GOALS

1. Legislation and Funding: The people of Wisconsin shall adequately fund their libraries and will benefit from legislation passed strengthening library and information services.

Activities/Things the WLA Board Discussed for This Goal:

• Toolkit to educate people about library funding issues:
  • See PLA Toolkit as example
  • Schmooze training, scripts, canned pitches, elevator speech
  • Coordinated postcard campaign
  • New legislator (or any elected official) contact package/program
  • visuals to communicate our message (graphically appealing)
• Effective messages about conduit
• Effective connections to the resources of the Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries (such as blog or "share story" element of Campaign website)

2. Public Information: Wisconsin residents acknowledge libraries as vital community and information resource centers that provide services relevant to their changing needs.

Activities/Things the WLA Board Discussed for This Goal:

• Uber-website or clearinghouse for statewide library stuff
  • Directories, promotions, BadgerLink
  • Campaign for Wisconsin Libraries (CFWL) (including more images of librarians and their roles and images)
  • DLTCL, WPLC, WiLS, "Speak Up for Your Library" Campaign (an uber-website could be an umbrella that includes, and distinguishes between, any statewide SUFYL effort & CFWL)
  • Demographic resources to help librarians in their jobs (e.g., immigration stats, school district data)
  • Open forum discussion opportunities or tools
• Billboards (CFWL)
• Speakers Bureau and speakers training
• Value of Libraries & Librarians (economic engine)

Comment: Discussion about respective roles of WLA and WLAF led to tentative distinction that WLA would promote how to use libraries, while WLAF would promote how to support libraries.

3. Leadership and Professional Growth: Library and information staff shall find pertinent opportunities for leadership development and professional growth.

Activities/Things the WLA Board Discussed for This Goal:

• Uber website
  • Best practices
  • Job information
    • The board discussed the difficulty of doing this well (need money, time, and people) and that we would need to pick topics that clearly relate to the WLA's mission. There are existing websites with this type of information (Web Junction, for example.
• Web 2.0
  • For meetings, sharing resources: MATS could help WLA incorporate these technologies.
• Expand WeLead
• “Welcome Wagon”
  • For new members and SLIS or SOIS graduates: get the WLA message out to library directors via systems and units so they can give the information to their new hires or grads.
• Leadership retreat or Leadership class
  • Teach practical skills: use existing models like Leadership of Greater Madison or the Ohio Library Council’s leadership program; could be part of the leadership retreat (#2 above) or the annual leadership conference for incoming WLA leaders; could also add more to annual conference on this topic; use business schools or vendors’ HR departments to create curriculum; hold the classes in various parts of the state; could be offered to systems for a fee as part of their continuing education efforts; should include some information on parliamentary procedures; should be a way of identifying potential leaders/nomination procedure.

4. Open Access: The people of Wisconsin shall have the broadest possible access to information resources and materials.

Activities/Things the WLA Board Discussed for This Goal:

• Support federal and state efforts for publication of publicly-funded research
  • WAAL, GIRT and/or medical librarians could work on this.
• Issue a statewide library card
  • WAPL could tackle this one.
• Library services for all (OSRT)
  • Serving special populations
• Encourage BadgerLink funding (LD&L, all units, WEMA)
• Support intellectual freedom principles

**5. Qualified and Diverse Library Staff: The people of Wisconsin will be served by well-qualified library and information services staff from diverse backgrounds.

• Depict diversity visually (librarians of color)
• Encourage participation of retired members (ask how they'd like to help, increase communication to them, find out who is retiring)
• WeLead - additional efforts
• WLA leadership (executive director and president) meet with deans of WI library schools to encourage or formalize partnership (are faculty involved in WLA?)
• Diversity training - support any library school efforts and continue communications with CUWL Diversity Task Force; article in newsletter highlighting REFORMA and ALA's diversity efforts and materials
• Career fairs (high school and college and even middle schools) provide a kit to members when they present at a fair; career brochures (some already exist at the national level)
• Encourage current non-MLS library workers of diverse backgrounds to become librarians/WLA members
• Encourage participation of students at unit and main conferences; discount on registration if you bring a student
• Do better serving our members outside the Madison-Milwaukee area (geographic diversity), either in person or using technology; coordinate with public library systems to produce traveling road shows or one-day workshops, CE opportunities; less rotation of annual conference along with small events that are more geographically diverse - WLA could act as a conduit to distribute already existing CE activities
• Encourage members to share (via workshops, web site, newsletter) their existing programs that reach out to their diverse communities
• Figure out a way to search only library web sites for cool stuff (library search engine)