Door-to-Door and Get Outside The Lines

This year, for Get Outside the Lines, we are encouraging librarians to get out of their libraries and go directly to the front door of folks around town and sign them up for a library card.

We have an expanded guide for #getOTL 2016 available for free on our Action site.

Ballot-access groups go door-to-door to enfranchise new voters. Some do it in a non-partisan way focused on the democratic process, others are engaged in efforts to target likely supporters of their candidate through voter registration campaigns. Smart candidates for office at all levels of government know that going door-to-door is the best way to meet and convert voters. It breaks through the clutter of advertising and is more powerful than even social media. The interaction with voters introduces them to the candidate or issue. It is the first point in a longer outreach relationship with the campaign or organization and it is effective.

EveryLibrary is a national political action committee for libraries and we support library communities when they are on the ballot for funding elections. In many places, it is hard to get any new tax passed. Voters are suspicious of where their tax money goes and how it is spent. It’s important for our library campaigns to share their values and vision about where the tax money is going. But the biggest thing we have learned in dozens of campaigns is that the public also wants to see their librarians—staff at all levels—too. Voters want to know who is spending their money. That it isn’t another politician who is proposing another tax. That's why this door-to-door library card sign up program for Get Outside the Lines is so essential for your library, even before your library is on the ballot.

Sign up on our Action site to get the full white-paper emailed to you.