PUBLIC ADVOCACY:MOBLIZING COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR OUR LIBRARIES

Friday, January 20, 2012

Presented by Ed Palmer

Dallas Municipal Library Board Chair

Prepared by Juanelo Moa

Dallas Public Library

Dallas Public Library

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

ADVOCACY REQUIREMENTS MOBILIZING COMMUNITY SUPPORT & SPREADING AWARENESS

• RECRUITING THE KEY ADVOCACY TEAM• DEVLOPING THE ADVOCACY PLAN AND MESSAGE• ESTABLISHING PARTNERSHIPS• DEVELOPING AND PRODUCING SUPPORT MATERIAL• EXECUTING THE PLAN

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

ADVOCACY TEAM RECRUITMENT

MANY SKILLS REQUIRED

PRESENTERS - RESEARCHERS - ADMINISTRATORS

• LIBRARY BOARDS• LIBRARY FRIENDS ORGANIZATIONS• LIBRARY USER GROUPS• COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

ADVOCACY PLAN & MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT

• LIBRARY ADMINISTRATION• REALISTIC – SIMPLE• ONE VOICE – ONE MESSAGE• SPECIFIC COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

ADVOCACY PLANNING DALLAS LIBRARY BUDGET – 2011 – 2012

The proposed 2011 – 2012 Budget for the Dallas Library will keep theLibrary hours the same at 40 hours per week. The proposedMaterials Budget will remain the same as the past year at 1.6M. Therewill be some reduction in Staff, but most of the positions are vacantand we expect that a minimal number of staff will receive reduction inforce notices.

All of this means that we will have a basically adequate budget that canbe managed, but we need to focus our attention and advocacy onincreasing the Materials Budget as soon as funds become available. We cannot continue indefinitely with this extremely low Materials Budget without irreparable harm to our libraries.

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

ADVOCACY PLANNINGDALLAS LIBRARY BUDGET – 2011 – 2012

We need to continue our efforts with each Council Member to getthem into our libraries to see the actual condition of our materials andhow important it is to increase this budget as soon as possible.

Updates on the Budget Issue and future library plans will beforwarded as we go through the year.

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

ESTABLISHING ADVOCACY PARTNERSHIPS

• FRIENDS GROUPS• LIBRARY USER GROUPS• COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS• LOCAL BUSINESSES• STATE WIDE LIBRARY ASSOCIATION• NATIONAL LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

ADVOCACY RESEARCH

FACTS AND DATA SUPPORTING THE MESSAGE AND PLAN• LIBRARY DATA• CITY• STATE• NATIONAL

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

How Dallas Compares with Texas Peers

*Source: City Budgets **Source: City Budgets, 2010 U.S. Census Data

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

How Dallas Compares with Texas Peers

*Source: City Budgets, 2010 U.S. Census Data **Source: Public Library Association Survey, 2011; U.S. Census Data

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

How Dallas Compares with Texas Peers

**Source: Public Library Association Survey, 2011; U.S. Census Data

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

How Dallas Ranks Among National Peers

*Source: City websites, news articles and U.S. Census data

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

ADVOCACY MATERIAL PRODUCTION

GENERIC MATERIALS SIMPLE MESSAGES OF CURRENT ADVOCACY

• CHARTS• GRAPHS• VISUALS

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

EXECUTING THE ADVOCACY PLAN MOBILIZING COMMUNITY SUPPORT – SPREADING AWARENESS

• CITY LEADERS• CITY – COMMUNITY TOWN HALL MEETINGS• LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD ORGANIZATIONS• MEDIA OUTLETS• DEVELOP AND HOST SPECIAL EVENTS• STATE LEADERS AND MEETINGS

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

Oak Lawn Library Branch

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

Planning Update Community Read-In Supporting the Library

Saturday, April 30, 2011, 12-2 PM

City Hall Plaza (Young and Ervay)

*Rain location: 1st Floor of Jonsson Central Library

(1515 Young Street- across street from City Hall)

Purpose: A community event to showcase Dallas’ support for public libraries as the heart of the community. Event will feature community leaders of all ages and professions who will read children’s books and short stories (adult) at 10-15 minute intervals. There will also be theatrical and musical performances by local groups.

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

DALLAS PUBLIC LIBRARY COMMUNITY READ-IN SUPPORTING THE LIBRARY

Volunteer Assignments:1)   Friends materials table (Membership, fact sheets, history booklet,

stickers): Holly Hill, Karen Blumenthal2)   Adult books/audio books/ DVDs giveaway table: Laura Starks and

Leelora Davis  (note I will email you next week about how the DVD/audio book drawings will run)

3)   Drinks/snacks table: Freda Gail Stern, Doug Taylor4)   Children’s books/DVDs/toy giveaways table: Liz Hirsch, Judy Bruton

(note I will email you next week about how the DVD/toy drawings will run)

5)   Manning stage: Valentina Doyon6)   Manning Children’s Corner: Ann Saucer7)   Managing online/paper petitions: Ed Palmer

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

Legislative Day, February 16, 2011 (Austin, TX): Ed Palmer, Dallas Municipal Library Board Chair &

Corinne Hill, Interim Director of Dallas Public Libraries

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

KEY PUBLIC ADVOCACY ELEMENTS

• BEGIN EARLY – ADVOCACY IS AN ALL YEAR ACTIVITY• BE REALISTIC – KEEP IT SIMPLE• BE VISUAL WHENEVER POSSIBLE• BE PERSISTENT• BE PATIENT – CHANGE DOES NOT HAPPEN QUICKLY

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Dallas Public Library Public Advocacy:

Mobilizing Community Support for Our Libraries

Questions???