Advocacy Among Librarians: Thoughts of Librarians in Turkey on Advocacy

Abstract

Purpose: This research study examined advocacy literat & uuml;re, explored Turkish librarians' advocacy approaches andperceptions. In addition, librarians'thoughts on the advocacy skills they need for advocacy, theirparticipation in advocacy efforts, advocacy needs, current advocacy barriers, and advocacy resources were collected. The reason for choosing this topic is to highlight the importance of library professionals using advocacy to make their voices heard on issues that are important to them and to raise awareness about this issue. The research is in three parts. The first part of the study provides information based on the literature. In the second section, the survey data are presented in tables. Conclusions and recommendations are shared in the third part. Method: The aim of this study is to investigate advocacy and advocacy skills in terms of information and document management based on the literature, and to reveal the advocacy skills, behaviors, and contributions of Turkish library professionals to advocacy activities by using a questionnaire as a data collection method. Findings: In the study, a questionnaire consisting of nineteen questions was applied to Turkish librarians working in different libraries. The survey data were analyzed with SPSS24, and the survey data are shared in the findings section. Implications: The study found that Turkish librarians have a high level of awareness about advocacy, there is a need for training, leadership and motivation in advocacy, the need to support professional associations and the importance of using digital advocacy effectively. Originality: What is new and unique about this topic is that Turkish library professionals' advocacy skills, behaviors and participation in advocacy work have not been studied before.