Reaching out
As co-chair of the Tennessee delegation to National Library Legislative Day (NLLD), a member of FLLAN, a member of TASL and TLA’s Legislative groups, chair of AASL’s Legislation committee, and a member of the Joint Youth Divisions Legislative Assembly (PHEW!), I spend a great deal of time thinking about our need to reach legislators. But, I am more concerned about the divisions that still lie between us when it comes to telling everyone’s story. As a Tennessee elementary school librarian, I could focus upon only my needs, or I can research and gather the stories from other types of libraries so when I attend NLLD I can truly be an effective communicator and advocate for all libraries and their constituents. This is the text of a letter I wrote to all the state coordinators. Now, if only it helps one state contact and include school librarians! We must step out of our comfort zones and meet others. We must find out about other’s needs and participate.
Dear NLLD state coordinators,
Every year library supporters gather from across the country to lobby at NLLD, yet one group is seriously underrepresented — school librarians. The reasons for this are varied:
school librarians are busy teaching at one of the most intense times of the school year,
many school librarians are denied leave time to attend,
there is no institutional financial support to attend,
communicating and lobbying with legislators is not a common daily activity, and
organizers have not actively sought school librarians’ participation in NLLD.
As chair of the AASL Legislation committee, I urge you to help me address this problem. Please consider contacting school librarians to invite them to attend as part of your state’s delegation. Throughout the year work with the state school library associations to budget and co-sponsor sending school representatives. While preparing to attend NLLD, gather stories about the state of school libraries and their needs so each member of the delegation is prepared to advocate on behalf of school libraries and the students they serve. If a currently active school librarian is unable to be part of your delegation, be sure that parents and active supporters are prepared and passionate about being the voice of school libraries.
This year we will urge school librarians to participate in Virtual Library Legislative Day, but let us continue to work together to actively recruit representatives from all types of libraries to constitute our delegations. Thank you for your assistance.
Diane Chen
Quote from Sara Kelly Johns regarding school libraries:
School library media programs provide equal access for all, cost-effectiveness, and are indispensable. School librarians work hard to support the recreational and curricular needs of our students, provide balanced collections of print and virtual resources that encourage that spark to love to read and provide the navigational help students need to learn how to evaluate, manage and use excellent, carefully-chosen information. The library media program teaches ALL students to be discriminate users of technology for effective research and communication.
