National Library Legislative Day 2015

Save the Date- National Library Legislative Day,  May 4, 5 2015, Liaison Hotel, Capitol Hill.

On National Library Legislative Day – NLLD , hundreds of library supporters from across the country meet in Washington, D.C., to discuss  and advocate for key library issues with their members of Congress.  As the date approaches, American Library Association will alert us of the key issues.

http://www.ala.org/advocacy/sites/ala.org.advocacy/files/content/advleg/nlld/nlld_2015_flyer.pdf

Digital Inclusion Survey

Data powers advocacy: Please log onto Digital Inclusion Survey today!

http://digitalinclusion.umd.edu

Five reasons public library staff should say “yes” to the Digital Inclusion Survey:

1. ALA and the University of Maryland iPAC team have made the online platform as easy to use as possible, plus allowing folks to import last year’s data if you’ve participated before.
2. We make it easy to leverage data for advocacy at all levels. Issue briefs, state summaries, reports and infographics provide bite-size pieces, context and visual appeal on the topics ranging from digital inclusion writ large to e-government and employment.*
3. We don’t sit on our laurels. Have you looked at the new, interactive mapping feature that combines GIS, community demographic data and your library information on the fly? Your city and county managers thought it was pretty cool when we showed it to them.
4. These data and the resulting reports allow you to see your library and its programs and services among libraries of similar sizes, and within a state* and national context, as well as your local community.
5. ALA puts the data to work for you and your colleagues. We take these state summaries to senators; use the data to inform and bolster our policy recommendations, testimony and public comments; and publicize the heck out of what we’ve learned from all of you in media ranging from Fast Company to Governing magazine.

As often as you are asked to respond to a survey, we are asked to document why libraries need more funding through the federal E-rate program, to answer how many libraries offer 3D printers, and to show how libraries are helping supporting a 21st century workforce. I can’t credibly answer these questions without your help.

The Digital Inclusion Survey is open until November 22. Be the answer!

http://www.districtdispatch.org/2014/11/data-powers-advocacy-please-log-onto-digital-inclusion-survey-today/