Music Library Advocacy Committee Annual Report 2019

submitted by Linda Fairtile

Current Roster

  • Stephanie Bonjack (2023)
  • Linda Fairtile, chair (2023)
  • Michelle Hahn, ex officio as Newsletter Editor
  • Amy Hunsaker (2022)
  • Steve Landstreet (2021)
  • Casey Mullin (2022)
  • Lisa Shiota, ex officio as Publicity & Outreach Officer
  • Laura Thompson (2021)

List of Previous Goals and Progress Made

As a newly formed committee, we don’t have previous goals.  However, at our first face-to-face meeting in
February 2019 we established three themes to guide our work for the next several
months:

1. Advocacy through discovery: Help new users discover what a music library can
offer them, and help returning users discover library resources

  • Shared an infographic, created by a committee member, that promotes library resources, and which can be adapted to local situations.

2. Sharing of Advocacy Resources:

  • Committee members created an
    18-slide PowerPoint presentation, titled “Music Librarianship and MLA,” that local chapters
    can adapt to introduce MLA and the music library profession to their state library associations. 
  • Laid the groundwork for an advocacy website that facilitates discussion and enables creation and sharing of relevant resources.  After consulting with Katie Buehner and Kathleen DeLaurenti we decided to create a Music Library Advocacy group on Humanities Commons.

3. Collaboration:

  • Identified selected professional organizations to serve as models and potential partners in our advocacy efforts.

List of Future Goals

  1. Build and promote the Music Library Advocacy group site on Humanities Commons: this goal helps advance the Strategic Plan’s membership goal areas, increasing outreach to members from underrepresented groups and to organizations that are underrepresented.
    • Collect, share, and promote the creation of advocacy resources, including those targeting issues of concern to underrepresented groups and organizations.  Public libraries will be a special focus this year.
    • Facilitate discussion of advocacy issues
    • Identify additional venues to promote the Music Library Advocacy group site in order to reach underrepresented groups and organizations.
  2. Monitor the advocacy activities of selected professional organizations, identifying areas of potential collaboration: this goal helps to advance the Strategic Plan’s organizational excellence goal by seeking to pursue joint ventures with other organizations.
    • assign individual committee members to report on the advocacy activities of one or more selected organizations, focusing on areas for potential collaboration.