As the saying goes, all politics is local. And 90% of funding for public libraries comes from the will of local politicians and, in turn, from local voters. So it's urgent that librarians, library supporters, and anyone interested in running an election or campaign for a library understand the strategies, resources, and tactics necessary for positive political action. Whether election day is four months away or four years away, there are immediate steps library leaders and local library ballot committees should take to help secure a successful ballot initiative later. Written by two experienced library campaigners, this action-driven manual for anyone running a political campaign for libraries dives into proven successful campaigning techniques for rural, suburban, and urban settings;expert analysis on how political perceptions are formed, how political power works, and ways libraries can reach funding or political goals;starting the discussion internally;the right approach to setting up the committee structure, and identifying the core leadership team for the committee;tips on networking, cultivating good relationships with the power players in the community, and building a winning coalition;canvassing and direct voter contact;responding effectively to opposition, including voters who habitually resist taxes or library funding increases;the differences between paid media and earned media; andbest practices for marketing and message development, fundraising, volunteer engagement, and other key areas. Filled with easy to follow strategies, this book will guide ballot committees, librarians, trustees, and library advocates through the process of winning an election for funding their library. LIS students will also benefit from the early exposure to political literacy skills provided by this book.

Provides an overview on grant writing; profiles fifteen libraries that obtained grants for different projects; and contains thirty-five pages of checklists, worksheets, and templates related to grant writing.

This text offers a practical and comprehensive manual that guides you through grant fundamentals.

Let’s be blunt: library funding is political. And the struggle to secure funding is ongoing; the work that librarians need to do to influence local politics doesn’t just pop up in the few months before Election Day. It should span the years before or between elections. The authors’ previous book Winning Elections and Influencing Politicians for Library Funding targeted library ballot committees and advocacy organizations. But their new book speaks directly to librarians, library staff, and boards. It is designed to help library leaders understand and navigate the political nature of their work in the years leading up to a ballot measure or political initiative. Sharing the tools and tactics developed by their organization EveryLibrary, the nation’s first and only Political Action Committee for Libraries, in this book they discuss how the day-to-day work of librarians, their communications with the public, and their roles and responsibilities in the community can help increase the willingness of public and local elected officials to support funding libraries through taxes; guide readers through the practical side of running a public-facing Informational Communications Campaign for their library before Election Day; explain the concept of surfacing, the important groundwork of occupying a strong and positive space in the community during the years before and between ballot measures; demonstrate why surfacing is one of the most crucial steps a library can take to build and maintain support; share the most recent data insights into voter attitudes about libraries and librarians; show how libraries can coordinate internally to build new external partners; offer advice on finding, activating, and holding onto supporters; and discuss the path to the ballot with practical insights about how to get onto the ballot. This essential resource is filled with concrete steps that librarians, library staff, and boards can take to ensure that political support is there when they need it the most.

More than simply a vital collection development tool, this book can help librarians help young adults grow into the kind of independent readers and thinkers who will flourish at college.

Written by two librarians who are experts in grantsmanship, this all-in-one toolkit for winning grants is a must-have for library directors, grant writers, board members, consultants, and anyone else involved in planning library programs and services.

Concisely written and easy to follow, How to Win Grants demonstrates a three-stage grant development model distilled into 101 actionable strategies, arranged in order of execution and supplemented by helpful checklists. In stage one, “Prepare,” grantseekers begin by assessing their personal and agency fundability, improving their positioning for grants, learning shortcuts to planning successful grant projects, and finding out how to locate the most likely sources of grant funding. In stage two, “Persuade,” grantseekers learn how to convince private and public grantmakers that their project deserves funding by adapting their project plan to the specific needs of each funder. In stage three, “Perform,” readers learn the most important ways to continue attracting grant funding for the long term. This indispensable guide also dispels widespread myths about grantseeking, identifies unproductive behaviors to avoid, and teaches readers how to engage the funder’s interest and make the most compelling case for their project. With all this and more, How to Win Grants is every individual and organization’s ticket to a winning grantseeking campaign!