Library Advocacy Day is almost here: Friday, February 26th!
How You Can Help
- Share Your Story. We know you love your library! The New York Library Association wants YOU to share your story. Click HERE to tell NYLA why Albany Public Library is important to you below using their “Tell Your Story” tool. (You can also email us with your stories! We are collecting stories from APL patrons to share on social media during National Library Week in April.)
- Be a Social Media Advocate. Advocacy Day is virtual this year. We need all of our friends and supporters to be social media advocates on Friday. If you use Twitter, follow and share messages from New York Library Association. Look for messages on all networks with the hashtags #LAD21 and #LibraryAdvocates this week. If you want to be a serious social media advocate, check out NYLA’s “Leverage Your Network – Be A Social Media Advocate” toolkit.
- Send a Letter/Email to your Elected Officials. NYLA has letter and email templates for you to customize and send to your NYS elected officials. You can find these templates in their “Library Advocacy Day Materials.”
Vaccination for Frontline Library Workers
Reopening libraries means protecting library works and protecting library patrons. That starts with vaccination for frontline library workers. Vaccination has arrived in NYS. We are currently in Phase 1b which includes individuals 65 and older, school teachers, and grocery store workers. Front-line library workers need to be included in phase 1B. Please keep this in mind in your conversations and letters this week with elected officials. You can read more in the Times Union or on our blog.
NYLA Advocacy Day is an annual convergence of NYS Library Champions. There are also important local and federal advocacy needs right now. FFAPL will be highlighting them all week, beginning with the Build America’s Libraries act.
Build America’s Libraries
Introduced on January 28, 2021 by Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), along with Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR), the Build America’s Libraries Act would fund upgrades to the nation’s library infrastructure to address challenges such as natural disasters, COVID-19, broadband capacity, environmental hazards, and accessibility barriers. This groundbreaking legislation would pave the way for new and improved library facilities in underserved communities across the country. Join us in the effort to support this bill and #BuildLibraries. Urge your senators to sign on to this bill. Contact friends and relatives across the country and urge them to support this bill. Click the button below to contact your Senators or read more here.
Libraries = Strong Communities!
Building Back Better includes Building Libraries!
Follow @ALA_united and @LibraryPolicy for more information about Build America’s Libraries and other national library initiatives that need your support.
