As outlined in section 4.1,
there are many benefits of having an active legislative committee
within your chapter. Best of all, it's easy to get started! Here are
some guidelines to help you get your committee off the ground. If your
chapter already has a legislative committee, please skip to section 4.3.
1. Identify your core group of advocates
First, you'll want to enlist a few dedicated members interested in
taking a proactive role for the chapter on policy issues to join the
committee. If your chapter includes several states, try to include
representatives from each state on the committee. This will allow you
to stay informed about what's happening in each state and respond more
effectively when legislative issues arise.It will also help the AALL
Government Relations Committee and Government Relations Office to have
people in each state keeping an eye on local issues and to let us know
when legislative issues, good or bad, arise. Once you've established
the members of the committee, determine who will chair the committee.
2. Develop Your Committee's Charge
You should develop your committee's charge to reflect the role your
committee will play within your chapter. For an example, see this document
from the Northern California Association of Law Libraries' (NOCALL)
Government Relations Committee. Remember to be forward-thinking,
because you'll want your chapter's legislative committee to become a
permanent committee within your chapter for years to come!
3. Develop Your Committee's Policies and Procedures
After you establish a core group of advocates, you should do some
brainstorming about the goals and objectives of your new committee. How
will you best achieve those goals? Develop policies and procedures
that will help you take effective action as a committee. Feel free to contact Emily Feldman for guidance.
4. Develop Your Chapter's Government Relations Policy
We also recommend that you draft a chapter Government Relations
Policy which can help guide your committee in addressing important
policy issues. For an example of a chapter Government Relations Policy,
see the Southeastern Chapter of the American Association of Law
Libraries' (SEAALL) Government Relations Policy. You may also want to refer to the AALL Government Relations Policy for ideas.
The Government Relations Policy should outline the core issues that
your committee will address on the state and federal levels, while
staying broad enough to incorporate new issues as they arise in the
future. Some of the core issues for law libraries on the state level
include:
- Funding for state, court, and county law libraries
- Elimination of print legal resources in favor of online-only
- Digital authentication and preservation of online legal resources
- State depository library program
- Freedom of information
- Privacy
As you draft your Government Relations Policy, you may want to incorporate the Principles and Core Values Concerning Public Information on Government Web Sites
developed by the AALL Access to Electronic Legal Information
Committee. The Principles recommend policies on accessibility,
reliability, official status, comprehensiveness, and preservation. In
2007, the AALL Executive Board adopted the Principles and they were subsequently incorporated into the AALL Government Relations Policy.
5. Develop a Strategic Plan
You strategic plan should reflect the goals of your committee
and should articulate the ways in which you will reach those goals. For
a good example of a strategic plan, see the LLAM Strategic Plan 2007-2012 .