Former Speaker of the House Thomas "Tip" O'Neill is famous for the
phrase, "All politics is local." The AALL Government Relations Office
strongly believes that getting the participation of our members and
chapters is essential to our success. While your Government Relations
Office staff work hard to advance the policy goals of AALL, it is
you
who has the power to convince your lawmaker of the importance of law
libraries to your community and the Nation. By speaking up for law
libraries and taking action when it's needed, you'll become an
important member of our Advocacy Team. All it takes is a little
know-how and the willingness to speak up on issues that affect our
profession.
The Government Relations Office makes it easy for you learn about
the issues on our agenda and to get involved. By reading our monthly publications and signing up for the Advocacy Listserv and the Washington Blawg, you'll stay on top of the latest updates and news from our office.
When an issue arises that may significantly affect law libraries, we
may ask you to take action in support or opposition. This may be in
the form of writing an individual letter or email to your
representative, making a phone call, or setting up a meeting in your
legislator's district office. We'll provide you with the background
information, talking points, and how to go about taking action.
We also ask chapters to send letters to Capitol Hill when important
issues come up. In this case, Advocacy Communications Assistant Emily
Feldman will write the letter for you and simply ask for edits,
approval, and signature, usually of the chapter President. When you
send it back to us, we'll hand deliver it to the Hill so it ends up in
the right hands. Please be aware that we don't overburden you with
action alerts, so when we release an alert, you'll know we really need your help!
By exercising your voice, you'll really make a difference. Several
recent examples illustrate the importance of your participation in our
efforts. Over the past couple of years, many AALL members spoke out on
the closures of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) libraries.
Members of Congress heard your concerns and several committees,
including the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee chaired by
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), held a series of oversight hearings. Seeing
the obvious need for these wonderful resources that EPA shut down,
Congress appropriated $1 million for EPA to reopen the libraries. The
five closed libraries in Dallas, Chicago, Kansas and Washington, D.C.
reopened on September 30, 2008. This would not have happened without
all of your calls and letters to members of Congress.