Advocacy

Advocacy is a year-round job. At the local, county, state and national level – everyday – library advocates are called on to speak up about the value of libraries and help decision-makers understand how important libraries are to their community.

View MHLS Executive Director, Rebekkah Smith Aldrich’s testimony at the Assembly Committee on Libraries and Education Technology hearing on December 13, 2019. 

Advocacy 101

• Getting Started as a Library Advocate [ALA]
• Library Advocate’s Handbook [ALA]
• Telling the Library Story Toolkit [State Library of Iowa]
• Turning the Page: Building Your Library Community Online Advocacy Training [Public Library Association (PLA)]
• The Small but Powerful Guide to Winning Big Support for Your Rural Library [ALA]

Local

• Public Library Vote Toolbox [MHLS]
• A Toolkit for Cultivating Your Local Notables for Library Advocacy [ALA]
• Frontline Advocacy [ALA]

County

• Columbia County Board of Supervisors
• Greene County Legislature
• Dutchess County Legislature
• Putnam County Legislature
• Ulster County Legislature

New York State

• Legislators in the MHLS Region
  • 2023 Advocacy Guide [MHLS] 
• New York Library Association, “The Voice of the Library Community” [NYLA]
• NYLA Online Advocacy Center
• New Yorkers for Better Libraries Political Action Committee
• Friends of Libraries Section/New York Library Association

National

• Advocacy, Legislation & Issues [ALA]
• ALA Legislative Action Center
• @ Your Library – The Campaign for America’s Libraries
• ilovelibraries.org
• United for Libraries
• ALA Allied Professional Association [ALA-APA]