4.2 How to Create a Legislative Committee for Your Chapter

As outlined in section 4.1, there are many benefits of having an active legislative committee within your chapter. Best of all, it's easy to get started! Here are some guidelines to help you get your committee off the ground. If your chapter already has a legislative committee, please skip to section 4.3.

1. Identify your core group of advocates

First, you'll want to enlist a few dedicated members interested in taking a proactive role for the chapter on policy issues to join the committee. If your chapter includes several states, try to include representatives from each state on the committee. This will allow you to stay informed about what's happening in each state and respond more effectively when legislative issues arise.It will also help the AALL Government Relations Committee and Government Relations Office to have people in each state keeping an eye on local issues and to let us know when legislative issues, good or bad, arise. Once you've established the members of the committee, determine who will chair the committee.

2. Develop Your Committee's Charge

You should develop your committee's charge to reflect the role your committee will play within your chapter. For an example, see this document from the Northern California Association of Law Libraries' (NOCALL) Government Relations Committee. Remember to be forward-thinking, because you'll want your chapter's legislative committee to become a permanent committee within your chapter for years to come!

3. Develop Your Committee's Policies and Procedures

After you establish a core group of advocates, you should do some brainstorming about the goals and objectives of your new committee. How will you best achieve those goals? Develop policies and procedures that will help you take effective action as a committee. Feel free to contact Emily Feldman for guidance.

4. Develop Your Chapter's Government Relations Policy

We also recommend that you draft a chapter Government Relations Policy which can help guide your committee in addressing important policy issues. For an example of a chapter Government Relations Policy, see the Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law Libraries' (SEAALL) Government Relations Policy. You may also want to refer to the AALL Government Relations Policy for ideas.

The Government Relations Policy should outline the core issues that your committee will address on the state and federal levels, while staying broad enough to incorporate new issues as they arise in the future. Some of the core issues for law libraries on the state level include:

• Funding for state, court, and county law libraries
• Elimination of print legal resources in favor of online-only
• Digital authentication and preservation of online legal resources
• State depository library program
• Freedom of information
• Privacy

As you draft your Government Relations Policy, you may want to incorporate the Principles and Core Values Concerning Public Information on Government Web Sites developed by the AALL Access to Electronic Legal Information Committee. The Principles recommend policies on accessibility, reliability, official status, comprehensiveness, and preservation. In 2007, the AALL Executive Board adopted the Principles and they were subsequently incorporated into the AALL Government Relations Policy.

5. Develop a Strategic Plan

You strategic plan should reflect the goals of your committee and should articulate the ways in which you will reach those goals. For a good example of a strategic plan, see the LLAM Strategic Plan 2007-2012 .

Section 4.3 How to Create a Successful Advocacy Program for Your Committee

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