Election2010 - now is the time to be an advocate
Being a part of your national professional assocation in an election year has it’s advantages. Lobbying and Advocacy has been the focus of the National Office Staff and the Board representing all members (and remember it was the topic of the ALIA National Advisory Congress meetings last year). But now that the Federal Election has been called - it’s also up to you. Your power as a voter in the election is undeniable - it’s time to get involved.
ALIA has developed an election advocacy campaign kit with topics, tips and templates. It’s easy, and yes, even one more letter and a visit to your local MP’s office can move an issue forward. Each time I look at the Campaign Kit I think, oh we should have added that, or included that point, or changed that… but then I realised that there are more than 6000 versions of the kit - one for each of our members who is an advocate. Make the kit into your own version. Use it as a base for talking to your local member about library issues that you are passionate about - but there will be others that might not be specifically listed. Use the templates and change them accordingly. But use your voice, and that of the Association (as a Member) during this short election campaign period. In an ALIA teleconference today it was also suggested that other friends and colleagues might be interested in it (e.g. parents who can lobby for school libraries)
ALIA has sent a set of questions to each political party, requesting a response as soon as possible, on the big issues like digitisation, library funding, improving literacy, internet filtering and school libraries. Look out for the responses soon on the website at http://www.alia.org.au/election2010
You can connect with even more ‘real time’ comments and updates on our twitter http://www.twitter.com/alianational (follow us today)
however sometimes 140 characters cannot explain it all, so take a look through the extensive information and links at http://www.alia.org.au/advocacy or email your questions to advocacy@alia.org.au
Sue Hutley, ALIA Executive Director