MICHIGAN LIBRARY ADVOCACY DAY HOME  |  ADVOCACY DAY 2024 HOME  |  SCHEDULE  |  SPEAKERS  |  READ-IN AT THE STATE CAPITOL  |  FACT SHEETS AND TALKING POINTS

Michigan Library Advocacy Day 2024 Schedule

Schedule at a Glance

Schedule subject to change

8:30 – 9:00 AM – Registration Opens in Heritage Hall – Networking, Coffee & Danishes

9:00 – 9:10 AM – Welcome by Dillon Geshel, MLA President

9:10 – 9:15 AM – Welcome by State Librarian Randy Riley

9:15 – 9:25 AM – Opening remarks by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist

9:25 – 10:00 AM – Advocacy Day Overview, Q&A and Talking Points

10:00 AM – 5:00 PM – Visits with Legislators
Michigan Library Advocacy Day is an opportunity to conveniently meet with elected officials. The greatest priority of the day in Lansing is legislative visits.

10:00 – 11:40 AM – Speakers
We've lined up incredible speakers who will inspire and educate you throughout the morning. The best part? You can drop in and out of these sessions, and they will be recorded and posted at a later time, as the greatest priority of the day are legislative meetings. These speakers are here to fill time for those whose meetings are at other times of the day.

11:40 AM – 12:15 PM – Break

12:15 PM – Photo Op on the Capitol Steps and Inspiring Voices in Support of our Libraries by House and Senate Leadership

12:40 PM – Explore bookmobiles and grab a box lunch on the Capitol steps or in Heritage Hall

1:00 – 3:00 PM – Read-In at the State Capitol

3:00 PM – Bookmobiles depart and Read-In concludes

4:00 – 5:00 PM – Official tour of the State Capitol

5:00 – 6:00 PM – Libations with Librarians Reception at GCSI office (120 N Washington Square, Suite 110) with open bar and appetizers

Michigan Library Advocacy Day Overview

Legislative Visits

Visits will be scheduled between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM. In your personalized packet, we will have two spreadsheets, one alphabetized by legislator (as some visits will have more than one advocate involved depending on how many advocates come from a specific district) and one outlined by advocate. The spreadsheets will have the time and address of your legislative visits. We encourage you to be on time at these visits and to take into consideration that only a few offices are located in the Capitol. Most legislative offices are within a 3-5 minute walk from the Capitol. There will be a map of the legislative office buildings in your packet and on the website in advance. You will also need to take into account a few extra minutes to stop at the reception desk and check in for a guest badge. Please bring your driver’s license to show at the reception desk.

To respect the time and work of our legislators on a session day, these visits will be scheduled for no more than 30 minutes. Some visits will be shorter, some longer at the discretion of the legislator or their staff. Please note that you may or may not meet with the legislators directly due to their schedules, but their staff will be there to listen and share your conversations later with your legislator if they aren’t available.

Each of you will likely only have two meetings on your calendar, but please recognize that these meetings are the most important part of the day.

Photo Op

At 12:15 PM all library workers and advocates are asked to gather on the steps of the Capitol for an official photo under the Michigan Library banner: STRONG LIBRARIES = A STRONGER MICHIGAN. We encourage you to wear your t-shirt so we are unified under our banner.

Lunch

Around 12:40 PM, legislative staff and Advocacy Day participants will be given a meal ticket that will give them access to pick up a box lunch at any of the bookmobiles parked on Capitol Avenue in front of the Capitol. Lunch can be eaten at Heritage Hall.

Bookmobiles

Libraries with bookmobiles are being asked to bring their vehicles and park on Capitol Avenue in front of the Capitol beginning at 10am until 3pm. Special parking permits have been secured for our use. We hope you’ll take time to explore and check out the details of these great vehicles. Please contact Amber Sheerin, [email protected] if your library has a bookmobile or book bike and you are interested in participating.

Libations with Librarians

At 5:00 PM, we invite you to the offices of Governmental Consultant Services, Inc (GCSI) at 120 N Washington Square, Suite 110 to unwind after a long day of advocating for your libraries.

Down Time

Note that there will be “down time” between your legislative visits, so we wanted to make sure that Michigan library workers continue to make an impact while we are in Lansing.  Here are some things to take part in:

Read-In at the State Capitol

Adding to our day, MLA is planning a fun and engaging event for our advocates as well as their families and library patrons from around Michigan who are willing to come to Lansing on that day but might not want to visit their legislators: Read-In at the State Capitol. Bring your favorite book and plan to take a seat on the steps of the Capitol or in any of the galleries anytime between 1:00 – 3:00 PM. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend the read-in, you don’t have to register and we hope all libraries and independent bookstores will encourage their patrons to come to Lansing to help show their support. No signs, no demonstrations, no political agenda, just a love of reading your favorite book.

Tour the Capitol (Optional)

At 4:00 PM, MLA has made arrangements for a free personalized MLA tour of the Michigan State Capitol for library workers and advocates. This is an optional tour that will last one hour. Anyone interested should meet at the Heritage Hall entrance on Ottawa Street.

Explore CADL, the Library of Michigan and Downtown Lansing

Also not to forget that the downtown branch of the Capital Area District Library is right up the street, the Western Michigan Cooley Law School Library right across from that, and around the corner and about a 15 minute walk is the beautiful Library of Michigan and History Center. The libraries will be highlighted on your map.