Program Description

Join us for a lively discussion about the role of advocacy in today's political climate. We will cover how AzLA advocates for libraries at the Arizona legislature, and what ALA is doing collaboratively with other organizations to combat book bans Nationwide.

Participants will:

1. Identify two ways AzLA works for libraries in Arizona at the state legislature.

2. Define how ALA strategizes its networks to combat local book bans.

3. Identfy two actions they can do now to advocate for their library in the current political climate.

Presenter Bios

Erin MacFarlane is Deputy Director at Maricopa County Library District. She has worked in public libraries for seventeen years, in many different positions in a variety of library sizes. Erin also volunteers as Chair of the Legislative Committee for AzLA, and is active in Policy Corps for ALA. She lives in Goodyear with two aging Labradors and a couple of library loving teenagers.

Tim Miller is the Executive Director of the Western Plains Library System in Clinton, OK. He is also the immediate Past-President of the Oklahoma Library Association. An ALA Policy Corps Cohort 4 graduate, Miller's advocacy interests are intellectual freedom, e-rate, and rural library funding.