Advocacy is an important part of IFLA’s work to support the library field.
As institutions often dependent on the support of others – governments, funders, host institutions – libraries need to be able to explain why they are a great investment.
There are lots of very good studies and other materials which explain, in depth, how libraries make a difference.
However, if you want the person you need to convince to pay enough attention, you need to be able to ‘hook’ them. You need to find a way to make them sufficiently quickly, or risk losing their focus.
So for our 13th 10-Minute International Librarian exercise, develop your 1-minute pitch for libraries.
It’s not a long time! You may only be able to give a few short sentences, so make sure they count.
You could try writing out what you want to say, and then cutting it back until it fits into a minute – only keep the most powerful arguments.
And don’t forget to find a strong first line. You can share yours below in the comment – they may help someone else!
Good luck!
This idea relates to the IFLA Strategy! 1.3 Work with library associations and libraries to identify key legal and funding challenges to their work, and advocate for action.
As we publish more ideas, you will be able to view these using the #10MinuteInternationalLibrarian tag on this blog, and of course on IFLA’s Ideas Store! Do also share your ideas in the comments box.