American Library Association to host Advocacy Institute at New Jersey Library Conference

Contact: Marci Merola


PR Specialist-Advocacy


312-280-2431


mmerola@ala.org

For Immediate Release


March 14, 2006

American Library Association to host Advocacy Institute at New Jersey Library Conference

CHICAGO – The American Library Association will host a regional Advocacy Institute at the New Jersey Library Association Conference on Monday, April 24, 2006, from 1 to 4:30 at the Ocean Place Conference Center in Long Branch, N.J.

“The Advocacy Institute is a great opportunity for New Jersey advocates to enhance their advocacy skills,” said Gail Dysleski, president, New Jersey Library Trustee Assn. and program coordinator. Attendees will learn strategies to successfully advocate for his or her library, including message development, lobbying basics and how to create coalitions with library professionals, trustees and Friends, and will leave with an action plan that they can implement in their libraries.

The Advocacy Institute is intended for the novice advocate as well as those who need a refresher course in fostering grassroots advocacy.

Speakers include ALA 2006–2007 President-Elect Leslie Burger of the Princeton (NJ) Public Library; Patricia Glass Schuman, president, Neal-Schuman Publishers and 1991–1992 ALA past-president; and Ismail Abdullahi, associate professor, North Carolina Central University, School of Library and Information Sciences and former faculty member at Clark-Atlanta University School of Library and Information Studies. Lynne Bradley, ALA d irector, Office of Government Relations , and Marci Merola, ALA advocacy specialist, will conduct a section on lobbying.

The Advocacy Institute is made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation. To learn more about the foundation, visit their Web site at
www.fordfound.org.

For more information, visit the American Library Association's advocacy Web site at
www.ala.org/issuesadvocacy.