Advocacy is not always easy.

Through this series, we have shared 50 ideas of what you can do in 10 minutes to become a more effective advocate.

Together, that’s over eight hours of activity.

Of course in reality you may spend longer in order to think, plan, and do things, and to meet the medium-term (see Exercise #44) or long-term goals (see Exercise #7) you’ve set yourself, using your measures of success (see Exercise #46).

With all that work, you deserve a moment to rest and congratulate yourself.

So for our 50^th and final 10-Minute Library Advocate exercise, celebrate success!

Think about how things have changed, and how you have affected this. Think also about what else you want to do in the future!

Good luck – you deserve it!

See the introduction and previous posts in our 10-Minute Library Advocate series and join the discussion on social media using the #EveryLibrarianAnAdvocate hashtag!

Advocacy is about building support.

It relies on convincing other people of the need to speak, and to act, for libraries.

They, in turn, are the ones who can make a difference for you in your work.

Successful advocacy may rely on a whole network – from those in power (see Exercise #6) to journalists (see Exercise #14) and other partners (see Exercise #8).

It may even involve your friends, who have helped you refine your message (see Exercise #21) or repeat it around them (see Exercise #43).

These people make a difference, and it’s important to recognise this.

So for our 49^th 10-Minute Library Advocate exercise, say thank you!

You can send a card or note – hand-written makes it even more personal – or just make sure you show your gratitude when you see them.

You could even make a wall of fame for library friends!

Good luck!

See the introduction and previous posts in our 10-Minute Library Advocate series and join the discussion on social media using the #EveryLibrarianAnAdvocate hashtag!

To have an impact in your advocacy, you need to be memorable.

Decision-makers will have lots of people coming to see them, making them to do things.

You need to ensure that what you say and do remains in their minds, and so that they bear you in mind when making choices about laws or funding.

There are various ways of doing this – using a prop or support (Exercise #33), having a great opening line (Exercise #30), or having a positive or negative scenario (Exercise #40).

One way to do it is to offer them information that they can then use in their own conversation – something interesting (or even amusing!) on a personal level.

This can be a great way of getting – and keeping – attention!

So for our 45^th 10-Minute Library Advocate exercise, learn a striking library fact.

Examples include the fact that more people go to libraries than to Premier League football, the cinema, or the top-10 tourist attractions combined in England.

Or that there are more libraries than McDonalds in America.

See what you can find out about libraries in your country. Use the stories and data on IFLA’s Library Map of the World to look for inspiration.

Good luck!

See the introduction and previous posts in our 10-Minute Library Advocate series and join the discussion on social media using the #EveryLibrarianAnAdvocate hashtag!