“I didn’t expect to find someone from libraries here”
Many of you involved in advocacy will likely have heard this at some point in your experience.
You go along to a meeting on a topic where there is an obvious need for the unique characteristics of libraries, the unique skills and values of library and information workers. Obvious to you at least.
But others – often experts who would claim to have a deep knowledge of the issues in the space – have never even thought about the potential to mobilise our institutions.
It can be disorientating, even put you on the defensive, feeling that you need to justify why you are even there, let alone to make your point. It can give you the sense of being an imposter, an outsider.
It shouldn’t!
Libraries are arguably one of the best kept secrets of successful delivery of wider public policy goals. Our characteristics, skills and values, as mentioned above, give us unique possibilities to reach into communities, to shape behaviours, and to realise potential.
As work around libraries and the Sustainable Development Goals has underlined, libraries have a role to play in so many different areas where governments and others are trying to make a difference to lives and societies.
Through work on the SDGs, we hope, we’re managing to encourage a stronger understanding amongst libraries themselves of the potential we have. Clearly, this does still need some work. We can all too easily fall back into seeing ourselves as only belonging in certain spaces – culture, education – or even as being non-playable characters entirely. As our previous blog explored, we need to work on ourselves, to avoid feeling like we have no responsibility for, or role in, determining our future.
The challenge then is to get stakeholders in other areas to feel the same. How do we get to a world where libraries are not just familiar faces in other policy discussions, but that partners spontaneously think of libraries when they want to get things done?
A first step is simply to be adventurous, to go to the conferences and meetings organised by others where you feel that libraries should be recognised. Simply staying in our own professional events isn’t enough! Bring handouts, wear t-shirts or hoodies, ask questions, make sure that as many people as possible hear the word ‘libraries’. It means that next time, it will be less of a surprise.
A second is to speak the language of the community you’re engaging with. Take the time to read about their priorities and think about the words and language they use. We need to be able to express what we’re doing in terms that potential partners understand, not just in the ones that we traditionally use. They need to be able to place us in their own worlds, understand clearly why it is in their interest to work with us.
A third is to be engaging. Don’t just tell people things, ask them to think themselves about how they can imagine working with libraries, or how libraries can support them to achieve their goals. If they’re struggling, make the question broader – ask them how important information and knowledge are. Make sure you also have a plan for following up, for example through meetings or sharing further information.
A fourth is to find champions. It can be powerful to bring non-library people to (good) library events, or even simply ask them to write an article or blog. This forces them to take the time to think about how libraries are relevant to them. If you’re lucky, they may then spread the word, and get their own peer groups thinking more about libraries.
Finally, make sure that you are doing an effective job – don’t over-stretch in the spaces where you engage, but make sure that you can commit to turning up regularly, building relationships and more. Even the most effective one-off engagement won’t bring much if it is just a one-off.
Through regular and effective engagement, you can help us reach a world where libraries are not just admitted to other meetings and spaces, but where we become seen as a key actor in achieving policy goals, and so a partner.
Good luck – you belong!