The Day After: Spring Election To-Do List for Library Directors and Boards of Trustees

1.  Call the newly elected (i.e., first-time) members of your city council/village board to offer your congratulations.  Extend the same courtesy to a newly elected mayor and members of the county board of supervisors who represents the library's service area.

2.  Invite them to visit the library.

3.  If possible, schedule the visit at a time when the library is busy.

Better yet, attend the council/board meeting at which new officials are sworn in and extend the invitation in person. This is a particularly effective approach at the local level.  Admittedly, it can be unwieldy to attempt this type of contact before or after a county board meeting.

Why is this important?

On average, Wisconsin municipalities and counties provide 82% of public library revenue.

Just as important is that it allows you to begin the process of building relationships with newly elected officials.

*"The Importance of Creating a Common Agenda" by Patricia Cavill.

 

Finally, be sure to keep everyone -- newly elected and incumbent officials --  in the loop throughout the year.  An email distribution list works well.  More traditionally, Retiring Guy used to place monthly reports and newsletters into the council members' (paper) in-boxes on the Friday before a (Tuesday) Middleton Common Council meeting.  Whatever works. (And whatever options are available.)

(Originally published on April 7, 2010.  This version revised and updated.)