A Library advocacy kickstarter: whats not to back? DO IT!

I just backed a pretty great Kickstarter campaign from Gary Green and Andrew Walsh. They're raising money to produce a Library A-Z book (and postcards and other related stuff) for advocacy purposes. Have a look at the video for it:

This is the best library video I've seen in a long time. (As an aside, I quizzed Andy about it on Twitter and it was made using VideoScribe - their website has a free trial for desktops, or you can get it for £4 on tablets. I am going to do this, as it falls under my favourite category of technology: Technology That Solves An Existing Problem. I've always wanted to be able to do something like this but assumed you had to literally film a hand from above, sketching. I can neither sketch nor mount cameras so that was never going to happen for me. This tool looks excellent. And I think it's very well used to here, to communicate the idea and purpose for the kickstarter succinctly.)

It's a great idea, too - I particularly like the option to have a copy sent to your local MP or Counselor; this is by far the most interesting option I've seen in a Library-related kickstarter, so I went for that one. It would be amazing if Andy and Gary made their stretch goals and send a copy to all members of the cabinet... At the time of writing they've raised £730 of the £2000 they need to make the project happen - 38 backers in less than 48hours, which is fantastic.

It's really important to talk the language of the people you're advocating too, so I hope some of the A-Zs are around the positive difference libraries make to the economy and to our well-being - things politicians care about, rather than just how good libraries are for users, which of course users already know.

Anyhow, I think this is a great project to back - excellent central idea, crowd-sourced content, and people we trust to execute it well. So have a look at the site and if you can, become a backer too.