July/August 2018 393 C&RL News

Kathi Kromer is associate executive director at ALA’s 
Washington Office, email: kkromer@alawash.org

W a s h i n g t o n  H o t l i n eKathi Kromer

Year-round advocacy
Every month, staff in ALA’s Washington office 
have a chance to share news from the Capitol 
in this column for C&RL News. Rarely is the 
Washington Hotline news “hot” by the time it 
reaches your inbox or mailbox. You’ll find the 
hottest news by following our blog, District-
Dispatch.org, and signing up for ALA’s action 
center. 

Hot or not, it’s important to us to keep 
ALA members informed. As with writing 
research papers, cramming is not a success-
ful advocacy strategy in the long term. The 
most impactful advocacy comes from year-
round engagement with issues that impact 
libraries, library workers, and the people 
we serve—and with the elected leaders who 
make decisions. 

Over the past year that I’ve been at ALA, 
library advocates have seen many years of la-
bor come to fruition. With respect to govern-
ment information, libraries have scored some 
major wins. For the first time, Congressional 
Research Service reports will be made avail-
able free and online to the public, starting 
this fall. Thanks to significant input from the 
library community, we are well on our way 
toward modernizing the Federal Depository 
Library Program. Both of these gains are the 
result of nearly 20 years’ worth of advocacy.   

Another outstanding example is the Mar-
rakesh Treaty Implementation Act, which 
received unanimous approval of the Senate 
Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees and 
now awaits a full Senate vote. The treaty will 

permit the import and export of accessible 
materials for people who are print disabled. 
Libraries negotiated with other stakeholders 
for years before coming to a consensus, but 
our commitment paid off in strong bipartisan 
support, and millions of people around the 
world will benefit. 

I’ve seen that when library advocates 
speak, elected leaders and their staff listen. 
They know that your voices represent the 
interests of entire communities. You have 
a platform at your library and through your 
institution’s communications that can help 
shape the opinions of thousands of voters, 
who see you as a uniquely credible source 
of information.  

Members of Congress and their staff 
place a high value on groups and citizens 
who have built relationships with them, and 
you are in the perfect position to establish 
and cultivate those relationships. We in the 
Washington Office urge you, just as this year’s 
National Library Legislative Day participants 
did, to invite your members of Congress or 
their staff members to visit your library. Show 
them the difference your library makes in the 
lives of your users, their constituents. Share 
and demonstrate the knowledge and experi-
ence you have that can contribute to better 
public policy.

ALA’s public policy office in Washington, 
D.C., is here to serve as a resource to you. 
We will continue to provide you information 
about advocating for specific issues at times 
when your advocacy will have the most 
impact. We are also working to provide a 
comprehensive strategy for year-round ad-
vocacy and to support you in taking the first 
steps toward building relationships with your 
decision-makers. 

mailto:kkromer%40alawash.org?subject=