Before my current stint at BCLTA, I worked at the Union of BC Municipalities in policy research. This previous life gave me some great exposure to the world of government advocacy, which is my topic of choice for this inaugural blog posting. Advocacy is ideally built into your library’s regular cycle of activities. You see the need to promote the library and remind both patrons and funders of its value and its central place in the community. You organize events which enable you to invite and welcome local, provincial and even federal politicians into the library; you promote library programs and services online and through brochures, posters, and articles in the local newspaper; you hold fundraisers that raise the profile of the library among key supporters and potential supporters (e.g., the business community); you make an effort to communicate your library’s contribution to the local economy – especially to your mayor and council or regional district chair and board. These are all part of your regular activities….right? : ) Okay, in an ideal world they would be…however we all face constraints that can end up pushing advocacy work aside in favour of more pressing priorities.  But allocating time to advocacy now means more resources and support for your library in the long run.  And the longer we put it off, the less time we eventually have to fit it in due to dwindling support from stakeholders.

Advocacy is one of BCLTA’s key strategic priorities. Our mandate is to represent the interests of libraries and increase public and government awareness of the library sector by communicating value to key stakeholders and assisting our members to do the same. One of our main priorities over the last few months – and for the coming months – is to assist local libraries and governments to renew and/or upgrade BC’s library infrastructure. We are currently in the midst of a province-wide public library infrastructure study, the preliminary results of which will be made available this summer. We are also encouraging our member libraries to host MLA Receptions over the next couple of months – inviting elected representatives into local libraries to show them the value of the provincial government investment in BC’s public library sector. This is especially important in light of rumours of impending government cutbacks to be announced in the fall budget – even as we struggle to provide library services to an increasing number of patrons turning to us in these difficult economic times. And let’s not forget the very significant local government contribution to libraries, which BCLTA, BCLA, and ABCPLD will be honouring at a special reception for local elected officials held in conjunction with the 2009 UBCM Convention in Vancouver this coming fall.

I would also call your attention to the advocacy section of BCLTA’s website, where we provide a number of tools for public libraries to draw on in their own advocacy activities. You’ll find a Library Primer you can use in communicating the value of your library to your local government and the public; we have a Libraries in Tough Economic Times page; a link to the Beyond Words project; a list of online Advocacy Resources for libraries; and more…

And let’s not forget WebJunction, which is a great resource for advocacy-related materials…here are a few of the links I came up with in a simple search for “advocacy” from the WJBC homepage (see the search box in the upper right corner of the WJBC logo bar).

• WebJunction Focus on Libraries in Tough Economic Times
• WebJunction Group – Tough Times
• Making Cities Stronger
• Library Use Calculator

Have a look at these resources or try your own search and see what kinds of courses, interest groups, discussion forums, and materials come up. Make the most of your WJBC membership – and don’t be afraid to call on your neighbouring libraries, your federations, your provincial library associations and the wider international WebJunction community for help. Our best resource is always each other – and there is a host of untold and untapped expertise, wisdom and experience out there in the library community…

Happy advocating – and may the rewards you reap more than make up for your efforts!