EP 347 - Library Advocacy Support with John Chrastka of EveryLibrary

Mark interviews John Chrastka, the executive director of EveryLibrary, the first nationwide political action committee for libraries, and the EveryLibrary Institute, a nonprofit research and training organization focused on the future of library funding.

Prior to the interview, Mark shares a personal update, reads comments from recent episodes, and says a word about this episode's sponsor.

This episode is sponsored by An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries and Bookstores.

You can get the book online, order it through your local bookstore, or ask for it as your local library.

Universal Book Link

Smashwords Link (Coupon Discount for Feb/March 2024)

In the interview, Mark and John talk about:

• John starting off his career in publishing as a bookseller in a small neighborhood Chicago community bookstore, and how that led to becoming a publishing sales rep
• Migrating over to the Ed-Tech realm as the internet came around
• Moving on over to The American Library Association from there
• What EveryLibrary is: a 501(c)(4) organization that is a political action committee for libraries
• How it's more of a network than a membership that is about 330,000 people strong
• Telling stories about how libraries are solutions to problems for people and librarians as enactors of those solutions
• In about 37 states, public libraries actually have to go to election days to get their funding secured
• The four different ways that voters stratify:
  • Believers - People who love the library and have a relationship with their library (25%)
  • Questioners
  • Suspicious Voters
  • Never Gonna Vote for you Never (22 to 25%)
• The answer for people who question the value of a local library because they "don't do books"
• How the library as a source for reading grew from 19% to 24% during the pandemic and the way that percentage is continue to hold in 2024
• The way that the isolating of society is not just a library issue but a public health issue
• The popularity of book banning in the United States in recent years and the fact that it's easier to censor a book than it is to attack a person or a population
• How this censorship and book banning isn't merely a matter of freedom of speech issue, but a matter of human rights
• The pernicious nature of using the term "obscenity" and "obscene" to criminalize particular pupulations and to help skirt around First Amendment rights
• How libraries are an affordable way to put tax dollars to good use in the way they provide so much to their local communities
• The multiple pathways they have to help people move from "aware" to "active"
• And more . . .

After the interview Mark reflects on how books are being banned and censored as an underhanded way to strike at specific demographics and populations, and the value in focusing on the "Suspicious Voters" as a brilliant strategy.

Links of Interest:

• EveryLibrary
• fightforthefirst.org
• Canadian Federation of Library Associations
• Canadian Library Association
• Ontario Library Association
• Canadian Urban Libraries Council
• Superstars Writing Seminars
• Author, Author (Indie Bookseller - Laura Hayden)
  • EP 167 - Author, Author, Give Me The News: Bookseller Insights with Laura Hayden
• Fantasy Island (TV Show)
• An Author's Guide to Working With Bookstores and Libraries
  • Smashwords Link (eBook 57% Off until end of Feb 2024)