Advocacy: The Big Picture

Course

The "Business" of Advocacy [3:19]

In the digital age, libraries and librarians can redefine themselves by acknowledging that it's not business as usual. We need to emphasize that we have a niche, in which we provide a user experience that is not readily available elsewhere.

We need to acknowledge that we are no longer the only game in town. I mean that in terms of formal education as we know it, as well as for the ways and means in which people access information and conduct research. We have lots of competition. Learning opportunities and information resources are everywhere. Think about Amazon, Google, Khan Academy, YouTube, Wikipedia, Barnes and Noble, Charter schools, Virtual schools, homeschoolers, the unschooling movement, where students learn what they want, when they want, Massive Open Online Courses, known as MOOCS, and micro schools among others. These are all competing for students.

So in the digital age, libraries and librarians can redefine themselves by acknowledging that it's not business as usual but business that is more and more directed by the social context of a participatory culture. We need to emphasize that we have a niche, in which we provide a user experience that is not readily available elsewhere. Because we ensure that users are able to access our programs and services to accomplish what they need, versus what we may see as important and ensure that our services are designed to lead to a personal transformation, where the library is seen as a learning space. And through connection too and the intervention of the school librarian, our students and teachers interact with ideas, information, technology and one another, to construct their own meaning and new knowledge. So, in competing for marketing-market share, we need to convert resources into products, services and ideas. Distribute outputs to various consuming publics.

We are now in a landscape where we need to compete for market share. And we can do that by converting resources into products, services and ideas that appeal to teachers and students. We can distribute outputs to our various constituencies and research the needs of those consumers. The school librarian must go outside the library and into the world of the consumer to learn about their needs. By designing products and generating an absolute need for that product. And we cannot underestimate the user experience. It's again, everything in a participatory culture.

We also need to make sure that we fully appreciate the user experience. We need to understand user needs and know their expectations, as well as appreciate their needs and be able to be flexible and adaptable, and step with their changing needs. We have to be responsive to their suggestions and keep evidence that we are doing this. Our users expect us to know our job and we need to earn credibility among them. And deliver on their expectations. If we do, our users will market the library for us, and this is in true keeping with the meaning of the word advocacy; when somebody else makes your case for you.

In the final analysis, each and every one of us must be the chief and best advocate for the values of our own programs and our specific roles to implement it in an efficient and effective way. This involves planning and being prepared, accountable, and ready to demonstrate through evidence that we impact student achievement in a positive way.

Revisit & Reflect on Your Advocacy Knowledge

Context:

Ballard contends that school libraries and librarians face tough competition in the world of education and in the channels through which people seek information. This "competitive" process entails establishing trust and value through a user experience that satisfies users' needs and at the same time remains true to the learning mission of the school library program. With a responsive and adaptable library program, students and teachers will be enabled to enact genuine advocacy, wherein they make the case for school libraries to other stakeholders.

Instructions:

In this exercise, revisit the reflection that you wrote in Lesson 1. First, mark up your reflection by circling, underlining, or highlighting notable passages or terms. Then add some new thoughts, including any changed or expanded understandings. Who are the people, or what are the resources, that might support you in overcoming a potential challenge you identified? What have you learned that may help answer the question(s) you posed?

MLA Citation

Morris, Rebecca J. "Advocacy: The Big Picture: Revisit & Reflect on Your Advocacy Knowledge." School Library Connection, September 2017, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987470?learningModuleId=1980795&topicCenterId=2247903.

Entry ID: 2128122

Additional Resources

Annotated Bibliography
Words from the Wise: Advocacy Quotables.

About the Author

Susan D. Ballard, MS, is vice president of the National Collaborative for Digital Equity and a past president of AASL. She served on the Editorial Board for the AASL Standards and Guidelines Editorial Board, responsible for writing the National School Library Standards for Learners, Librarians and School Libraries. She is a current a member of the AASL CAEP Coordinating Committee involved in revision of the Standards for Preparation of School Librarians. Follow her on Twitter @nholb or email her at sdballard@comcast.net or sdballard@digitalequity.us.

MLA Citation

Ballard, Susan D. "Advocacy: The Big Picture. The 'Business' of Advocacy [3:19]." School Library Connection, ABC-CLIO, November 2015, schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987470?learningModuleId=1980795&topicCenterId=2247903.

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https://schoollibraryconnection.com/Content/Course/1987470?learningModuleId=1980795&topicCenterId=2247903

Entry ID: 1987470