NYLA Advocacy Program — Peter Fong’s Review
By Peter Fong, Head of Legislative Research at The New York Law Institute
On August 21, 2026, the Association of Law Libraries of Upstate New York (ALLUNY) held a webinar on New York Library Association (NYLA) Advocacy. Earlier in the year, ALLUNY sponsored an “Advocacy 360” lunchtime webinar with Assemblymember Jen Lunsford as well as one with Sarah Reeske (Indivisible Organizing Manager for New York State). ALLUNY is making Access to Justice/Pro Bono a primary topic at their upcoming Annual Meeting. Their latest Advocacy webinar featured NYLA’s Max Paine and Jen Park. Max is the director of government relations and advocacy for NYLA, and Jen is the chairperson for NYLA’s legislative committee.
Max discussed library advocacy on 3 different levels: federal, state, local. There are 2 kinds of advocacy: direct and grassroots. Jen covered NYLA’s role and involvement in FY27 NYS budget and about library operating aid for qualified libraries. NYLA’s 2026 legislative priorities included intellectual freedom and eBook licensing reform.
During the Q&A period, there was further discussion on advocating that libraries are declared sensitive locations in NYS, so undocumented individuals would be safe from ICE enforcement. NYS Assemblymember Gabriela Romero has introduced A. 11596 which would add libraries to the list of sensitive locations for immigration enforcement purposes.
ALLUNY isn’t alone in its advocacy. American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) (https://www.aallnet.org) has its own Government Relations Committee (and our own organization –LLAGNY (https://www.llagny.org)—has a Government Relations Committee chaired by Patricia Barbone (government_relations@llagny.org).
I am impressed by how systematic NYLA’s approach to political advocacy is and how much education and outreach they pour into informing and encouraging other people to get involved. Their primary goal is to ensure library funding, but really includes anything that involves libraries — intellectual freedom, eBooks, and the guarantee of safe public spaces.
