Advocacy, Legislation & Issues

Resources for Intellectual Freedom Challenges
ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom has a wealth of resources to support libraries preparing for or experiencing challenges. Unite Against Book Bans is ALA's national initiative to empower readers everywhere to stand together in the fight against censorship.

In addition to these free resources, the PLA Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships Committee has compiled a list of additional resources, specifically relevant to public libraries.

Advocacy
Advocacy, the process of acting on behalf of the public library to increase public funds and ensure that it has the resources needed to be up to date, is critical to the success of libraries. Through tools, training, and education, PLA is committed to providing you with information and resources to help you become an even better advocate for your library.

2020 Census
To best position libraries to support our communities in the 2020 U.S. Census, PLA and ALA are engaging with the Census Bureau and other stakeholders to ensure that libraries are informed and represented in the policy discussions and planning process.

Digital Literacy
Community members come into public libraries every day, hoping to complete life tasks many of us take for granted, but lacking the basic computer skills to accomplish them. Through its digital literacy efforts, PLA supports its members to turn their libraries into digital literacy learning centers.

Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice
PLA advocates for equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice in order to enable every member, library, and community group to fully and equally participate in a society mutually shaped to meet their needs.

Family Engagement
Family engagement is a shared responsibility among families, educators, and communities to support children’s learning and development. PLA’s work on family engagement will help libraries serve families of all types with children of all ages.

Health Literacy, Programming, and Consumer Health Information
Access to current and reliable health information is imperative for the well-being of all Americans, and public libraries are frequently a "go-to" resource as people navigate complex issues of health care, insurance, aging, and more.

PLA Resources on COVID-19
The PLA Board of Directors and staff are committed to providing information on the rapidly-evolving situation with COVID-19 to PLA members. We have compiled some information to consider as your library, community, and family respond to the crisis. If you have information you think would be helpful to add, please email pla@ala.org.

Workforce Development
From connecting job seekers with employers, to educating and advancing the work of the next generation of entrepreneurs, libraries are established centers for learning and advancement. PLA’s advocacy and programming help libraries nationwide respond to these critical community needs strengthened workforce collaborations and expanded services.