Courtney Fuson, incoming president of the Tennessee Library Association, and Max Prime, New York Library Association director of government relations and advocacy, speaking at the 2025 Chapter Advocacy Workshop.

In December, state library association leaders from around the country gathered in Chicago to learn how to be exceptional political strategists, media spokespeople, funding champions, and freedom-to-read fighters—all within 48 hours. The Chapter Advocacy Workshop, organized and facilitated by the American Library Association (ALA) and the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), provided the training needed to prepare incoming state library association leaders to become the chief library ambassadors to state officials and national spokespeople.…