Fighting to Save a Neighborhood Library

We got home from Chicago and found out that our beloved neighborhood library is endangered with closing due to city budget cuts.  Ever since, my kids have been hearing a whole lot of "I'll be there in just a second" while I'm frantically writing letters to the editor, organizing letter-writing parties, and searching out other folks working to save the library.  Next week, I'll be attending a lot of community town hall meetings about the budget.  Library supporters are planning on wearing red shirts to stand out as a unified group with a strong message.

I'm very new to this kind of grassroots organizing, and I've already learned a lot in just a few days.  Here are a few of the things that have struck me so far:

1.  You have to go ahead and take the risk of making mistakes and doing something imperfectly to start moving your agenda forward.  I'm already kicking myself for the things I should have said in a letter to the editor that just got published today, but I comfort myself with the wonderful title the editors gave the letter:  "Neighborhood needs its library." That's the kind of publicity we need to get the discussion heading in the direction we want.  By putting myself out there with my clumsy, imperfect action steps, I've met many helpful people I wouldn't have otherwise met and alerted people to the situation who wouldn't otherwise have heard about it or known how to get involved.

2.  You have to be willing to admit you're a beginner and soak up knowledge from others who've been around the activist block a time or two, even if they're less than tactful.  I talked today with an experienced neighborhood activist who bluntly labeled my ideas "minor league" and "too little" and encouraged me to think bigger:  instead of dropping off letters with an aide to the mayor, gather enough supporters to charter a bus to a public budget hearing.  Now we're talking, I thought excitedly, even if I was a little embarrassed to be called on my "minor league" approach.

3.  Think outside the usual suspects in terms of who can help your cause.  It struck me that closing the library could have a very negative impact on neighborhood housing values and property tax revenues.  I called a local realtor to get her take on things, and she gave me lots of wonderful, persuasive  new talking points I wouldn't have thought of.  She seemed surprised to be contacted and urged to get involved, but she also seemed open to getting pulled in to our efforts.  If nothing else, she expanded my thinking in helpful new ways, and she may mention the library to a few people who wouldn't have known about it otherwise.

  

4.  You may have to leave the house to make sure you pay attention to your kids.  I've been so distracted with email-sending and phone calls, the house is now a complete mess.  The kids and I had to go to the Children's Museum today so I could focus on crawling through a giant model of an anthill tunnel with them instead of hovering in front of my computer or cleaning up the Legos scattered across the living room floor.

5.  You have to make sure to make time to rest and breathe if you want to show your kids that getting involved in your community can be a joy, not a stressful burden that makes you grumpy.  Enough said.