Unlocking Possibilities

At a time when libraries are facing immense, unprecedented challenges—fiscal, logistical, institutional, existential—the role of library supporters has never been more critical.

These types of challenges were top of mind at United for Libraries (UFL) Virtual 2025, held in late July. Every year, UFL brings together trustees, foundation and Friends members, and those who work with them for a virtual conference to discuss the library advocacy landscape. It’s also a space to brainstorm practical solutions for rallying communities around key issues, such as intellectual freedom, equitable access, and sustainable business practices that contribute to a vibrant, sturdy future.

July’s event featured programs on governance, fundraising, relationship building, and storytelling. Many sessions focused on cultivating the library advocate, from preparing trustees to lead and communicating impact to funders to shaping the public narrative about why the library matters.

Relationships are everything

Trustees, as both governing officials and community representatives, can be powerful library advocates. They ensure that facilities are well run, are funded fairly, and align with community needs. But the trustee-library relationship is not immune from dysfunction, particularly when boards aren’t reflective of the communities they serve.

In the session “Why Is It Always a Battle? Concerns of Public Library Trustees in the United States,” Shannon Crawford Barniskis, assistant professor at University of Kentucky’s School of Information Science in Lexington and a former public librarian, presented the findings of her ongoing survey of public library trustees and the administrators who work with them.

The program’s title, Crawford Barniskis said, comes from an interview with an administrator who decried mutual distrust in the trustee-library relationship—an issue that pops up over and over in survey results.

“Why is that? Where are these gaps, and how can we fix them? That’s what this study is hoping to answer,” she said.

Crawford Barniskis noted that building trust and collaborating effectively don’t happen automatically; it’s a process that requires structured support on all sides. “What I’ve heard in these interviews is that those library directors who take time to meet trustees individually, take them to lunch, get to know them as people—those relationships do better. It’s really that simple.”

She encouraged libraries to consider their communities when selecting and working with boards. Demographically, surveyed trustees have skewed older, whiter, wealthier, and more female than national medians, leaving entire sectors without representation.

“People’s experiences aren’t interchangeable,” Crawford Barniskis said. “We want a diversity of voices to strengthen those community bonds, and we want them all tuned to the same station, serving the library and the community.”

Funders are listening

At “Let Your Impact Ring: Sharing Your Library’s Successes so Funders Will Listen,” a panel of library fundraising experts spoke about how to communicate with those who give—whether it’s foundations, corporations, Friends groups, or individuals—in a way that articulates the library’s value on a human level.

Tywanda L. Cuffy, director of external relations, communications, and development initiatives at University of Delaware’s Library, Museums, and Press office in Newark, offered practical tips for reaching and nurturing funders, from newsletters and social media marketing to annual impact reports and personalized outreach.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect or expensive,” Cuffy said. “You can take your phone and capture candid photos of something happening in real time, and sometimes those moments, without being so strategic, get amplified the most.”

She also highlighted the importance of intentional follow-up, after the money has been raised or the purchase has been made. A few years ago, for example, when Cuffy’s library was fundraising for new furniture, she shared photos of the furniture being delivered. These images visually communicated the gift’s importance beyond the dollar amount or number of users.

Skip Dye, senior vice president for library sales and digital strategy at Penguin Random House and 2018–2019 UFL president, underscored that storytelling shouldn’t start or end with data.

“The real reason we’re here, the reason that people donate or want to be part of your library, the reasons we fight so hard for funding is because fundamentally, we believe that libraries make lives much better,” Dye said. “So we need to be answering the question, not just what did we do, but who was changed? What barriers did we remove? What possibilities were unlocked? Because that’s what today’s funders are looking for.”

Good marketing feels personal

Before she joined the marketing team at Cincinnati and Hamilton County (Ohio) Public Library and later became a marketing and training consultant and blogger, Angela Hursh was an Emmy Award–winning TV journalist with a nose for what would capture public attention. She shared some of the qualities of a compelling narrative and the importance of emotional connection in “Library Storytelling: How to Find Memorable Library Stories to Use for Marketing and Promotion.”

First, put yourself in the shoes of the person you’re trying to reach, whether it’s a current or prospective patron, a journalist, or an elected official. “Think about how you personally interact with ads and signs and social media during the day,” Hursh said. “People tune out push promotions because they’re transactional, whereas storytelling is about authenticity.”

Every story should be timely, have a purpose, and, most importantly, involve real people with real experiences, Hursh said, such as a reluctant reader engaging with a summer reading program or someone taking advantage of library resources to land a job.

“That’s my favorite part of writing a story, because you’re connecting the character to the solution at the library,” she said.

Hursh talked about the first library story she shared as a marketer, about a 12-year-old who was giving a speech at school about public library funding. When he came to the library to research it and she heard him advocating for the library in his own words, she grabbed her camera and microphone and asked to record him.

“We showed the video at library board and staff meetings. We did a print version for our quarterly newsletter and shared sound bites on social media,” Hursh said. “After that, it was an avalanche of stories—all we needed was one good one under our belt.”

For more United for Libraries resources on advocacy, visit ala.org/united.