Cognotes 2018 Annual Conference Highlights - 12

COGNOTES

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2018 ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS

Exponential Library Advocacy Through a Team Approach
By Michelle Kowalsky, Rowan University, NJ

Multiple library leaders from each state
gathered in New Orleans to report on their
library advocacy action plans for influencing
state legislative priorities and local budget
decisions. Organized as part of this year's
State Ecosystem initiative, these tactical
teams from various states included each
state's library association president, school
library association leaders, representatives
of the state library, and public library administrators, as well as ALA and American
Association of School Librarians (AASL)
elected leaders and ALA staff members.
These intense inter-agency collaborations,
which started at Midwinter, aim to develop
a statewide ecosystem for taking collective
action to preserve and restore the value of
libraries. Using these collaborative techniques, librarians in the state of Washington
gained a legislative victory which included
a state budget allocation of $20 per student
for library materials. Similarly, Virginia advocates helped to defeat a bill which relaxed
requirements for school librarian certification. Marci Merola, director of the Office of
Library Advocacy, is collecting the strategies
used in these successes for dissemination to
the membership.

"We need to learn each other's talking
points," explained Denise Davis, president
of the Maryland Library Association. "Since
school libraries, public libraries, and many
other organizations have similar goals and
values, we need to work together to support
each other on local issues and statewide problems," she said. A team of organized library
advocates helped the Talbot County, Md.,
school to save five school librarian jobs this
year which were set to be cut from the budget. The team mobilized social media such as
LinkedIn and Facebook to successfully reach
potential advocates during a school break.
They also obtained support letters from the
presidents of ALA and AASL, which were
then read by library leaders at the school
board meeting. The letters recounted influential research which describes the benefits of
school library programs for student learning.
"It is important that the school librarians
themselves are not the only ones speaking
up to save their jobs," stated Emmanuel
Faulkner, president of the Maryland Association of School Librarians. He encouraged
the group to find effective speakers among
community members, and to identify specific examples which will resonate with your
particular local or state decision makers.
Members of the Maryland ecosystem team

ALA President Jim Neal (lower right) opens the AASL session, "School Library
Advocacy: Enhancing Collaboration and Strengthening Library Ecosystems."

also attend fellow organizations' events and
local town and school board meetings. "You
can have your say in person when you attend.
You can explain why libraries are important,
and it's harder to disagree in person," he
explained.
When organizations work together and

fight for common goals, their power is
exponentially increased. To join or start an
ecosystem in your state, follow the AASL,
ALA's Office for Library Advocacy (OLA),
and the Chapter Relations Office (CRO) on
ALA Connect or visit http://www.ala.org/
advocacy/state-ecosystem-initiative.

Denine Torr from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation
Recognized with AASL Crystal Apple Award
Denine Torr, senior director of community initiatives at the Dollar General Literacy
Foundation, has been selected as the recipient
of the 2018 Crystal Apple by American Association of School Librarians (AASL). The
Crystal Apple honor is given at the discretion
of the AASL president to an individual or
group that has had a significant impact on
school libraries and students. President Steven
Yates presented Torr with the apple during
the AASL Awards Ceremony and President's
Program June 23.
"At the heart of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is Denine Torr and her team
- raising funds, administering programs, and
changing the lives in the communities Dollar
General serves," explained Yates. "The ability of the grant program to bring normalcy
back to students' lives after a natural disaster
and to open a school library's doors as soon

Foundation has invested in programs that
help individuals learn to read, prepare for
the high school equivalency test, or learn
English," said Torr. Since its inception, the
foundation has awarded more than $154
million to nonprofit organizations, schools,
and libraries that have helped more than 10
million individuals advance their literacy and
basic education. We are honored to partner
with the American Library Association to
strengthen communities, extend hope, and
increase opportunities for others to achieve
their American Dream."

Viola Davis

Though Davis centered her Corduroy story
on the theater, drawing from experiences on
Broadway, she was insistent that Lisa be kept
in the book. "I thought, you know, she had
a 50-year contract. I didn't want to fire her,"
Davis joked. "I like her because she loves
Corduroy. I didn't want to break up that
friendship."
Like the library, the stage was another sacred
and inspirational place for Davis. "It's a place
without judgment. It's almost like praying,"
she said. "It's a place where I found myself."
A Q&A period followed the conversation
between Davis and Medlar, where Davis was
asked what she had recently read (Manchild in
the Promised Land by Claude Brown, Braving
the Wilderness by Brené Brown, and a script for
the upcoming film "Troupe Zero") and why
she asked to change her character's occupation in "Beautiful Creatures" from a maid to
a librarian ("I find that someone putting me
in the box of maid or best friend is a way of
squelching the complexity of my humanity").
"We want to be seen. That's just the bottom line," Davis said of casting people of color
in three-dimensional roles. "And we don't
want a big introduction and explanation as
to why we're in it."

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Denine Torr

Be a Money Smart Week® Library
Since 2009, the American Library Association has partnered with the Federal
Reserve Bank of Chicago to sponsor Money
Smart Week®. This national initiative,
which now includes additional partners
such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, provides financial education
programming to help members of your
community better manage their personal
finances.
Libraries of all types can and do participate in Money Smart Week®, providing
programming for all ages and all stages of
life on financial topics such as basic budgeting, managing student debt, teaching financial literacy to teens, retirement planning,
home purchasing, saving money through
couponing, and how to prevent identity

as possible has directly impacted more than
100,000 students. Denine is the 'person
behind the foundation' whose dedication to
the power of literacy and lifelong learning has
made this possible."
Dollar General Literacy Foundation's commitment to the "lifelong learner" funds grants
and literacy programming of a movement
that has provided literacy, comfort, and hope
in times of rebuilding and AASL is fortunate
to have such dedicated partners in service to
school libraries."
"For 25 years, the Dollar General Literacy

theft. ALA and its partners make it easy
for libraries to participate with tips and
guides on successful programming done
by peer libraries; free posters, bookmarks,
and other promotional materials; and the
opportunity to be part of national and
local contests, such as Money Smart Kids
Essay Contest, Geocache for Cash, Big
Read, and others.
Learn more about Money Smart
Week® at http://www.ala.org/offices/
money-smart-week and by following
#MoneySmartWeek.
In 2018, over 1,000 public, academic,
school, prison, and other libraries in 50
states participated.
Mark your calendar for March 30 -
April 6, 2019 to take part.

And beyond Denise's generosity, Davis found
a sanctuary that stoked her imagination.
"The freedom to be able to read as many
books as you can, to disappear in the land of
Dr. Seuss and Curious George," she said, "was
an escape for me because I didn't want to
go home." Davis said she would stay at the
library until closing every day and then run
home in the dark.
Corduroy was one of the books Davis read
as a child, but she recently rediscovered the
book's power when she began reading it to her
daughter Genesis "over and over and over."
"Don Freeman inspired me with [the
characters of ] Lisa and Lisa's mom," said
Davis, who noted how impactful it was to see
African Americans depicted in picture books.
She was also incredibly moved by Lisa's love
for Corduroy and the adventures the bear had.
"It's a book about friendship and it's a book
about curiosity," said Davis. "He goes into the
department store and everything looks interesting to him. It was a great way to encourage
curiosity and not to attach it with fear."

http://alaannual.org/mobile-appi#alaac18 http://www.ala.org/advocacy/state-ecosystem-initiative http://www.ala.org/advocacy/state-ecosystem-initiative http://www.ala.org/offices/money-smart-week http://www.ala.org/offices/money-smart-week

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cognotes 2018 Annual Conference Highlights