Fundraising for Political Action

As I've been planning the launch of EveryLibrary I talked with a number of thinkers, connectors, and do-ers in the library community.  The feedback has been very positive and the advice has been excellent.

 I think this initiative will be better off because of the collected intelligence behind it.  When we talked I always asked for "red flags", those places that colleagues identified as being potential trouble for a library PAC. Topics like regulatory issues, communicating about mission or identity, and turf came up.  I believe that those red flags can be addressed in planning, story telling, and a clear focus.  And by a lot of good conversations with other stakeholders in the community.

But the one red flag that I have not been able to overcome by planning comes down to "We [libraries] may not be very comfortable doing this".  That bothers me.  Especially the idea that the community itself may not be political enough to fight for itself.  I am not singling out any commenter because almost everyone gave me a variation on that theme.  It is one that I think we need to address from day one.  And it is a perception of self that can be changed by taking political action.  I am inviting you to take a leap of faith and put your voice into action.  I believe that EveryLibrary will succeed at its two goals - building capacity for library campaigns and funding those local campaigns from across the nation - because the library community is ready and willing to act.   Another frequent comment I heard was "This is an idea who's time has come." I agree that the time is right for libraries to act in concert, nationally, for political outcomes locally.  Your support will help make that happen.  Thank you for taking the next step and putting your political voice to work with EveryLibrary.