Drawing on two decades of original research conducted by the authors, as well as existing research about the intersection of public policy, political discourse, and public libraries, this book seeks to understand the origins and implications of the current standing of public libraries in public policy and political discourse. It both explains the complex current circumstances and offers strategies for effectively creating a better future for public libraries. The main message is that there is a pressing need for public librarians and other supporters of public libraries to be: Aware of the political process and its implications for libraries; Attuned to the interrelationships between policy and politics; and Engaged in the policy process to articulate the need for policies that support public libraries. The style is both scholarly and accessible to general readers, with the goal of being useful to students, educators, researchers, practitioners, and friends of public libraries in library and information science. It will also be usefull for those engaged in areas of public policy, government, economics, and political science who are interested in the relationships between public libraries, public policy, and political processes. Building upon the discussion of the key issues, the book offers proposals for professional, policy-making, and political strategies that can strengthen the public library and its ability to meet the needs of individuals and communities. The discussion and analysis in the book draw upon data and real world examples from the many studies that the authors have conducted on related topics, including libraries’ outreach to increasingly diverse service populations and efforts to meet community needs through innovative partnerships. As the intersection of politics, policy, and libraries has grown in importance and complexity in recent years, the need for a book on their interrelationships is long overdue.

Most vols. contain a directory section.

The tables in this report summarize information about public libraries in fiscal year 1993. These data were collected through the sixth Public Libraries Survey. Respondents for this census were the 8,929 public libraries identified in the 50 states and District of Columbia, by state library agencies. Over 71% of the population of legally served areas in the United States were served by fewer than 11% of public libraries; 1,454 public libraries (over 16%) reported one or more branch library outlets, with a total of 7,017; total operating expenditures for public libraries were over $4.7 billion in 1993; libraries reported a total of nearly 111,945 paid full-time equivalent (FTE) staff; and total nationwide circulation of library materials was nearly 1.6 billion, or 6.5 per capita. The report begins by presenting highlights of the findings. The introduction then describes the terminology used in the document; the universe represented by the data; data collection and use of the technology; and quality review of the data. Also included are caveats for using the data; information on ordering machine readable data and publications; and a source for further information on public library statistics. The data are presented in 19 sets of tables, which make up the major part of this report. Data is provided on staffing; operating income and expenditures; type of governance; type of administrative structure; size of collection; and service measures such as reference transactions; public service hours; interlibrary loan; circulation; and library visits. Appendices include background of the Federal-State Cooperative System (FSCS), a glossary, and a list of states with overlapping population of legal service area. (MAS)