Ontario Library Association Super Conference 2017
Soapbox 3.0: Action Advocacy for School Libraries
Presented by Anita Brooks Kirkland
Once upon a time advocacy came from the soapbox: you know, the “You’d better like us because we’re good for you” approach. We’ve since learned that advocacy means demonstrating value, with clear evidence of the school library program’s impact on student learning. Action advocacy for school libraries, “Soapbox 3.0”, takes us a step further, with powerful and practical strategies for demonstrating program value, cultivating relationships to extend our influence, and positioning school libraries to lead learning for the future. Value, Influence, Positioning (VIP) moves from telling to participating, and to connecting with peers, influencers and decision-makers. In this session we’ll explore resources and tools to make connections at every level, starting at your school. Action advocacy is hands on, so be prepared to roll up your sleeves and collaborate on practical strategies to make the action advocacy VIP connection.
Introduction
Minds On
What’s in the message? What do we say about libraries when we share a meme, name a conference session, or publish a story?
Evolution of Advocacy Approaches
An overview of advocacy approaches. From “good medicine” to Value, Influence and Positioning.
Table Talk: Considering these “Soapbox 1.0 and 2.0 approaches, what should we: Throw Out? Keep? Develop Further?
Anita’s Top Ten Action Advocacy Tips
We all own it, at every level of an organization and across the profession. We demonstrate our worth and move the profession and program forward through what we do every day.
Anita’s Articles
Action is Eloquence: Advocacy Advice for School Libraries. School Libraries in Canada (30/1), Winter 2012
Aspirations and Opportunities: Advocacy for School Library Programs. Canadian Children’s Book News (38/3), Summer 2015
Value, Influence, Positioning: Advocacy by a New Name. Open Shelf (OLA), September 2014
Anita’s By the Brooks Blog Posts
Library Day at Queen’s Park 2014
Library Day at Queen’s Park 2015
An Interview with Anita Brooks Kirkland, by Doug Peterson (April 2015)
Ontario Needs Teacher-Librarians (March 2015)
Royal Society of Canada Expert Panel: Recommendations for School Libraries (November 2014)
Libraries Change Lives (April 2014)
Leveraging Libraries for Ontario’s Education Future (September 2013)
Getting the Message Right (January 2013)
Imagine Your Library (August 2012)
Additional Resources
American Association of School Librarians (AASL/ALA): Advocacy
American Libraries (2014). School Libraries Transform Learning. Note article by Barbara Stripling (p. 8) – Reimagining Advocacy for School Libraries: Creating a Strategy for Getting out Your Message
Association of Library Services for Children (ALSC/ALA): Everyday Advocacy
Australian School Library Association: Advocacy
Doug Johnson (2016). Blast From The Past (BFTP): 4 Rules of Library Advocacy
International Federation of Library Association (IFLA): School Library Advocacy Kit
I Love Libraries: An Initiative of the American Library Association
Neil Gaiman (2013). Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming.
Ontario Library Association: School Library Advocacy
