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Is School Librarianship Political? 5 A statement I often hear from school librarians whom I work with in political advocacy training is one of discomfort—discomfort in approaching a policymaker, fear of stepping on toes, discomfort in sharing what you know and understand for fear that you might expose gaps in your knowl- edge, or discomfort in touting your own accomplishments as a leader of an effective school library program. I would like to reassure you that these thoughts are perfectly normal, but I would also like to challenge you to own the knowledge and expertise that you have and share it with policy- makers, just like you would with students, faculty, or administrators. Policymakers want to make decisions based on accurate information, and you are in a position to provide that information to them. You may wish to frame an interaction with a policymaker as a persuasive reference interview. As an educator and information professional, you are supply- ing the most accurate information about effective school library programs to someone who is interested in what you have to say. Remember that policymakers cannot do their jobs without the information provided by their constituents. You don’t have control over how a policymaker may vote on an issue, but you do have the absolute right and ability to provide that policymaker with information about effective school library programs. You Are a Leader School librarians are prepared to be leaders and can use their strengths to infl uence the political process. Typically, the school librarian works solo or is part of a small team. In this position, you may have experience leading professional development for teachers. You may work closely with your school administrator and even be part of the school leadership team. You may be the technology expert, literacy expert, or both within your school. Whatever form your leadership takes, rest assured that the skills and dispositions that you have acquired through these school activities will transfer into political advocacy. Let’s take a look at some of the char- acteristics of effective leaders (Table 1.1). As you can see from Table 1.1, school librarian leadership has many dimensions (Coatney and Harada 2017). While school librarians engage in each of these dimensions of leadership to varying degrees (depen- dent on the school community’s needs as well as the individual school librarian’s leadership strengths and interests), what is important to note is that the leadership in which you engage and feel competent can be leveraged into leadership in the political arena, be it local, state, or federal.