Workshop
Workshop Title:
Advocating for your school library service
Presenter:
Hajnalka Molloy
Workshop Date:
Tuesday 12 May | 11:00am – 12:30pm
Workshop Description:
Across Australia and beyond, libraries are at a crossroads. As budgets tighten and staffing models shift, advocacy for our service, and for the skilled professionals who deliver them, has never been more critical. Yet, many library staff find advocacy daunting, imagining it requires a public-relations budget, political connections, or endless time. In reality, effective advocacy can begin with small, strategic, evidence-based actions that every library professional can use to influence decision makers, shape perceptions, and sustain support for their work.
In this practical and energising session, Hajnalka Molloy, a nationally certified Highly Accomplished Teacher Librarian and President of the School Library Association of South Australia (SLASA), draws on more than 25 years of experience in school libraries, a decade leading the national Students Need School Libraries campaign, and ongoing state and national advocacy collaborations to share strategies that work.
Grounded in Australian and international research, Hajnalka unpacks what we know about how principals, policymakers, and community members perceive libraries, and what factors most influence their decisions about staffing and resources. Participants will explore practical techniques for reframing conversations, building allies, and demonstrating impact in ways that resonate with diverse audiences.
You will learn how to:
• Use local data and research findings to tell powerful stories about your library’s value.
• Align advocacy messages with the goals and language of school and organisational leaders.
• Leverage community partnerships, parent voices, and student outcomes as advocacy amplifiers.
• Create achievable, low-cost advocacy actions that build momentum and visibility over time.
• Sustain your advocacy energy and confidence through networks of support and shared purpose.
While the session draws from school library contexts, the strategies are transferable across all library sectors, empowering participants from public, academic, and special libraries to adapt the ideas to their own advocacy challenges.
Hajnalka’s approach blends scholarly insight, lived experience, and genuine passion for equitable access to quality library services. Expect to leave the session with renewed energy, a toolkit of immediately applicable strategies, and a deeper understanding of how advocacy can influence the future of libraries.
Join this session to be inspired, informed, and equipped to make your advocacy efforts visible and impactful, because #StudentsNeedSchoolLibraries, and communities need strong libraries too.
Hajnalka Molloy
Librarian, Concordia College
Hajnalka Molloy is a nationally certified Highly Accomplished Teacher and one of Australia’s leading voices in school library advocacy, with over 25 years of experience working across primary and secondary education in South Australia. Her work combines deep classroom expertise with strategic leadership at state and national levels to strengthen the visibility, value, and impact of school libraries in improving literacy, wellbeing, and equity.
Hajnalka holds a Bachelor of Arts in Library and Information Management from the University of South Australia, a Bachelor of Education (Primary) from Flinders University, and a Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) from Charles Sturt University. She is currently undertaking a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) with a focus on school library advocacy, building on decades of professional experience and national research.
As President of the School Library Association of South Australia (SLASA), Hajnalka has played a pivotal role in developing and implementing advocacy strategies that influence policy, inform decision-makers, and build public understanding of the importance of dual-qualified Teacher Librarians. She has led collaborative initiatives such as the School Libraries in South Australia Census with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the strategic policy paper Strengthening School Libraries in South Australia: A Strategy for Equity, Literacy and Wellbeing.
Nationally, Hajnalka has spent more than a decade contributing to the Students Need School Libraries campaign, advocating for the essential role of qualified library staff in every Australian school. She takes every opportunity to learn from leading researchers including Dr Margaret Merga, Dr Kay Oddone, Dr Kasey Garrison, translating their research findings into actionable strategies that empower educators and library professionals to advocate effectively.
Hajnalka’s professional excellence has been recognised through her certification as a Highly Accomplished Teacher under the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) standards—an achievement held by only a small proportion of educators nationwide.
Known for her evidence-informed, practical, and collaborative approach, Her work continues to inspire and equip others to champion the message that every student deserves access to a thriving, well-staffed school library—and every community benefits when libraries flourish.