Most of us know the name Paul Revere. Fewer know William Dawes. Yet both men rode on April 18, 1775, to spread the alarm that the Revolutionary War had begun. Both came from similar backgrounds, traveled through similar towns, and carried the same urgent message.
So why does history remember Revere and not Dawes? The answer is in their networks. Revere was an information broker—someone who connected different groups of people. When he knocked on a door, the person who answered was often someone with their own wide circle of influence. The message spread rapidly. Dawes, by contrast, carried the same news to people who were less connected. His message stayed contained, and his name faded from memory.
The lesson is clear: it’s not just what you know or even what you say—it’s who you’re connected to and how information flows through a community.
ACRL as Our Network
Libraries face similar challenges. We each carry messages—about access, innovation, advocacy, and the central role of libraries in higher education. But if those messages stay contained within our own walls, our impact is limited.
ACRL is where those messages get amplified. It connects solo librarians with colleagues across the country. It links R1 research librarians with community college librarians, specialized librarians with liberal arts librarians. It ensures that voices from small, underfunded institutions, librarians of color, first-generation professionals, and colleagues often overlooked are part of the same conversation as those from the most well-resourced campuses. Like Paul Revere’s network, ACRL creates pathways where ideas don’t just circulate locally but move outward, gaining momentum and shaping practice across the profession.
Without ACRL, many of us risk becoming Dawes—doing important work, but siloed and unheard. With ACRL, we can be Revere—part of a network that carries ideas farther, faster, and with greater impact.
Why This Matters Now
Libraries are navigating seismic changes, and networks matter more than ever:
- Finance: shrinking budgets require us to share strategies for sustaining collections, services, and staff. Collective advocacy through ACRL ensures no library fights these battles alone.
- Advocacy: our ability to make the case for libraries depends on amplifying our voices at the national level. ACRL helps us move from isolated pleas to coordinated, powerful advocacy.
- Toxic cultures: too many colleagues face unhealthy workplaces. Sharing stories and solutions through ACRL creates solidarity and builds healthier organizational cultures.
- Representation: every type of library, every kind of librarian, every student served must see themselves reflected in this community. ACRL strengthens the profession when it makes space for all.
- Innovation: from AI to open access, we need spaces to experiment, reflect, and guide change responsibly—together.
My Commitment
As Vice-President/President-Elect, I want to strengthen ACRL’s role as a network of networks. That means:
- Expanding mentorship and peer-to-peer pathways that keep members from feeling siloed.
- Creating shared projects where finance strategies, advocacy campaigns, and solutions to toxic cultures are openly exchanged.
- Making representation not just a value but a practice—ensuring every voice, from solo librarians to librarians of color to colleagues at underfunded institutions, is part of the conversation.
- Positioning ACRL as the professional home where ideas don’t just stay within one library but are amplified across the profession.
Call to Action
If you’ve ever felt like your work stayed inside your library walls, or like your voice wasn’t heard beyond your own echo chamber, I want you to know: you don’t have to ride alone. ACRL is your network. Together, we can ensure every librarian’s message is amplified, every challenge is met with solutions, and every student—whether at a flagship university or a small community college—benefits from stronger, connected libraries.
Let’s make ACRL our Paul Revere network: a community that carries our collective voices farther than any of us could alone.
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