The following notes were taken at the annual OLA conference during yesterday’s advocacy workshop titled “Waging the Campaign for Oklahoma’s Library Heaven.”
Mary Baykan, Director of the Washington County Free Library:
- Put forth a positive image when advocating.
- [Advocating] is not something you do when faced with a crisis or when you want something. It’s something you do in both good and bad times so the foundation [for philanthropy] will be set when crisis hits.
- Advocacy is like investing in the stock market: do it for the long term.
- We have 4.2 million citizens in Maryland and 3 million of them are card-carrying library members.
- Build relationships with your legislative representatives in order to educate them on the roles they play in your community.
- Find out [your legislators'] interests and tailor your message to how they can use library services to promote those things.
- Read this: “Making Cities Stronger: Public Library Contributions to Local Economic Development“
- Told to Director Baykan by a legislator: “Librarians are the only ones who come back and say thank you when someone does something for them (with politicians, public thank yous are best).
- Get to know the aides and secretaries of your legislators; they have extreme influence over their bosses.
- Know your product. You do amazing things well. You have a good product; believe in it.
Dr. Jim Halligan, President Emeritus and Professor Emeritus at OSU:
- All politics are local and all local politics are personal.
- Appeal to [your legislators'] vanity. Invite them to your library as a wonderful public servant (but not during the legislative session: too busy).
- Never forget the 80/20 rule: 20% of legislators make great advocates, 80% do not. Put another way 20% are champion thoroughbreds, 80% are jackasses. Find a thoroughbred to champion your cause, not an ass.
- Twenty years ago, many universities got 32% of their funding from the government, some (many?) are now headed towards 9%.
- Social services are taking precedence over information services in these challenging times.
- You can’t take your legislator to lunch. They are too busy working on the ethics committee (and don’t want to have to report it if they choose to go). Take their assistant to lunch instead; they’ll help you write your bill.
- Never be confused that your job stops at writing the paper (in reference to writing a bill). Your job is to provide leadership, not to handle the damn paper.
Paul Wilkening, Deputy to the Tulsa County Commissioners:
- Get to know your legislators, even Sally Kern.
- Make friends on both sides of the aisle.
- Speak to legislators between sessions. Start your advocacy in the summer, because by fall everyone wants to talk to them.
- Best place to promote your library is to invite legislators to your library.
- OLA’s website doesn’t have lobbyists listed. Put their contact information on the site for easy access.
- A letter or a phone call means a lot to legislators, because they know each one represents ten more.
- This year there will be a bond issue that is going to be a Christmas tree. Be ready to advocate for this bond money.
- Be “in the room” with everyone. Create familiarity; be an active citizen. Let your legislators know you are a part of the solution. Go to meetings and debates and ask questions.
- Facilitate and collaborate.
Susan Neal, Director of Community Development and Educational Initiatives for the City of Tulsa:
- Staffer wield extraordinary power and can get things done.
- The key is to have relationships with legislators and their staff in order to be ready when funds become available.
- Best way to build champions in your legislation is to build champions among the people you serve. Being approached by five adults who were educated in your area and say they now have a job because of what your library did for them has much more impact on a legislator than does a professional lobbyist.
- One of the best ways to communicate with your legislator is by e-mail.
- It’s important to remember that legislators are motivated to run because they believe they can do some good for society. They are open to you telling them how they can do good, but it has to help them [get elected].
- If you can demonstrate how you are helping society, you are in.
- Lobbyists know and will tell you which legislators can help.
- Focus only on those issues that mean the most to your constituencies. Your advocacy is more powerful when it’s concentrated.
- Know your legislators’ demographics and other data that may be useful; s/he may not know it. Create data that is useful to that person and send it unsolicited; be a source of information (e.g., ten key facts about the people you represent). They are grateful for those who take the initiative to help them learn what they need to know.
- Work with them for solutions when they don’t request help and they’ll remember you when you need help. Show how valuable you are.
[I'll upload a picture of the panelists tomorrow. At present, there's lightning all around and it's far past my bedtime]
Linda Summers
