Advocacy is hard

*Note, I wrote this over 12 months ago but couldn’t bring myself to post it.

As I write this I’m shaking, just a little. And wondering if I did the right thing. Will I regret it? Isn’t it just better to keep my head down?

I’ve just emailed our school’s leadership team. I’ve included an update about the junior library and our annual report. Sending these emails is an important way to let leadership know about what exactly the library does. But it’s also hard. Advocacy is hard. Sometimes it’s scary and challenging and risky. I often talk about advocacy and how important it is for promoting and securing the future of school libraries but I think I neglect to talk about how hard it is. So let’s talk.

What is advocacy

Advocacy is support for a cause. Advocacy seeks to change someone’s mind about that cause, to prompt them to take action for that cause. Advocates of the school library can be anyone, parents, students, staff, wider community members, external school library associations, but more often it is school library staff themselves who must garner support for the school library. And that’s a lot of pressure on someone, especially when they are also having to advocate for their own role. There are not many professions who have to do that. And when you are in a vulnerable position, it can be even harder.

Some advocacy leaves me stressed, worried, shaken and drained of energy. It keeps me up at night, sleepless with worry and running things through my head over and over. It leaves me overthinking every interaction I have. I think it’s important, vitally so, in our roles, but I think it’s also important for us to recognise the cost. We celebrate the advocates in our profession, but do we fully recognise those who have been overcome by the fight, who very rightly had to choose their family, life or health over that fight. And do we fully support those in our profession through the process.

Different types of advocacy

I believe there are many different types of advocacy. Each has a different core focus and practical application, and are best used in different situations. They are everyday advocacy, outreach, strategic, collaborative, growth, protective and crisis advocacy.

I’ve found it helpful to define these advocacy actions, unpack what they are and when to best use them, to help me understand why some advocacy is so utterly draining.

Of course, protective and crisis advocacy are often when we find ourselves in the most challenging of situations. Protective advocacy might involved book challenges, reduction of the library space, staff, budget, resources, a catastrophic event, misunderstanding of a role or service or gradual erosion of time and access. Advocating in these situations can have massive detrimental costs to our health and wellbeing. But any form of advocacy can be stressful and draining and I think it’s important to recognise that.

We advocate every day in our spaces and services by the way we interact with people, and respond to requests. Read more on Everyday advocacy  here.

Outreach advocacy might seem the most familiar, putting up posters or sharing bookmarks about the importance of the school library or the work of campaigns. It might include adding articles in the school newsletter, attending information evenings or speaking at staff meetings.

Collaborative and strategic advocacy can be exciting, helping to open doors and new opportunities. The joy and excitement of strategically advocating with a receptive and caring leader is nothing short of amazing, one of the best experiences of my career. To be able to turn things around, garner support, demonstrate why the library is relevant and needed and increase resources, staffing and recognition is such a pleasure. But it cannot be done without a receptive audience. Nor is it without large amounts of energy and bravery. It’s not easy to test the waters and put things out there in the hopes it lands and be warmly received. Growth advocacy, where you are advocating to increase resources, time, access, funds, staffing, events, or programming, equally is also an incredible opportunity, exciting and rewarding, but it too takes a lot of energy and work as you put proposals and grants together, put your ideas forward or make requests. Plus you have to be prepared for when you are met with ‘nos’ or ‘not yets’.

And of course, being met with silence or a lack of interest can be so disheartening, so unnerving. I’d honestly rather a rebuke than silence sometimes. We can’t assume leadership is not supportive in these situations, but when there are actions that are threatening to the library’s space, staffing, resources or recognition of it or its staff’s role, each action (or lack of it) chips away at the library’s core purpose. This can be one of the toughest situations to advocate through because you have a dilemma – how much do you speak up, in what way, what will have the best impact, if you speak up will you risk turning it into a crisis situation or make things worse? Equally, all is not lost. There is hope, hope of receptive ears and positive change to be had. But navigating these situations can be exhausting and with certain leadership, nothing you do will make the slightest bit of difference.

And then consider times of crisis. The community targeting librarians over book bans, a principal closing the library, removing some or all library staff, the space being used for something else or budgets being wiped out entirely. In these advocacy situations, it’s ride or die. You have a choice, stay and fight or find a safer place elsewhere. Honestly, that situation depends on your own circumstances and just how much stress you can handle or want to take on.

So, advocacy. Necessary and important and such an incredible opportunity and a skill all library staff need. But also draining, exhausting, scary, daunting, and never-ending.

This is just a reflection piece. Something I wrote to help process my own ongoing journey. It doesn’t assume to have the answers, because I do not. (I can recommend a good book on burnout though). But I think we need to have more conversations like this. And I’m keen to learn more and talk more about advocacy, advocacy that is sustainable and advocacy that recognised the work that is required.