EveryLibrary Institute
https://www.lafcon.org/?fbclid=IwAR2hldJC2vWKlWlI1J2EGdA-7LJKxpAKB0vkr4T6339zStlV4MFSX8mrTh0
Library Advocacy and Funding Conference
The world’s largest virtual conference dedicated to library advocacy and funding! Join us September 14-16th
The library industry is under threat from a number of major crises simultaneously during these uncertain times, particularly the loss of financial and voter support. The COVID-19 crisis has decimated the fundamental municipal tax base that funds school and public libraries. Even libraries that were doing well before the crisis may be facing new challenges. Without community support, libraries will continue to drastically lose funding in the coming years.
Unfortunately, libraries have lost nearly 20% of voter and political support for funding and revenue in the last 10 years. A reasonable response to this loss would be to double down on outreach to library users, but according to research from OCLC, library use does not always translate to voter support. We also know that while people like libraries as much as they have before, they are less likely to vote for them. This means that we need a paradigm shift in the way that we are doing our advocacy and marketing in our communities. We need to learn from some of the largest and most successful cause-related and fundraising organizations if we want libraries to continue to thrive. That’s why we built this conference around experts who can help libraries build support for local funding.