Tag Archives: Advocacy

Join Us: Postcard Party in the Park!

Clemens Gardens

Are you ready for spring and beautiful flowers?

Do you love talking about libraries?

Us too!!

We are hosting a Postcard Party in the Park, and you are invited! (You, your family, friends, neighbors, polite strangers you met on the street – it’s a very inclusive invitation!)

CMLE HQ will provide postcards and addresses; you can write out quick notes to your stakeholders to tell them about libraries; and we will mail them. Quick and easy advocacy in action!

Thursday,  May 18 from 11:00 to 1:00 we will be sitting at tables behind the Gift Shop at the Munsinger Clemens Gardens. Bring your lunch; we will provide snacks, postcards, pens, and addresses for your legislators. Beverages are available for purchase at the Gift Shop, and water fountains are nearby.

After our poll on the best day for this event, we have added a second time. We will also be there from 4:30 to 6:30 that afternoon. Stop by on your way home from work, or bring a sack dinner and enjoy the beautiful gardens, and the river! Snacks and postcards will again be available to everyone who attends. Continue reading Join Us: Postcard Party in the Park!

Thursday is CMLE Library Snapshot Day!

Coll. Marcè CL - Polaroid land camera Mod 95 1948

You already know that here at CMLE Headquarters, we love nothing more than gushing about the work our libraries do. Now we want to have some visuals we can use to show off libraries!

And thus: Our first CMLE Library Snapshot Day!

Thursday, take photos in your library of the things you have, the programs you provide, materials on the shelves, staffers hard at work (ask their permission first, please!) – whatever goes into making your library a wonderful resource. No need to do anything special; we want to see a typical day in the life of our libraries.

This is part of a national program, where people in libraries across the country take photos to show off their libraries. We do not all do this on the same day; but the results can be exciting to view as a big group, and can be powerful tools in showing stakeholders the range and diversity of the work we do in libraries!

From ALA: “Holding a library snapshot day is a simple way to prove that libraries provide invaluable services to our communities.” We agree that all our libraries  across CMLE – school, academic, public, and special – are providing invaluable services, and we want to show it!

You can email photos to us; or if you have social media and want to share photos there, just tag them with #CMLEPhotos. We will collect photos, and add them to our website.

What if you miss it on Thursday? We will still be happy to take your photos from this week and display them!

We are looking forward to seeing the great work you are doing!

Get excited: CMLE Library Snapshot Day is next week!

Next Thursday, April 27th is CMLE Library Snapshot Day! CMLE is excited to share pictures of our members and the work they are doing in their libraries!

Wondering what Library Snapshot Day is all about? From ALA:
“Holding a library snapshot day is a simple way to prove that libraries provide invaluable services to our communities.”

On this day, we want all our libraries (and anyone else – we love all libraries!) to take a few photos during the day, to show the work you do. It does not need to be anything especially exciting, or fancy-looking; just show the work that library people are doing.

Then, we will upload all the photos to our web page for easy access and sharing with stakeholders, library fans, or anyone that needs a reminder how important libraries are to their communities! (We also have a YouTube channel and would love to post your videos!)

Use the hashtag #CMLEPhotos on your social media accounts, to share them around with everyone!

We will be in contact with some of you to set up a few minutes for us to pop in and visit your library so we can get a few more photos!

Read more about Library Snapshot Day on ALA’s site.

Send Librarians to Congress – in book form!

Some advocacy to help our legislators know more about libraries!

Donate here!

“Help us send librarians to congress by taking part in the campaign to send a copy of the book, “This is What a Librarian Looks Like,” by Kyle Cassidy, to every member of Congress.

Federal funding for libraries would be eliminated in the proposed “Skinny Budget” from President Trump. Many of our elected representatives are unaware of the work that librarians do for millions of Americans every day. We need to show Congress that librarians are providing critical services for communities and teach Congress about the impact that librarians’ work has in our big cities and small towns. Librarians come from all walks of life, backgrounds, and society, but what they have in common is a passion for learning, innovation, and making sure that knowledge is available, free of charge, and accessible to everyone. Libraries are not just rooms filled with books; they provide computers, cameras, kayaks and fishing equipment, 3D printers, recording studios, video games, and even neckties for people who aren’t able to get access anywhere else. This is the message that members of Congress need desperately to hear and you can help us raise the money we need to reach them.

Tell congress about the work that librarians do in the United States by helping us raise money to send them Kyle Cassidy’s book, This is What A Librarian Looks Like by May 9th.

Through his book, Kyle Cassidy has made it his mission to remind us of how essential librarians and libraries are to our communities. His subjects are men and women of all ages, backgrounds, and personal style–from pink hair and leather jackets to button-downs and blazers. The nearly 220 librarians photographed also share their personal thoughts on what it means to be a librarian. What A Librarian Looks Like also includes original essays by some of our most beloved writers, journalists, and commentators including Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Nancy Pearl, Cory Doctorow, Paula Poundstone, Amanda Palmer, Peter Sagal, Jeff VanderMeer, John Scalzi, Sara Farizan, Amy Dickinson, and others. Cassidy also profiles a handful of especially influential librarians and libraries.”

We’re Having a Postcard Party in the Gardens!

Clemens Gardens

We love libraries! (You know that already)

And we want everyone else to hear about all the great things libraries do!

Advocacy for your library is more than just emailing legislators when budget time comes around (though, it is also that – so please email your legislators to tell them libraries are important!). It means making connections with stakeholders, and letting people know on a regular basis about the great things you are doing. (Check out the Minnesota Loves Libraries site for some great ideas!)

We are here to support our members, so we are holding a postcard party! (Okay, and we are getting spring fever and want to go spend some time in a beautiful, riverside garden!)

We will meet as a group in the Munsinger Clemens Garden (exact location will be decided as we get closer to the big day), chat, have lunch/snacks, and enjoy the scenery. And we will provide postcards for you to use to address to your legislators, your stakeholders, and any other people who need to hear some news from your library!

This fun event will be scheduled for the week of May 15; and we want you to vote on the date that will work out best for you. This will be a drop-in/drop-out event, with people coming and going as fits into your schedule. CMLE staff will be there from 11:00 to 1:00 on the designated day. (If there is a crowd, we will stay to be sure everyone gets a chance to get your postcards!)

Right now we are thinking about this as a lunchtime event; but if an evening event (in addition to this) would work better for your schedule, please let us know.

Come out, join us in having fun, enjoying the sunshine, flowers, and river, and making some good connections with people in your community!

What day will work best for you? (required)