So Many Advocacy Ideas at TLA – Make Your Membership Work for You!

By Susi Grissom          

School librarians looking for new advocacy strategies will find a number of sessions on this topic at the TLA annual conference next week in Austin.  A quick look at the exciting conference schedule reveals sessions to help you SYNC UP as an advocate and communicator with your stakeholders, the legislature, your school board, and your community.  Take a look at the possibilities below and add them to your schedule with the TLA 2015, the TLA Conference Mobile app.  You’ll return to your school with new ideas to use to tell your school library story.

Did we miss a session that you think has advocacy appeal?  Add that session’s information in the comments section below.  If you’re not going to the annual conference this year, you can access handouts for these advocacy sessions on the conference app, either via a mobile device or the web version.  You have to be a conference attendee or a TLA member to gain access to the app - make the most of your membership!   Advocacy is an on-going process, and these sessions can help you grow as a library leader who communicates well about the importance of school libraries to learning.   Note: ticketed sessions are not included in the list, since the registration deadline for these programs is now closed.

Wednesday, April 15 

1:00-1:50 pm

TexShare Database Update TexShare staff provides an annual review of program resources and content updates. Promotional tools and training to maximize TexShare use at your library will be included. Jay Velgos and Russlene Waukechon, Library Development and Networking Division, Texas State Library & Archives Commission 

2-2:50 pm

The 84th Legislative Session Update

TLA’s advocacy team examines what’s at stake for Texas libraries in the 2015 legislative session. Find out about bills, funding proposals, and how to support library policies important to you and the people you serve. Be “in the know” when you get back to your library. Jennifer LaBoon, Library Media Services, Fort Worth ISD; Gloria Meraz, Texas Library Association; and Rebecca Sullivan, Riter C. Hulsey Public Library 

2-3:50pm

Effective Presentation Skills for All

Whether you teach research skills to college students, interview with the media, lead storytime, or defend the library’s budget before a governing board, we all improve our success with effective presentation skills! Learn to analyze your audience, organize your presentation, and engage your audience. Dora Elia Saavedra, Communication Studies, University of Texas-Pan American.  

2-3:50 pm

Tech Your Story: Design Your Online Library Presence 

Use your storytelling skills to design an online presence that tells your library’s story through Web albums, video, blog platforms, and social media. Engage users in the story of your school and its library programs and events. Nancy L. Lambert, McSpedden Elementary, Frisco ISD; and Tim Tingle, author and storyteller 

2:30-2:50 pm

Update on School Library Standards Revisions 

The State Library and Archives Commission is revising School Library Programs: Standards and Guidelines for Texas, a tool for assessing, supporting, and promoting school libraries. Learn about the goals of the revision process, regulatory procedures involved, working groups undertaking this effort, and opportunities to provide input.  

4:00-4:50 pm

‘The Choice’: Push the Right Button for TexQuest Collaboration in Elementary Schools

Have fun with the TexQuest team as they “audition” ideas for promoting online resources before a panel of elementary school “judges.” Will innovative approaches make them “turn their chairs?” Take away imaginative marketing ideas for engaging teachers on your campus. Len Bryan, Library Development and Networking Division, Texas State Library & Archives Commission; Lorraine Mettham, Library Services, Amarillo ISD; Melissa Rippy, Library & Instruction Materials, Pasadena ISD; Martha Rossi and Ann Vyoral, ESC, Region 20. 

Thursday, April 16 10-10:20 am

Digital Advocacy Storytelling to Promote Library Values (CONTRIBUTED PAPERS SESSION IIA) Judi Moreillon, Texas Woman’s University. 

10-11:20 am

Marketing 101 for Libraries 

Three marketers offer strategies for promoting services, including special events such as book festivals. Use technology, savvy, and smarts to implement enticing programs in your own shop.

Sandra Fernandez, Lopez Negrete Communications; Kanya Lyons, Faulk Central Library, Austin Public Library; and Brenda

Thompson, Brenda Thompson Communications 

11-11:20 am

Collaborating with Your Community to Promote Literacy

Discover how librarians and literacy advocates joined forces to expand services and increase outreach. The speakers describe their efforts to establish partnerships and implement book distributions, family literacy nights, book festivals, and other special events. Ida Acuna-Garza, South Texas Literacy Coalition; Cristina Espinoza, LBJ Middle School, and Nora Alicia Galvan, Central Office, San Juan-Alamo ISD; and Maria Elena Ovalle, consultant. 

1-1:50 pm

From Embedded Librarian to Librarian as Leader

Why wait behind our desks for questions? It’s time for librarians to step up our game, step out of our libraries, and demonstrate our value to the larger community. James LaRue, LaRue & Associates 

2-2:50pm

TexQuest Update

TexQuest is up and running! This update of the TSLAC’s K-12 resources program for Texas public schools and open enrollment charter schools reviews training opportunities, best practices, and lesson planning resources. Find out about the program’s progress, what’s next, and successes campuses are reporting. Len Bryan, Library Development and Networking Division, Texas State Library & Archives Commission 

Friday, April 17 

9-9:50 am

‘The Choice’: Push the Button for TexQuest Collaboration in Secondary Schools

Have fun with the TexQuest team as they “audition” ideas for promoting online resources before a panel of secondary school “judges.” Will innovative approaches make them “turn their chairs?” Take away imaginative marketing ideas for engaging teachers on your campus. Len Bryan, Library Development and Networking Division, Texas State Library & Archives Commission; Lorraine Mettham, Library Services, Amarillo ISD; Melissa Rippy, Libraries and Instruction Materials, Pasadena ISD; Martha Rossi and Ann Vyoral, ESC, Region 20

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timing is everything - - - bringing an increased Library Awareness to Boards of Education

By Debbie Hall

School districts are governed by elected Boards. Seats on School Boards are generally occupied by parents and community members, not educators. As these volunteers sit on the board and attend educational conferences they learn about how education works and form opinions about the direction their district should be headed.  You can inform them about libraries and librarians so that they will be able to make decisions that will improve library services to students of the district. Tell them yourself. You can remind them before every meeting that libraries and librarians are important to student success; remember that decisions to spend money on other things might mean there is none left when the library issues come up for vote. You can also warn them when decisions are being considered which may reduce the impact of a library program or when inequities exist. Our voice is essential in ensuring our boards know what they need to know about libraries and certified librarians.

Board members are very busy people so how you approach them, what you say or share, who you say it to, and when you say it is critical. Here are a few guidelines and suggestions:

1.       How you approach them

• Demonstrate respect for their position
• Thank them for their work and especially any votes they have made that have a positive impact on libraries
• Keep it brief and to the point (remember they are busy) 

2.   What you say or share

• Personal library success story (try to say something positive every time especially if you are sharing concerns or criticism)
• Research about the importance of librarians and librarians or trends in library service. Keep the focus on student success, achievenment or test scores.
• Concerns about directions that the district is taking that affect libraries
• Comments on an upcoming board agenda items, especially if any items impact library service are critical. Board agendas may be published online prior to the meeting or may be requested. Make sure board members understand the ramifications of their decisions.  Administrators may be prepping the board on agenda items but leaving out how this decision affects school libraries or librarians.
• Offer solutions or examples of ways library services can be improved

3.  Who you contact (choose your options)

• Your board member if you live in the district (i.e. the one you can vote for)
• Your school’s board member (i.e. the one whose district your school sits in)
• Specific board members which you have identified as supportive  library advocates
• All board members on voting issues that have an impact on the library program
• School board presidents control the meeting and in many cases should be included in all communication 

4. When you communicate (perhaps the most important consideration)

• Within the week before the board meeting so it is fresh on their mind (most boards meet at least 8-10 times per year)

Look online at your district's website and see what information is posted about board meetings so you can send a timely email. My school district posts the dates of agenda review meetings (private), board agendas, and board meeting dates. Board members often only have a few days prior to  the public board meeting to decide how they are going to vote on an issue that may be very complex.

Finally,  amplify your advocacy by attending board meetings. The board will come to look for you and notice the fact that you are watching, recording, and observing what they say. Send a powerful message about the importance of libraries by being visible and timing your carefully crafted message.

An email before the board meeting takes only a few minutes to send – and it can make a huge difference. Attendance at a board meeting takes a bit more time, but has even stronger impact in the long haul. These are small things you can do in behalf of your students’ ongoing academic success.

Debbie is a retired HISD librarian and district supervisor now working with Students Need Libraries in HISD, a local Houston group.

 

 

 

 

5 Minutes of Advocacy Every Day – Don’t Skip

By Dorcas Hand

I was speaking to a school library friend from another state, an outstanding leader who thought he was doing what needed to be done in terms of campus advocacy – but he has just been informed they couldn’t justify him over reading specialists for next year’s budget. The specific person and state don’t matter – the lesson does.

Every day, we all need to be sure campus colleagues have noticed us as strong contributors to their classroom success. Being indispensable is certainly part of that effort, but reminding them how the things we do directly impact test scores and academic achievement is essential.

That we help students choose books they will enjoy gives them ownership of the love of reading and learning, a feel-good experience that will encourage persistence in academic challenges. But our colleagues don't always see the transfer from feel-good to academic success. Administration and parent groups need to know the data from the Colorado Study and its many derivatives, how this data demonstrates that libraries strongly support test score improvement in schools with strong libraries staffed by certified librarians. Perhaps an infographic will be the most concise and memorable method.

Consider our efforts to support students and teachers with information technology – both digital resources and hardware access points for students without any at home. How can you keep those efforts in the limelight every day? Your students need your library.

Compare schools in your own district that have certified library staff with those that don’t to show what you do. Hopefully, the publically posted test scores will help you. Do these campuses have reading specialists instead – what have they lost? Does that approach just support test scores rather than learning. Does the tutoring effect carry over year to year, or are you better bang for the buck because you see every student in every discipline all year, impacting many aspects of their learning? What information will have the most effect in YOUR district.

Share Nancy Everhart poster 100 Things Kids Will Miss If They Don’t Have aLibrarian in Their School (available for download).

Have your elevator speeches ready – and yes, I meant the plural. You need one for parents, one for teachers, and one for campus administration. You will want one that focuses on free reading, reading comprehension, love of reading and another that focuses on information retrieval, evaluation, comprehension and the writing process. These all clearly overlap, but targeted comments for each audience are essential to success. The core question is why libraries and librarians matter to student success – but there are hundreds of campus specific examples you can use to illustrate the facts.

5 minutes, 5 fingers. 5 minutes of advocacy EVERY DAY to someone who matters in the continuation of your program. Your 5 fingers can remind you of the 5 points you want to make.

Keep the focus on student success and improvement. You are the caring person who provides many of the tools that support their success. Be sure the world you work in knows. Time spent on Advocacy is time well spent – don’t decide that time on circulation management or clerical details is more important. Stakeholders, allies and opponents need concrete information that focuses on student achievement – make that info easily available, all the time. 5 minutes every day. Don’t miss.