Idaho Commission for Libraries

In the past decade there has been a steady decline in the number of library levy issues passing in elections. George Needham of OCLC in his Keynote presentation to the Idaho Library Association covered 5 ideas to help libraries change their standing in their communities; to encourage more support of those initiatives. The issues identified below could be further explored in OCLC's newest publication "From Awareness to Funding." (Available through ICFL Professional Development Service.

1. Move from being an INSTITUTION to be

• ing an INFRASTRUCTURE
• In order to be successful in this environment, you need to be intertwined in the community like the emergency services.
• An example of this might be having a staff member assigned to city council meetings or other community meetings—being there and LISTENING. By listening, we learn what they need and we begin to anticipate their needs. It’s not necessarily like being an advocate.

2. Move from being a FRILL to being a NECESSITY

• We don’t want the community to see the library as just a nostalgic anecdote.
• Tie into education in the community.

3. Move from being about the PAT to being about the FUTURE

• Emphasize children’s services. Children are our future and children’s services that are built on helping them to become independent learners builds the future of their community.
• Providing services on mobile and other devices/tools used by youth and that will be a part of future delivery of information/communication.
• People are used to getting things 24/7 now (or close to that)

4. Move from the sense of ALTRUSIMS to a ROI (Return on Investment)

• ROI is not necessarily about money. It’s a good thing, but not the only thing. Instead help the voter to identify why the library is good for them.
• Example: “These students participated in summer reading and their reading scores in school improved by xx amount.”
• Example: Library tag line “save time, get better grades.” It’s a focus on what the student needs.. .not what they need from the library in particular, but what they need in their life at the moment. And note the tag line doesn’t include the library.. it’s about the user; it’s not about the library.

5. Move from the idea of INFORMATION to one of TRANSFORMATION.

• Information is just the beginning. When someone comes to the library for a resource on resume writing, it’s not about writing a resume; it’s about find a job or creating a career.
• We don’t distribute data or information anymore, we transfer knowledge and wisdom

Passionate Library Workers:

The top reason why people support the library is because of passionate library workers. All workers. Library workers that advocate for the library in all parts of their life—at the library, in the grocery line, at the bank, everywhere. They are passionate about making the library relevant. They are supporters of lifelong learning.

When the library workers are passionate about the library, we create an environment where people want to be a part of it, who build on that passion.