Building voter support for libraries

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Personal Assessment Worksheet

Goal: to provide you with a personal “script” for outreach and special events that is rooted in the community’s need for a stable and well funded library and is authentic to your own experience of the library.

Q1. Why is the library important to you, personally?

Q2. What is your favorite reason to use the library?

Q3. Who does the Library serve?

Q4. Why is the library important to those people?

Q5. What will new funding do to serve those communities?

Q6. Who is going to be uncomfortable with this initiative?

Community Assets Survey

Building voter support for libraries

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Question: What community groups do you belong to? List:

Question: Where do you live and where do you spend your time? List:

Question: Who do you know who knows everybody? List:

Question: Who are we missing?

List:

Allies and Endorsers Survey

Building voter support for libraries

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Goal: to identify allies and endorsers around the community who need to be reached by the library. We will ID Educational Partners, Social Welfare and Religious Partners, Governmental Partners, Civic Partners, Business Partners, and Politicians.

1. Educational Partners

Three Messages: Library as Partner; Library as Resource Extender; Library as Gap Filler

2. Social Welfare and Religious Partners

Three Messages: Library as Resource Extender; Library as Third Place; Library as Start Point

3. Governmental Partners

Three Messages: Library as Contact Place; Library as Info Point; Library in Common Cause

Building voter support for libraries

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4. Civic Partners

Three Messages: Library as Social Leveler; Library as Neutral Good; Library as [insert organizational cause the

library already champions]

5. Business Partners

Three Messages: Librarian as Business Reference Resource; Library as Training Space; Library as Retail Anchor

6. Politicians

Three Messages: Library as Good Governance; Library as Responsible with Budget; Library as [insert their pet project]

7. Media

The only message for the media is the campaign message