1.2 Why We Need YOU on Our Advocacy Team

Former Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill is famous for the phrase, "All politics is local." The AALL Government Relations Office strongly believes that getting the participation of our members and chapters is essential to our success. While your Government Relations Office staff work hard to advance the policy goals of AALL, it is you who has the power to convince your lawmaker of the importance of law libraries to your community and the Nation. By speaking up for law libraries and taking action when it's needed, you'll become an important member of our Advocacy Team. All it takes is a little know-how and the willingness to speak up on issues that affect our profession.

The Government Relations Office makes it easy for you learn about the issues on our agenda and to get involved. By reading our monthly publications and signing up for the Advocacy Listserv and the Washington Blawg, you'll stay on top of the latest updates and news from our office.

When an issue arises that may significantly affect law libraries, we may ask you to take action in support or opposition. This may be in the form of writing an individual letter or email to your representative, making a phone call, or setting up a meeting in your legislator's district office. We'll provide you with the background information, talking points, and how to go about taking action.

We also ask chapters to send letters to Capitol Hill when important issues come up. In this case, Advocacy Communications Assistant Emily Feldman will write the letter for you and simply ask for edits, approval, and signature, usually of the chapter President. When you send it back to us, we'll hand deliver it to the Hill so it ends up in the right hands. Please be aware that we don't overburden you with action alerts, so when we release an alert, you'll know we really need your help!

By exercising your voice, you'll really make a difference. Several recent examples illustrate the importance of your participation in our efforts. Over the past couple of years, many AALL members spoke out on the closures of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) libraries. Members of Congress heard your concerns and several committees, including the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chaired by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), held a series of oversight hearings. Seeing the obvious need for these wonderful resources that EPA shut down, Congress appropriated $1 million for EPA to reopen the libraries. The five closed libraries in Dallas, Chicago, Kansas and Washington, D.C. reopened on September 30, 2008. This would not have happened without all of your calls and letters to members of Congress.

Chapter 2. Action Alerts

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