Evidence-Based Communication, Awareness Raising & Advocacy for Libraries

1. Evidence-Based Communication, Awareness Raising & Advocacy for Libraries By Kaspars Rūklis/ Latvia

2. Communication, Awareness Raising and Advocacy Target Audiences vs Partnerships

3. Session Goals • Defining communication, awareness raising and advocacy for libraries • Learning to develop advocacy goal for solving your library’s problem / perception problem • Learning to distinguish between target audiences and partnerships

4. What we mean by: • Communication = skills of communication and presentation (interpersonal and public) • Awareness Raising = content & techniques for general audiences • Advocacy = content & techniques for decision maker audiences

5. Why Libraries? • Libraries are potential engine for social and economic change • Public libraries are trusted local organization with access to information, that can power economic opportunities and community development • Libraries are important local assets that can provide access to information and technology to everyone, free of charge

6. Why all this? Why Libraries?

7. Process Kaspars Rūklis "Opinion Leaders:

8. Activities • Outreach • Awareness Raising • Public Relations • Media Relations

9. Example: Library Image

10. Activities • Marketing • Branding • Advocacy

11. Example: Love Both Ways

12. What is Advocacy Goal? • Advocacy Goal is the specific action a library wants people to take to help solve a problem the library faces.

13. Developing Advocacy Goal • Problem / Challenge  • Solution  • Advocacy Goal

14. Example Problem  Libraries do not have computers for public use and slow internet connection speed Solution  Public internet access established as core service; funding for new computers, software and internet speed update is allocated Advocacy Goal  To have local municipality establish internet access in libraries as a core service and allocate continued funding for new hardware, software and internet speed updates X schillings per year

15. Exercise • Develop advocacy goal for your project, based on your project outcomes • Present the goal to the audience • ARG presents their plan

16. What is Target Audience? • Target Audience (for advocacy) refers to a person or group of people that can help bring about the changes to policies, funding, or partnerships that a public library needs to meets its advocacy goal.

17. Target Audience for Advocacy • Decision makers, such as a mayor or member of the City Council and • People, who can influence the decision makers

18. What is a Partnership? • Library partnerships are relationships that provide mutual benefit for both the library and the partner. Image from Latvia Advocacy Training Presentation

19. Existing and New Partners • Who are your existing partners? • Who are the individuals and organizations you have never approached to discuss library partnership but who you think would be interesting partners?

20. Exercise • Determining target audiences and partners • Presenting them and dividing them up (well-poor informed, positive-not so positive attitude towards the library)

21. Linking Impact and Advocacy Use of Perception Study Data

22. Session Goals • Determining the connection and ties between Impact Assessment Data and Advocacy • Finding ways to use this data in real advocacy efforts

23. Steps Government policies Community needs ICT tools and resources Impact / outcome assessment Innovative service Partners Advocacy activities …. more funding for libraries Social and economic change Source: Monika Elbert, EIFL

24. Libraries and Communities From telling WHATlibraries provide, to proving HOWlibraries change the lives of individuals and the community Source: Monika Elbert, EIFL

25. What to Measure? Activities –number of tasks which must be completed to achieve result e.g. training, events, services installed Outputs - immediate countable result of a activities e.g. number of sessions organized, number of people trained Impact, or changes resulting from the activity e.g. increased income, improved employment prospects, better health or crops.. Inputs - something that is put in to achieve result e.g. number of staff, computers OUTCOME MAP Source: Monika Elbert, EIFL

26. Example - EIYE Inputs – 15 PCs, 3 printers, etc Activities – training courses, setting up a database Outputs – 300 youth trained as trainers; up to 700 trained Outcomes – ?? XX found jobs? x% reduction in loitering and drug taking? Source: Monika Elbert, EIFL

27. Linking Impact and Advocacy • Evidence of impact is more convincing to stakeholders than statistics alone • Advocacy needs robust data and well documented stories in order to be credible and trustworthy • Evidence of impact helps sustain momentum, funding, and political support, when well communicated (targeted advocacy) Source: Monika Elbert, EIFL

28. Example: Advocacy + Impact

29. Group Discussion • How did you find out your community needs? • What data (if any) was collected? • What impact should be measured and for whom is this data intented?

30. Library Perception Data Library success Stories

31. Session Goals • Identify survey data to be used for library awareness raising, communication and advocacy • Identify “soft” data, like success stories, to be used for library awareness raising, communication and advocacy • Review the findings of EIFL’s Library Perception Study and think of potential uses of the data

32. Library Data By understanding what your target audience thinks and feels you can determine the best way to approach and connect with your target audiences to encourage their involvement for support of libraries

33. Data • Quantitative data = numbers • Qualitative data = stories

34. Data • Statistics • Surveys • Interviews, focus groups • Analysis of documents, reports, media stories • Case studies • In the form of text, photos, film, audio, etc.

35. Example: Hans Rosling

36. Perception Study – Ghana • Over 70% of people interviewed perceive public libraries as spaces for books and study rather than as dynamic institutions focused on community development needs.

37. Perception Study – Ghana • There is agreement that two of the major challenges facing public libraries are lack of funding and technology. This agreement, coupled with positive feeling toward public libraries, presents fertile ground for advocacy for support to modernize public libraries, to expand and diversify public library services, and to secure their future sustainability.

38. Perception Study – Ghana • A typical user is likely to be a young single male from a middle class background aged between 16 and 30.   72% of users are men.   95% are aged between 16 and 30.   80% are students.   Only 28% of library users are women.

39. Perception Study – Ghana • Library technology services and librarians’ skills to provide them are limited. •   Only 10% of users are using computers or the Internet in public libraries in Ghana. •   Just under 60% of libraries have computers, but these are mainly for the operations of the library and not for • users. Only 24% of libraries surveyed have computers for users.   • A significant number of librarians (37%) feel they do not have sufficient technology skills to offer ICT-related services and computer training.

40. Perception Study – Ghana • Library technology services and librarians’ skills to provide them are limited. • There is wide recognition that public libraries can provide services ranging from culture to community development. • Libraries need more funding.

41. Example: Never Say Never

42. Exercise • Choose one outcome from your project (outcome maps) • Discuss with your project team what data can you use for communication and in advocacy • Put one data piece on a separate small sheet of paper • Afterwards present it to the whole group and determine target audiences for each

43. Library Messages & Stories Great messages = compelling stories

44. Session Goals • Identify the connections between library data and advocacy content • Get tips for crafting messages and putting together library stories

45. What is Key Advocacy Message? • Key Advocacy Message is a strong, effective message that can provide people outside of the library with a clear understanding of the library’s advocacy goal and a way to help the library reach that goal.

46. Message Message is a core statement that explains in a nutshell: • Your problem • Your goal • Why your audience should care • What your audience can do to help

47. Effective Messages Image from EIFL Message Toolkit

48. Exercise • Work in small groups • Discuss your target audience and three possible messages to be used in advocacy • Present messages to the whole group

49. Library Stories • Library factual story • Library narrative story Images from Latvia Advocacy Training Presentation

50. Library Stories • Library inspirational story • Integrated library story Images from Latvia Advocacy Training Presentation