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Turning the Page

Building Your Library Community

In June 2007, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded PLA a three year, $7.7 million grant to develop and provide a national advocacy training program for Opportunity Online hardware grantees. PLA’s access to world-class library experts and trainers, its commitment to public library advocacy, and its reach across the public library world made it an appropriate organization to manage the development and implementation of this training.

The program is offered in-person and online to librarians, library staff, and library supporters who belong to a public library system that has received an Opportunity Online hardware grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The training is designed to equip librarians and library supporters with the skills, confidence, and resources they need to create community partnerships, build alliances with local and regional decision makers, and ultimately increase funding for their libraries.

The training for grantees is being executed in three rounds. Round one included seven in-person Turning the Page events; round two included five. During round one and two, more than 2,000 librarians, library staff, and supporters participated in Turning the Page training, both online and in-person. Round three will begin in fall 2009.

PLA Members: Attend Turning the Page

While the training is generally only offered to Opportunity Online hardware grantees, there are two special opportunities for PLA members to experience the training. PLA members can attend Turning the Page as a two-day workshop at the 2009 PLA Spring Symposium, April 2-4, 2009. The advocacy training will be offered free-of-charge to the first 200 PLA members who register. Register now for Turning the Page via Spring Symposium.

An additional opportunity will be available to PLA members who would like to participate in Turning the Page as a two-day preconference during the 2010 PLA National Conference in Portland, Ore. More information regarding the 2010 PLA National Conference and the Turning the Page preconference will be available later in the year.