Relationships Are Not Optional: Advocacy at PLA 2026

At the 2026 PLA Conference, one message resonated across the advocacy sessions: librarians are not alone. Building relationships is the most important tool in the work ahead.

We Get to Set the Course

“Advocacy at the Core of ALA’s Next 150 Years” featured ALA President Sam Helmick, President-Elect Maria McCauley, Executive Director Dan Montgomery, and Lisa Varga of ALA’s Washington Office discussing national advocacy priorities. One key takeaway was the distinction between mobilizing, organizing, and advocating. Mobilizing is acting on a cause, organizing is changing hearts and minds, and advocating is communicating the library’s needs. All three are necessary as libraries respond to the approximately sixty adverse bills under consideration, including those related to censorship and penalties for library workers.

While that number may seem daunting, librarians have a professional responsibility to defend intellectual freedom. Libraries and education are often early targets. After books, funding and institutions can follow. Yet, as the presenters emphasized, libraries are community anchors. Conversations with community members are one of the most powerful tools in responding to these challenges because how we serve people is the foundation of our story. As Montgomery said, “it is a privilege to be us now. We get to set the course.”

We Can Find Common Ground

Practical strategies for that work were shared in “Advocacy Strategies for Getting Things Done,” presented by experienced advocates from across Oklahoma: Lisa Wells, Amanda Kordeliski, Tim Miller, Gail Oehler, and Kelly Sitzman. Their core message was to build relationships across ideological lines. Research your legislators. Frame your library’s story using language that resonates with them. Ask what they are reading, learn their interests, and connect those interests to how the library serves them.

Equally important is building relationships with staffers, who often control access to legislators. In Oklahoma, advocates even bring pie to the capitol on library legislation day, creating a memorable and welcoming point of connection. Alongside these visits, they share concise “leave-behind” materials with key messages. Consistency matters. Messaging should use common language across library types, since legislators may not distinguish between them. We are stronger when we advocate together, especially as legislation aimed at one type of library can quickly expand to others.

We Must Nurture Our Ecosystem

This idea of collective strength was expanded in “Stronger Together: Building Advocacy Networks with ALA’s Ecosystem Toolkit,” presented by Nanette Donohue, Matthew Tessmer, Amanda Sand, and Naphtali Faris. Grounded in the book Strengthening Library Ecosystems: Collaborate for Advocacy and Impact, the session emphasized that no library exists in isolation.

There are four pillars to building strong cross-library relationships: leadership, collaboration, communication, and sustainability. These pillars help ensure that connections, messaging, and resources are intentional and equitable. Building a strong network means including everyone and recognizing that when one part of the ecosystem is affected, all are impacted.

We Are Not Alone

These sessions reinforced that while advocacy work can feel difficult, librarians are not alone. As a new advocate, this was an essential message for me to hear as I begin building relationships within the broader library community. The work ahead is challenging, but it is shared, and that makes all the difference.