacy. Metropolitan Group has eighteen years of working with libraries, as well as working with private and government clients. The kit is designed to help libraries showcase their value to their communities. Additional information on the $90 kit is available at pla.org.

Ms. Hildreth argued that the success of an advocacy campaign rides on the ability of staff, board, and friends of the library to understand and share the value that their library has to community. Advocacy needs to be delivered by a library's staff and friends as well as its leadership. The buy-in by staff is especially important.

Laura K. Lee Dellinger: Libraries have wonderful stories to tell!!

Senior Executive Vice President/Principal, Metropolitan Group Laura Dellinger spoke on the need for effective advocacy in public libraries.

Advocacy is more effective if a library's services are justified in the context of a community's needs. Libraries need to advocate for their patrons. What are the services most beneficial to patrons? How do library services reflect the values the community?

It's important for libraries to recognize the values that have been identified by research to be nearly universal in America:

• Everyone expresses the desire to live in a stable and livable community.
• Everyone expresses the desire for at least one or more of the following:
  • education
  • health
  • community's economic viability
  • getting a good return on their investment

Once identifying the values of the library's services in terms of social goods, repetition and consistency is a must. PR is building a long-term beneficial relationship with your patrons. Marketing focuses on transactions. But advocacy is broader and is based on the goods provided to the community by the library.

Speak of the library's value to the community. For example:

• Libraries are at the center of stable and viable communities.
• Libraries are essential to education and life-long learning. For example, children who are poorly prepared for school cost the nation 16 billion dollars a year in extra educational programs. The economy is more information based and the basic information-literacy level of adults is falling. Education + libraries = specific examples of programs and services that benefit the community.
• Libraries are helpful to economic development and to the business community. For example Business + library = transition to an information-based economy. Libraries attract information workers.
• Libraries provide cost-effective access to information programs and classes that saves local businesses $500 to $5000 annually.
• Seventy-eight percent of business customers surveyed indicated that information obtained from public libraries contributed to their success. Libraries provide an excellent return on community investment
• Libraries help people live healthier lives

The toolkit is a simple guide that can be used as you develop your advocacy. Ms. Dellinger advised that libraries start immediately. The kit supports a grass roots advocacy. Start small and introduce advocacy as "cocktail chatter" at business meetings and community activities, and with family and friends. Speak of the broad values of the library and give concrete examples. Role play with staff. Practice. The kit is easily adapted to different size libraries. A CD of resources is included, all in Microsoft Word.

Ms. Dellinger finished with her four Ps of advocacy: Passion, purpose, people, persuasion.

• Passion: Establish credibility by caring and meeting the needs of the community.
• Purpose: Set clear goals, identifying problems, causes and solutions.
• People: Identify and analyze patrons and community.
• Persuasion: Develop your message, identify the strategy for delivering your message.

Suggested Reading:

Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development. Urban Libraries Council.

U.S. Public Libraries Providing Unprecedented Access to Computers, the Internet, and Technology Training. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.