Please join me in Anaheim in July for a planning session to strengthen our approach to advocacy for our libraries.

As incoming president of ALA, I have been busy developing initiatives for my 2008-2009 term. I am seeking your assistance in developing one of these initiatives in particular:  advocacy for all types of libraries.

I believe that we need to sustain and strengthen our advocacy efforts on behalf of all libraries. I think of our school, public, academic, and other types of libraries as parts of an integrated library ecosystem. If one part of the system is threatened or suffers, the entire system is threatened and suffers. We know that libraries offer incredible lifelong learning opportunities, yet no one type of library can deliver learning opportunities from cradle to grave. Through our library ecosystem, however, we offer these opportunities in abundance. No other agency in American society can offer lifelong learning opportunities as effectively as our libraries!

How can we convey this message to decision-makers and the public, at large? How can we strengthen our efforts for the benefit of every type of library?

We’ll begin to answer those questions at a planning session at the ALA 2008 Annual Conference in Anaheim, hosted by the ALA Office for Library Advocacy. Please join me, Carol Brey-Casiano, Chair of the ALA’s new Advocacy Committee, and Marci Merola, Director of the new ALA Office for Library Advocacy, at:

• Advocating for All Libraries: Saving the Library Ecosystem
• Saturday, June 28, 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
• (Location to be announced)

Please RSVP to rsvp@ala.org no later than June 9, 2008; write “Planning Session” in the subject line. For more information, please visit www.ala.org/rettigadvocacy.

See you in Anaheim!