Thing 15: Library Advocacy

I'm not sure where I belong. On one hand I'm a librarian at heart and truly believe in all the good things that librarians and libraries give to society. On the other hand I don't identify with other (public) librarians at all and I'm not much interested in working in a (public) library myself.

And I'm genuinely annoyed of having to fight prejustice and ignorance all the time when I tell that I'm a librarian. So you put books on shelves? No. I put knowledge into people's heads!

The fact that we feel we have to tell "look we're funny/chick/up to date, too" - makes me a tired and I tend to leave people alone with they misconceptions. They probably have clouded minds in other areas, too, and my life's too short for that.

But enough about me, I might just be having one of those days ;-)

I liked the Voices for the Library initiative very much.
Similarly, a Danish think tank, Libraries of the Future (webpage in English), has had a look at the economic value of (mainly public) libraries for society. 
The fundamental argument for libraries is that children who visit libraries are better readers - better readers are more likely to get a higher education - more people with higher edcuations mean higher productivity which is good for the economy. It's as simple as that.

Other than the educational contribution, the report also talks about a cultural/social contribution and a digitalisation contribution that positively affect our economy.
Get the report in English here.

This kind of businesslike argumentation appeals to me. It think it's essential that we try to quantify the benefits of our libraries and speak the language of decision makers in order to lose as little funding as possible.




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Jeg bliver træt, når jeg møder folk, der stadig tror, at bibliotekarer sætter bøger på plads og desuden har læst dem alle. Kom nu ind i det 21. århundrede! Men mit liv er for kort til at jeg gider prøve at omvende dem.
Derfor foretrækker jeg de factorienterede tilgange tila t bevise bibliotekernes værd og bibliotekarernes bidrag på mange aspekter i samfundet fra uddannelse til integration og lige adgang til digitalisering. Det er et sprog beslutningstagerne forstår, og som måske kan bremse besparelserne en smule.