Library advocacy is a year round process of cultivating relationships and support, whether with local government bodies or state legislators:

• You can’t harvest a garden that you haven’t planted and tended.
• Most of the work happens before the harvest.

The next weeks and months during the election campaign and before the legislative session begins are the most important part of the year for cultivating support from state legislators. The key words for trustees and library supporters to remember are Hello, Thank You, and Remember Me?

Hello

• If you (library trustees and director) do not personally know your legislator, arrange an informal meeting to get acquainted. If your Representative has an opponent in the general election, be sure to arrange a meeting with each candidate.
• Arrange library tours, one-on-one chats, etc. to tell the library story.
• Inform them of overall library issues, concerns and accomplishments. Be sure they understand that library use has increased in recent years.