Let me oblige.
But first, let me share a few preliminary thoughts.
As you are surely well aware, the political atmosphere at the State Capitol is supercharged as Governor Walker's budget repair bill works its way through the legislature. Access to the building itself is increasingly a challenge -- but well worth the effort, I will add -- due to an ongoing series of rallies by those that oppose the bill. 2000 on Monday. 14,000 on Tuesday. 30,000 yesterday. Another huge turnout is anticipated today. The rallies may very well continue into next week.
In a break with tradition and, perhaps, not specifically authorized by state law, the Governor will deliver his budget address at 1:30 on Tuesday, February 22, at the Vita Plus receiving warehouse on Progress Drive on Madison's far-east side. Which means, of course, that many legislators will have left the building by the early afternoon, and you will meet with a legislative aide. As Tony and Michael and I repeat each year -- it's just as important to build relationships with your legislators' staff as it is with your legislator. Don't look at this as a missed opportunity. (When you return home, follow up with a handwritten letter to your legislator).
Another possibility. Specifics about Walker's 2011-13 budget proposal will leak out prior to his 1:30 address and force us to revise our primary message. This scenario, however, only reinforces our need to prepare and be ready to promote the benefits that libraries provide to all Wisconsin residents, particularly through resource sharing and technology, where state dollars for library services are so cost-effectively used.
Tips for meeting with legislators: As for your general approach to Tuesday's meetings with your legislators, Tony Driessen and Michael Blumenfield will provide us with an up-to-the-minute perspective during our Library Legislative Day briefing session, which starts at 8:00 a.m.. In the meantime, though, please review the linked document.
Now for what we hope will be the heart of the matter on February 22nd.
The Library Legislative Day packet is designed to provide a framework for the conversations you will have next Tuesday with your legislators and/or their aides. The more you prepare for this event, the greater your comfort level when you walk into a legislator's office.
To start then, carefully review this sheet.
As it states on the right-hand column, please make every effort to personalize your presentation.
We need to move beyond general descriptions of the value of libraries and provide specific examples -- "library stories" -- of how legislators' constituents directly benefit from the services and programs that your library provides, particularly as they apply to the "Common Agenda" key interests of your legislators that you have identified.
In addition, we need to tell legislators why their constituents love and value libraries and how a very modest amount of state funding helps to insure this level of satisfaction.
(SIDEBAR: Don't be surprised if, from some quarters, you hear the response, "The state's broke!" Actually, the state currently has a $60 billion budget and takes in revenue every day. The real issue is a need to balance revenues with expenditures, and to do that legislators need to set funding priorities. We feel that libraries should be one of those priorities. Caveat: The "Learning About Your Legislators" exercise will clue you in as whether you should even go here. Sample and blank grids.)
Tell the stories behind the numbers. We also need to move beyond just sharing the impressive use statistics that we generate and tell our legislators what these numbers mean, again in terms of direct benefits and customer satisfaction at the constituent level.
For those of you in public libraries, for example, this means telling the story behind the bar graph below by answering the question: Why do Wisconsin residents continue to visit their local library in steadily increasing numbers? (And remember, the mid-1990s is when we first heard the "Who needs libraries now that we have the Internet" meme.)
As much as possible, frame your answers (i.e., your conversation) in the context of our Building a Common Agenda theme.
The Central Framework:
What's important about Wisconsin libraries
What's important about Wisconsin libraries
(highlights added)
What's Important red section describes the direct benefits to our communities: public, academic, school, special. The bullet points provide the framework for your stories about the direct benefits your legislator's constituents receive from libraries. Use one or more of them to develop your library stories.)
What's Important orange section: 3 areas for Building a Common Agenda
What's important yellow section: State support insures the effective sharing of resources and broadest use of technology in a way that benefits all Wisconsin residents.
Use the red-highlighted sections of each of the 3 Common Agenda sheets to develop your storylines.
Our Common Agenda: Education
- Education storylines to be developed in your own words (not meant to be a comprehensive list, of course.)
- The impact of certified library media specialists on student achievement
- School library media center as the central resource for collections and technology.
- Summer reading programs and the prevention of the "summer slide"
- The need for academic libraries to meet the demands of data-driven research, digital scholarship, and interdisciplinary studies. (+benefits that accrue)
- Academic libraries provide the fuel for economic growth.
- Libraries reach all types of learners: preschool, elementary, secondary, technical/trade, college/university, 'returning adults', continuing education, independent learning.
Our Common Agenda:
Job training & economic development
Key statement on Job Training page. The Internet has dramatically changed the job search process. Virtually all employers post their openings online and require applicants to submit electronic applications. Yet, about a fifth of Americans don’t have Internet access at home, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported in June 2009. (Here's a 2010 update.)
Two very important job training and economic development storylines:
- Gve examples of how your library has responded to this crisis and how much these services and programs are valued and appreciated.
- Share your own "Todd B" stories. (You should be collecting these on an ongoing basis.)
Our Common Agenda:
Information access & technology
- e-business & e-government. Libraries as the "designated" access points for web-only documents and forms.
- Sufficient bandwidth. "..nearly 66% of public libraries report that they have insufficient bandwidth". Provide clear examples of how this impacts on your legislators' constituents, How does this impact the delivery of services at your library/system/consortium. What are the disadvantages your legislators' constituents face?
- BadgerLink:. Tremendous cost savings to taxpayers with a statewide contract for BadgerLink databases (plus examples of their value to constituents)
- BadgerNet Fiber Grant. Perhaps an opportunity to express disappointment, in neutral terms, that all parties could not come to agreement on the terms of the grant.
And finally, WLA and WEMTA support the 2011-2013 biennial budget submitted by the Department of Public Instruction to the Wisconsin Department of Administration. You may certainly offer this straightforward statement at the end of your conversation -- after you have provided your storylines. Asking your legislator for support will depend on your sense of how the session has proceeded, i.e., whether you have established some common ground.
Thank you so much for your commitment to and participation in this year's WLA/WEMTA Library Legislative Day.
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