The new service helps initiate calls to Congress
The American Library Association has partnered with mobile phone marketing and outreach provider Mobile Commons to launch a new text message alert and advocacy service for librarians.
Each month, subscribers will receive an estimated 2 to 3 text message action alerts from ALA’s Office of Government Relations. The messages will give subscribers talking points on a specific, timely issue, and then offer the option of automatically making a toll-free call to the offices of their legislators.
The Mobile Commons service has proven to be a powerful advocacy tool for other organizations. In January, over 200,000 people—primarily users who had signed up for text alerts from Tumblr, Reddit, Engine Advocacy, and the Center for Rights—used the Mobile Commons platform to call their Congressional representatives in opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).
“Sites such as Tumblr may not be Washington insiders with traditional lobbying efforts, but they were able to harness their massive reach and make their voices heard,” Jed Alpert, Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Commons, said in a release at the time.
Advocates who wish to sign up for this new, library-specific service can text the word “library” to 877877 or sign up online at districtdispatch.org/textalerts.
“This timely program will make it much easier for library advocates to stay informed and get involved in the issues facing our nation’s libraries,” Ted Wegner, ALA grassroots coordinator, said in a May 3 blog post by ALA Press Officer Jazzy Wright.
This is an awesome, forward-thinking idea. It’ll be interesting to see how many people sign up and how targeted the alerts will be.
I agree! The text-messaging idea will be a new way to turn library supporters into grassroots advocates. Charmaine, you can keep up to date with Mobile Commons news and advocacy tips at http://www.districtdispatch.org.