Category Archives: Advocacy

Advocacy, Books

ALA’s Top 11 Challenged Books of 2018 and what to do if you get a challenge at your library!

We’re thinking about book challenges this week as ALA has released their list of the top 11 challenged books from 2018. Dealing with book challenges or attempts to ban books can, unfortunately, be part of working in the library profession. Just keep in mind, CMLE staff and the ALA are here to help you!

We have this article from our Advocacy Alchemy series that coaches you through what to do if you receive a book challenge. Definitely email us at admin@cmle.org if you need assistance!

From ALA: “Every year, the Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles a list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books in order to inform the public about censorship in libraries and schools. “

On their website, you can look at the Top 10 lists from previous years, find free downloadable infographics, or submit a voluntary challenge report.

Some titles from 2018’s list include:

  • A Day in the Life of Marlon Bundo by Jill Twiss, illustrated by EG Keller
    Reasons: banned and challenged for including LGBTQIA+ content, and for political and religious viewpoints
  • Captain Underpants series written and illustrated by Dav Pilkey
    Reasons: series was challenged because it was perceived as encouraging disruptive behavior, while Captain Underpants and the Sensational Saga of Sir Stinks-A-Lot was challenged for including a same-sex couple
  • Skippyjon Jones series written and illustrated by Judy Schachner
    Reason: challenged for depicting stereotypes of Mexican culture
  • This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman, illustrated by Kristyna Litten
    Reason: challenged and burned for including LGBTQIA+ content

And check out the video ALA made of the Top 11:

Advocacy, CMLE, Programs

RSVP for CMLE Tea!

Hi CMLE members! We hope you are thinking about joining us for our upcoming member event!

We’ll be having tea, library conversation, and filling out library advocacy postcards to mail to library stakeholders. We had the best time at our last tea event and you can read all about it here.

Join us on Sunday, May 5th at 10:30 at the Mad Hatter Tea House in Anoka.
Member events support our mission to connect people from all types of libraries with each other to offer encouragement, brainstorming, and community.


Please RSVP below, as we need to make reservations! And since we do not want cost to prohibit any of our members from joining us, CMLE will cover the cost of tea service for members that RSVP and attend.

Advocacy

We advocated – and you can too!

Wow!!

Tuesday was a great day for libraries in Minnesota!!

That was the official day for Minnesota Library Legislative Week, where lots of library people went to St. Paul to talk about libraries, and the need for funding.

Lots of us who could not go to the legislator’s offices for the day worked on virtual advocacy. And you know what – it’s still happening!!!!

Whether or not you did some library advocacy on Tuesday – there is still more work to be done. We’re here all week – and these issues will be important for many weeks to come. Go talk to a legislator!

Sure. You can sit around and hope that someone else will take care of this for you. You can be a quiet, demure librarian stereotype – not speaking up for yourself or for your library. Just letting people trample over you, not wanting to make a fuss.

That might work?

I mean – I doubt it.

I think that’s a great way to ensure we continue to hemorrhage money and resources. An excellent strategy for seeing your library and your job downgraded in importance. A very workable plan to be sure your community loses access to the information you provide.

If that’s your direction, okay. Interesting choices. I can’t support it, but…interesting.

OR!!!

You can contact a legislator today!

We are spending someone else’s money in every library out there. Often it’s taxpayer money, it may be donations, it may be tuition, it may be federal money. Part of that “getting nice money” is a subsequent responsibility to tell your funder what you are doing with the money.

So, tell them!

And really? Legislators LOVE to hear from us! Libraries provide amazing value for the money. We are wonderful, happy stories they get to hear! We do fantastic things, and we exist to serve our communities!

We’re GREAT!!!

TELL PEOPLE THAT!

What specifically can you say? There is a whole website devoted to library issues in Minnesota! You can read all about it here, find sample text for phone calls/emails/in-person visits!

Want a quick, fun audio version overview of MN library issues? CMLE has you covered! (Yes: we like to talk about libraries!)

Don’t get too dragged down in “this is hard/scary/beyond me” thinking. We need you; we need everyone! If you have even SEEN a library, we could use your voice here!

Go! Tell legislators about cool library stuff!

Let them know you support multitype systems getting a funding increase to $2 million!! We want to be able to do even more awesome stuff for our members – and all seven multitype systems across the state share that money. Help us to be able to help you and your library work!!

(Why are you still here? Make a phone call! Send an email! Drop by CMLE HQ and we’ll give you a cool library postcard, and even stamp it for you!)

We’ve got this!!

Advocacy

Next Week: Virtual Library Legislative Week!

We are READY for next week! Legislator addresses printed and plenty of advocacy postcards to go around!

We hope you are getting ready to advocate for libraries!! Next week Feb. 25th – March 1st is Virtual Library Legislative Week!

Of course, during the week is Library Legislative Day on Feb. 26th, when Minnesota library people journey to St. Paul to tell our legislators just how important libraries are to our state!

If you aren’t able to make it to St. Paul, we encourage you to stop by our CMLE location in St. Cloud!

We’ll be here advocating for libraries all during Virtual Legislative Week but on Tuesday, Feb. 26th we’ll be here from 9am – 6pm with special treats, postcards, templates, addresses, and anything else you need to participate in advocating for libraries! Sign up below if you’re planning to attend and request a favorite snack! Email me at ajordan@cmle.org with any questions!

In the meantime, take a listen to our episode all about the current issues we’re working onthis legislative session. And if you want to learn more about all the ways you can participate in this important week, make sure to visit the MN Library Advocacy Website!

Advocacy

Join CMLE for Virtual Library Legislative Week Feb. 25th – March 1st

 

We are all about advocating for libraries at CMLE and we want to help you participate in the upcoming Library Legislative Day on Feb. 26th and Virtual Library Legislative Week Feb. 25th – March 1st!

A great place to start is our special podcast episode!! We cover the current issues for this legislative session and break it down for you in a way that’s easy to understand. Listen here:

Of course, if you are able to attend Library Legislative Day in St. Paul on Feb. 26th in person, fantastic! This website has all the resources to get you prepped and excited for your day!

If you can’t make it to St. Paul, we encourage you to stop by our CMLE location in St. Cloud! We’ll be here advocating for libraries all during Virtual Legislative Week but on Tuesday, Feb. 26th we’ll be here from 9am – 6pm with special treats, postcards, templates, addresses, and anything else you need to participate in advocating for libraries! Sign up below if you’re planning to attend and request a favorite snack! Email me at ajordan@cmle.org with any questions!