Help for Your Friends, Stakeholders, Board Members...

American librarians: Do you know if any of your stakeholders are members of ALTAFF? Do they even know about it? 

ALTAFF, the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, has been around for many years. Its name described what it did, but was long and difficult to remember. So earlier this year, ALTAFF members voted to change the organization’s title to “United for Libraries: the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations.”

So that's the news part -- you can now refer to this division of ALA as United for Libraries. 

But here's the important part -- you should urge all your board members, trustees, Friends, volunteers, fundraisers, foundation members, and other stakeholders to join United for Libraries. Why? Organization president Donna McDonald summed up the reasons perfectly:

“Those who support, govern, and raise money for libraries many times work independently, often reinventing the wheel in every city and town.” 

She continued (in American Libraries magazine), “Our name change mirrors the work this important division of ALA does – that is, uniting the voices of library lovers everywhere to strengthen, support, share best practices, and to ensure that libraries of all types thrive.”

As library promoters know, nobody has as much time as they need, plus there's strength in numbers. Everyone who works on behalf of your library will have access to resources, like-minded people to talk to, and ideas to work with if they join United for Libraries.