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The future of libraries is in our hands. Over the course of two days, librarians and library advocates have the unique opportunity to have their voices heard by the elected leaders of this country. National Library Legislative Day will be taking place on Monday, May 9th and Tuesday, May 10th.

It is easy to register…ALA has a National Library Legislative Day webpage that makes getting involved a snap. On this page, one can look at photos from NLLD 2009, register for the event, and even reserve a hotel room for the duration.

For those who are first-time participants, there will be an informative training session entitled “Introduction to National Library Legislative Day: How to Make Your Participation Effective,” on Sunday, May 8th at the ALA Washingtion Off ice from 3:00-5:30 p.m.  

There are so many issues on the table that affect librarians, libraries, and the millions of patrons and communities out there.  All of the legislative representatives need to hear about why it is so important to support libraries when it comes to issues such as  Access, Copyright, Broadband and Telecommunications development, as well as many others.

Are you registered? What are you waiting for? Libraries need Advocates!!!! Libraries need YOU!!!

Like so many at this year’s ALA Annual, I took advantage of being in DC to play a part in Library Advocacy Day. Although ALA’s own press office was there recording and taking photos, I thought I’d mention some of the highlights related to Teens and Teen Services and share some of the photos I took this morning.

I arrived at Upper Senate Park about 10:30 A.M., 30 minutes before start time, and found a good number of people already there. I found advocates representing every state in the U.S., and I even talked to a few from other countries who were just there to lend their support to the cause. A number of groups brought teens and younger children with them, which I’m sure made a strong impression as well. While I certainly didn’t conduct a scientific poll of any kind, it seemed like there was overwhelming representation from school libraries out of the few dozen people I talked to.

Of course, YALSA had a formal presence there.  Past President Paula Brehm-Heeger arrived in force, leading the charge with others in Team Yalsa.

The event started a few minutes early with YA author Lauren Myracle (see photo below)—who was introduced by ALA President Camila Alire as this year’s most banned author—-warming up the crowd with a reading from her new book Luv Ya Bunches. Although it was silly and fun hearing about a revolt in high school against Cheese Nips, there was a nice enough connection to the rally you can tell Myracle put some thought into what she chose to read. Myracle spoke again later in the program, sharing some personal anecdotes of how libraries helped her writing career as well as reading email from her fans highlighting how important libraries are to them.

Both Senator Jack Reed (RI) (see photo below) and Congressman Vern Ehlers (MI-03) delivered short speeches on the importance of libraries, a topic they were obviously passionate about. Although they spoke in general terms, both highlighted the importance of school libraries and the role they play in secondary education.  Both also stressed the importance of actively reaching out to local and federal politicians to make sure they are aware of the vital role libraries play in the lives of their constituents every day.

After some inspirational cheerleading from President Alire, the crowd broke into smaller groups and struck out for their meetings with their congressional representatives.  If you’re like me and your representative chose not to meet with you—-or you just weren’t able to make L

Library Advocacy Day from ALA Washington on Vimeo.

Librarians know more than anyone how important it is right now for our profession and our advocates to speak up for libraries — to rally our communities behind our libraries and to encourage our elected officials to support funding and policies for libraries. Next Tuesday, June 29, the ALA Washington Office is sponsoring Library Advocacy Day on the Hill, beginning with a rally at 11 a.m. Eastern to which the public — and you — are invited.

If you’re attending ALA Annual Conference or live near DC: Join YALSA at the rally, wear read, and bring your teens and any other library advocates you k now! We would love to have your support. The more people we can bring to Library Advocacy Day, the more impact we have on legislators, letting them know that librarians are a force to be reckoned with.  For more information on the rally, see the Library Advocacy Day website at www.ala.org/lad and YALSA’s information on participating in the rally.

Unable to attend: Of course, not everyone can make it to the rally in DC on Tuesday. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be part of Library Advocacy Day! We’re also hosting Virtual Library Advocacy Day.  Show your support for libraries the week of June 28-July 2 by participating in Virtual Library Advocacy Week. A simple phone call or e-mail is all it takes.  To send an e-mail, go to Capwiz and click on the issue you are interested in.  The website will take you to a sample form letter.  Customize it with stories on what your local library is doing to help people look for jobs or gain digital literacy skills as well as other programs. These examples truly matter to your elected officials. Looking for more tools for advocacy? See YALSA’s Advocacy Wiki and our District Days page. Learn more about how to participate in Virtual Library Advocacy Day!

In both cases, feel free to post to Twitter about what you’ve done and use the hashtag #LAD2010.

Thank you for all you do for teens and libraries in your community. Your voice, along with over a thousand advocates rallying on Capitol Hill on the 29th, will raise awareness about the important work that libraries and librarians do on a daily basis to help kids learn to read, help people find jobs, and so much more.

Looking for a way to get your teens involved in your library and shoot a fun video at the same time? Submit an entry to ALA’s contest for Library Advocacy Day! Getting your teens behind the camera (and in front of it) is a great way to show just how vital libraries are in the lives of young adults.

All entries must

1. illustrate the importance of libraries,
2. motivate people to attend the ALA’s rally for libraries during Library Advocacy Day,
3. include interesting visuals and quality sound design, and
4. be no more than three minutes.

To enter, upload your video to Vimeo, tag it “library advocacy day,” and send your full name, phone number, city, state and the url of your work to [email protected] with the subject line “LAD video entry.” All submissions must be uploaded, tagged and e-mailed by 12pm EDT, May 26, 2010. ALA will announce the winners and recipients of the prize money–$175 for the first place winner and $75 for the runner-up–on Tuesday, June 1.

For complete rules and more information, visit the District Dispatch from the ALA Washington Office.