Wake Up the Nation: Public Libraries, Policy Making, and Political Discourse

Abstract

Public libraries are heavily affected by political and policy-making processes that shape the funding, activities, and roles of libraries in society, with the explosion of information policy decisions in the past two decades significantly increasing the responsibilities of libraries while also increasing limitations on their activities. Research in library and information science, however, has paid scant attention to these issues over time. If libraries are to be able to effectively advocate for the interests of their institutions, patrons, and communities, researchers need to more strongly engage problems of politics and policy making that impact libraries. With greater amounts of data and analysis in this area, libraries will be better situated to advocate for their needs in political and policy-making processes, as well as better able to articulate their positions to members of the public.