political context
This week's reading is another literature review about the political context (or milieu) in which the public library is situated. You will have noted that while it starts from a general overview, it goes very quickly into a very North Carolina-centric discussion of the topic. That should be expected, in that this is a course offered by a North Carolina university and that it is important for North Carolinians to understand their local situation.
But discussion of how public libraries in North Carolina have had to navigate their way through their political environment is a model of how public libraries in other states and localities have had to do the same thing. In every case, a public library is (usually) an institution that is, in some part, supported by tax monies. In my personal situation, the county I live in has just sent me a personal property tax bill for my automobile. As I look at the bill, I note that the county commissioners have laid out for me how my tax dollars are spent.
| Education | 27% |
| Social Services | 22% |
| Sheriff's Department | 13% |
| General Government | 12% |
| Debt Service | 8% |
| Health Department | 5% |
| EMS | 5% |
| Other Health Services | 2% |
| All Other Public Safety | 2% |
| Library System | 2% |
| All Other Spending | 1% |
| Culture & Recreation | 1% |
As an individual, I might like to see the 10th and 12th priorities in this list a little higher up in the order of funds allocated to them, but that is not the case. If I, as an individual, wish to see that occur, I have to find out about the system that decides on these priorities and engage that system, on its own terms, in order to effect change.
One thing I will find out is that these tax monies are collected and disbursed by elected political entities. Those political entities are made up of people who are generally very sensitive to the whims of the voting populace.
In my research, I could only find one place where public libraries are considered to be a mandatory public service (California counties have to provide the service). In every other place, public libraries are a "nice to have" service, but not a "must have" service. And, in the California case, the "must have" situation came from some very personal and effective individual lobbying at the State capitol by the director of the State Library.
Which leads us to ask ourselves several questions:
- how deeply should we get into the political process on behalf of public libraries?
- who are the political power brokers in our communities?
- are these power brokers in positions of formal or informal influence?
- where are the levers of political power that we should use to have a positive impact on public libraries?
Who is working for you?
At the Federal level
Mine is Howard Coble and a look at his website tells me a bit about his priorities. He is willing, as are all legislators, to bring home the money to localities, but is he someone that is vitally interested in the state of our local public libraries?
Who is your Representative and what positions does that individual take in regard to public libraries in your Congressional district?
At the State level
My North Carolina State Representative is Alice Bordsen. What do I know about her? With a little bit of digging, we can find out that she is the only member of the North Carolina legislature who has a degree in library science. However, when she has spoken to budding librarians in the past, she has warned them that there is no organized lobby for library issues at work in Raleigh. She knows the needs, but she also knows the political landscape, and without grassroots lobbying, it is not easy for an individual legislator to look out for the interests of people who don't seem to be looking out for themselves.
Who is your local legislator and what positions does that individual take in regard to public libraries in your area?
At the local level
How does your local political landscape relate to public libraries?
- In the Town of Robbins in Moore County, North Carolina, the mayor is Mrs. Theron Bell. She was the person who donated the land that now housed the Robbins library and she was the person who spearheaded the fund-raising efforts to get the library built in the 1990s. She is a library supporter.
- In the Town of Pinebluff, also in Moore County, Mrs. Sharon Fox is a Town Commissioner. She is a new resident of the town, but is also a member of the Pinebluff Library Association, an organization with roots in the town back to 1905. She is a library supporter.
- In other towns in the county, one cannot identify library supporters among the elected officials.
What is the situation where you live? Where can you look for political support for your library?
How about the informal politics of your community? Are there other power centers in the local churches, in local service organization, in the local business community? Do you know who they are and how they might be energized to support the local library?
As Garceau noted, the public library is enmeshed in a political process and anyone wishing to see improvement in the fortunes of the public library has to engage in the process, at least a little bit.
[top]
Two other items that conflate the role of the library with the politics of the local economies
If a Library Is Bookless, What's In It?
Tom Frey, executive director, The DaVinci Institute, Jo Haight-Sarling, director, access and technology services at the Denver Public Library System, & Charles Brown, director, Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, N.C.
Talk of the Nation, 27 February 2006
What helps make the evolution of libraries so complicated are two related questions: What is the library's role -- and who should pay for it? The squeeze on county and municipal budgets prompts many to wonder if they will continue to pay for these institutions. Others insist that the public library plays a vital role as a community center and as an intellectual oasis, a place to reflect as well as a place to learn. But if it's to survive, it has to adapt.
Public Libraries pack a powerful $$ punch
Tom Storey, OCLC Newsletter, 31 March 2005
Today's public libraries are more than technology centers, book repositories, quiet reading spaces, coffee shops or busy community centers. They are engines that pump millions of dollars into local and state economies.
[top]