Newsletter #1: ALA, AI, and Advocacy
First edition of the Flywheel Strategies newsletter, discussing upcoming webinars and ALA presentations, along with notes on advocacy and a shoutout to pro-library eBook legislation in Connecticut.
Potential Energies
Thoughts on community, collaboration, and culture, across the analog divide
A newsletter from Toby Greenwalt and Flywheel Strategies.
(Photo credit: Vestman, CC-BY)
Let’s chat at ALA!
Flywheel Strategies will be at the ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia, and I’d love to see you! Send me a line if you’re interested in talking technology assessment, impact strategy, or staff training. Send me an email, and we’ll get something on the calendar.
You can also find me at the PLA panel on “Navigating Information Literacy in the Age Of AI.” Join me and PLA President Brandy McNeil for a conversation on the increasing fragmentation of digital publication tools, and how the skills we’ve cultivated as information workers positions us to sort signal from noise.
The program takes place on Saturday, June 28, in Salon E of the Philadelphia Marriott at 1 PM. Hope to see you there!
Upcoming Webinars
Back in 2023, I worked with PLA and Google to put on Super Searchers, a training series devoted to tools and practices for identifying and responding to online misinformation. We’ve revised the training to include material on generative AI. During the 2023 sessions, we reached close to a thousand people, many of whom responded positively to the course material and its ruggedly handsome presenter.
This time around, the Super Searchers material comes with an added bonus: Meet LEO, an overview of various tools and strategies for helping kids Learn and Explore Online. I’ve been using this as an appetizer for the main Super Searchers program, and it helps illustrate ways to embed critical thinking tools within the digital experience - giving me lots to chew on in the realm of service design.
All Super Searchers 2.0 webinars are free. RSVP for your preferred date - all sessions are the same, give or take a few tweaks:
I’m hoping to convert some of the material into a separate training. Are there things you or your staff would like to know about recognizing misinformation and responding to the challenges of generative AI? Let’s discuss.
Advocacy Strategy
The fight continues for library funding. IMLS staffing is still in a state of flux, and the federal budget proposal for 2026 seeks to eliminate IMLS entirely, with a six-million dollar “closeout” line. As with previous years, protecting funding for IMLS and other programs (such as the BEAD program for rural broadband) is going to require a concerted advocacy effort.
On one hand: we’re in an election off-year, so there’s not a lot of attention (relatively speaking) being paid to campaign issues. Voter turnout in the fall will likely be low, in line with off-year trends.
On the other hand: we’re in an election off-year! There are relatively fewer electoral issues competing for people’s attention. That means there’s more of an open soapbox to reinforce what’s important about library funding. And because fewer people are likely to vote, it takes fewer people to move the needle.
Take Pennsylvania, for example. IMLS money administered by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries funds most of PaILS, an integrated library system used by nearly 200 (mostly rural) libraries across the state. Without this funding, these libraries could lose access to the software that allows them to manage their patrons and collections. (The biological overtones of the circulation department are apt - the ILS is truly the lifeblood of the library.) Losing these could be a major blow - and a potential liability for any elected official in that district.
I’m working on some maps of the area to help focus some statewide advocacy - keep on the lookout.
We Love It When Our Friends Become Successful
(with zero apologies to Morrissey. You know what you did.)
Speaking of advocacy: Huge shout-out to Ellen Paul at the Connecticut Library Consortium. Her work over the past 3 years to get a bill passed regarding equitable eBook funding for libraries is a tremendous accomplishment, and a model that I hope other states will follow. (Hello, New Jersey!) The bill was signed into law by Governor Lamont on May 29th.
This bill has been a long time coming. I had heard of similar efforts in other states during my time on DPLA’s Library E-content Access Project, and it’s a thrill to finally see an effort against predatory eBook pricing make it over the finish line. Great work, Ellen!
Keep the Momentum Going
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