Tag Archives: Minnesota Library Legislative Day

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!

Advocacy

MN Library Legislative Week is coming! So many ways to participate!

Have you always wanted to participate in MN Library Legislative Day (or week) and just not known where to start?

Don’t worry, we can help! (And way to go for wanting to advocate for Minnesota libraries!!)

This year, Library Legislative Week is  February 25-March 1, 2019 and MN Library Legislative Day is February 26th

MLA and ITEM have this excellent site with TONS of Minnesota Library Advocacy info, including the 2019 Platform, advocacy videos, and even a Tool Kit for Legislative Day!

If reading all this information is a little overwhelming, we get it. Watch our website and social media for the release of a special Minnesota Library Advocacy Podcast Episode where we break down the four “asks” that we’re focusing on for this session.

If you can’t make it to St. Paul on the 26th but still want to participate in Legislative Day, come to our location in St. Cloud instead! We’re at 570 1st St. SE, right next to East Side Target.

We’ll have flashy new advocacy postcards, contact information for legislators, and sample text for you to use when contacting officials.

We’ll be available in our office from 9am – 6pm that day and hope you can stop in! We want to help make it easy for you to participate in MN Library Legislative Day and speak up for your library!

We need to be telling people (especially people who are in charge of making decisions about funding libraries) just how vital library services are to schools, universities, and entire communities!

If you’re planning on stopping in, let us know (not required) and we’ll be sure to have extra snacks on hand 🙂

Advocacy

Participate in Minnesota Library Legislative Day AND Virtual Legislative Week!

We talk a lot about library advocacy at CMLE. That’s because it is super important! We need to be telling people (especially people who are in charge of making decisions about your library) just how vital library services are to schools, universities, and entire communities!

And good news: there is a day devoted to doing just that! On Tuesday, Feb. 26th you can go to the MN Capitol to speak with legislators and encourage them to support libraries!

Or, you can stay a bit closer to home and come to CMLE HQ in St. Cloud, where we will be hosting a Virtual Legislative Day! Our office will have snacks, sample texts for messages to send your representatives, and library advocacy postcards for you to send to stakeholders.

We’ll be available in our office from 9am – 6pm that day and hope you can stop in! We want to help make it easy for you to participate in MN Library Legislative Day and speak up for your library!

Watch this video for a quick intro to MN Library Legislative Day. Then make sure to visit the MN Library Advocacy Website! You can find more details about the day at the State Capitol with this post from MLA.