Hello Indiana

!

Hello!Happy April!

“Doing” Community Based Advocacy

Why “Do” It?

Geek the Library

Everyone has something they “geek”—something they are passionate about

—and the public library supports it all.

Research-BasedAll of this is based on research results from a study conducted by OCLC in 2007, and funded by the Gates Foundation. The study investigated the following question:

Can a large-scale library support campaign effectively increase and sustain funding for U.S. public libraries by reaching and influencing the segments of the voting population that have the most potential to become committed library supporters?

Overall, the key to increasing funding support for the library is to change the library conversation, and the library perception, from services and information, to a conversation about how the library provides transformational opportunities for each resident and the community.

This report is available at www.oclc.org/reports/funding

• Takes the library into the community and starts a conversation about community passions

• When you increase awareness, you change behavior

• Results in informed, passionate library supporters (even if they are not library users) who drive change

Why This Works

Create internal & external library SUPPORTERS

Begin with awareness

Awareness vs. Advocacy

ADVOCATE --to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly

1. Create Awareness• Asks “Whatdoyougeek?”

2. Generate Engagement• Localizes the campaign and gets

you out into your community

3. Encourage Action• Shifts messaging to put more

focus on the value of your library and the need for funding

Three Phases to Successful AdvocacyBased on the Geek the Library campaign

1. Awareness Creates Engagement

• Start by knowing what’s important to your community

• Reach out to your community in the community– find out what’s important to non-users

• Go where they are!

Ask the community first

2. Engagement Creates Story

• Now that you know what matters to the community– talk about it

• Use information that has positive outcomes for your community

• Use personal stories– how your services affected someone

Facts make you thinkEmotion makes you act

Use Outcome Based Information

3. Story Creates Support

Story and Support Create Change

Information ≠ Transformation

• Create community advocates• Partner • Create relationships with your

stakeholders

Connect, Connect, Connect

Outcomes

“The community embraced their

inner geek.”

“I learned not to try to do it

all by myself.”

“We fundamentally changed the library’s

relationship with much of the community.”

“We learned lessons in negotiating and

relationship building.”

“You reach more people because the

messaging isn’t just

coming from the library.”

I geek questions!