Contacts: Marci Merola

PR Specialist, Advocacy

312-280-2431

mmerola@ala.org

 

John Amundsen

Administrative Assistant

312-280-5041

jamundsen@ala.org

 

For Immediate Release

June 13, 2007

 

On-site registration available at the Advocacy Institute

 

CHICAGO –  On-site registration for the Advocacy Institute is available during the American Library Association’s (ALA) 2007 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.

 

The full-day Advocacy Institute, which will be held Friday, June 22, at the Renaissance Washington Hotel, begins with advocacy basics, such as goal setting, message development and coalition-building techniques. The featured extensive lobbying session during the afternoon, led by former lobbyist and congressional aide Stephanie Vance, Advocacy Associates, LLC, will offer library advocates hands-on exercises, role-play, and ways to effectively lobby decision makers in Congress. 

 

Speakers include Gail Dysleski, Past-President, New Jersey Library Trustee Association; Susan J. Schmidt, Past-President, Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA) and Past-President, Friends of the Library, Montgomery County (Md.); Mary Baykan, Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year 2007; Carol A. Brey-Casiano, Chair, Library Advocacy Now! Subcommittee, 2004-2005 ALA Past-President; Sally Reed, Chair, Advocacy Institute Task Force, Executive Director, FOLUSA; Keith Michael Fiels, Executive Director, ALA; and Marci Merola, ALA Advocacy Specialist. During the lunch hour, attendees will be able to network with their fellow advocates. U.S. Representative Chris Van Hollen (D – Md.) has been invited to speak.

 

The on-site registration fee is $50, payable in cash, major credit card, or personal check. If you anticipate registering on-site, please email advocacy@ala.org to reserve a box lunch.

 

The Advocacy Institute is co-sponsored by the Maryland Library Association, the Delaware Library Association, the Virginia Library Association and the District of Columbia Library Association; and is coordinated by the Advocacy Institute Task Force of the ALA Public Awareness Committee in cooperation with the Association for Library Trustees and Advocates (ALTA), the Chapter Relations Committee, the Committee on Legislation, and Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA). For more information, visit www.ala.org/advocacyinstitute.

 

The Advocacy Institute is made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation. For more information, visit www.fordfound.org.