Toolkit

Reaching Out to Parents and Caregivers
• Visit your school’s Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). Tell members
about programs and events at your library and invite parents to stop by.
• Partner with PTO members for fundraisers and get a share of the proceeds
for library resources and student programs.
• Host a special reception with library tours for parents during parentteacher
night or School Library Month. Focus on the resources that make
their child’s school library experience so different from their own.
• Create and manage a school-wide tech night. Invite parents to the library
and have your tech director address parents’ questions and explain your
district’s Acceptable Use Policy.
• Sponsor regular family nights with storytelling, movies, and other
educational games and tools that turn learning into a family activity.
• Invite parents to participate as library aids or presenters in special programs
on careers, hobbies, cultural diversity, and the arts.
• Start a Friends of the School Library group to assist with advocacy,
fundraising, and other special projects. Forming a Friends group can
be a key strategy in raising awareness of the school library program’s
contributions and needs by engaging parents, school staff, and others in its
support. Starting a Friends group is an effective way to find and nurture a
core group of advocates in good times, as well as bad. To learn more, visit
the United for Libraries website .
Reaching Out to the Community
• Introduce yourself to the librarians at the public libraries in your area.
Make certain you know who they are. Develop a Homework Alert Form
to help you partner with local public libraries to provide outside resources
when needed. The form can be completed and sent to local libraries when
students begin a research project.
• Collaborate with community relations/education staff at local museums
to develop research projects, school library programming, and displays in
connection with special exhibits the museums are hosting.
• Learn about the community and create opportunities for its members,
public officials, and business leaders to visit the school library and use
their expertise to build students’ knowledge on topics being researched
and studied.
• Support authentic problem-based learning and inquiry by partnering
with local government and businesses to include students in solving local
problems.
• Invite local journalists to participate in discussions about the First
Amendment.
14 Advocacy