No library director or board member should feel nervous about contact their elected officials - local, state, or federal - about the library they represent. Advocating for the needs of the library and community is part and parcel of the work.
Nevertheless, many feel apprehensive about doing this part of the job and may wait until it's too late to begin a dialog with the people who control local finances and state aid appropriations, if they start at all.
The only way to avoid being too late is to consider every day "library advocacy day" and to take or make every opportunity to speak with your elected officials about all the good work your library is doing and ask for greater support.
This LibGuide is intended to facilitate librarians and board members to contact their elected officials with confidence. It contains advocacy resources from vetted sources, links to the Alabama Legislature's Capwiz where anyone can look up their elected official's contact information using address information, and a primer on using Alabama's online legislative system (ALISON).