Libraries are to politicians what babies are. I think it’s important that you find pro bono public relations services in the community that can help you put together strategies that can help you communicate the general message -- how you’re transforming programs, and how you’re going to serve even more people as a result of the transformation. Also, when you transform something you have to say what’s new and improved – what’s better about it. This will also help you communicate directly to politicians what your goals are. Those opinion leaders who have the ear of the politicians can help you communicate your goals.  A third party will go behind you or before you to communicate that this is really a great program, that you’ve really done a great job, that you’re going to come into areas that we believe have not been served properly and the people are going to receive additional services as a result. But go in to political meetings with a strategy of making sure when you’re with the elected official that you can communicate a broad theme or message about what you’re doing and how you intend to do it. And of course politicians always want to know what it’s going to cost them.

Finding and Linking to Allies

I like looking at the issue of schools because three years ago [during the Bush-Gore election] that was one of the issues that we went out and advised candidates, "Talk about improving public schools, talk about fixing schools, talk about improving the quality of teachers, talk about accountability, talk about raising teachers’ salaries so that we can treat them like the professionals they are, etc." When you look at public opinion today about improving public schools, public schools have gone from 36% approval rating in the minds of voters to less than 15%. Only 15% of the American people believe that we can do anything to improve our schools. And most public schools I’ve been involved in, parents have given up on the schools. They don’t think that the schools are worth saving. In some communities the we’re trying to address the issue of school vouchers because many of us, on my side of the aisle, at least, think vouchers are wrong. 97% of our kids are educated in the public schools and we believe that the money should stay right there in the public schools.

The other polling data we have is that people still like our teachers. Libraries can link up, not with the public schools but to helping teachers serve the kids in the community. Link it to teachers, teachers are still popular. 70% of the American public approves of the job the teachers are doing. They’re not blaming the teachers, they think the teachers are great, but they think the teachers are not getting the computers they need, are not getting the resources they need, they’re blaming the principal and the school board. Link your mission to teachers and parents and helping the community because that’s what your mission is.

Who are the most important constituencies for politicians?

1. Police/firefighters
2. Teachers
3. Parents
4. Front-line government employees

You want their support, you want their help. They’re solid, they’re dependable, they vote. And often politicians go after them because they represent live bodies to get into the political process. And I want to add librarians to this list, because I want to make you players. And how do you get into this category? Of course, you all know some of the other important voting groups. You know seniors . . . 60% of voters in this country are over 55. Over 60%. Now, they don’t reflect the voting age population: over 40% of the voters today are over 40, but they’re not voting. Only 9% of the electorate last time was under the age of 40. Seniors. Number one group to solidify in terms of who actually votes on election day.

Being a Player

Now, let me talk a little bit about how you can get in the vision and also on the agenda of politicians, and how politicians set about not just their campaigns but how they structure government. Librarians are non-partisan, you don’t have a PAC, and you’re not actively involved or engaged in electing people for office. Therefore, unlike the police or firefighters union which have an active PAC, or the teacher’s union with a very active PAC, or the government employees with an active political action committee, librarians do not have the resources to participate in the political process, to give a direct contribution or to give live bodies to the political process.

So in order for librarians to be seen as a source of votes for politicians, and a source that politicians look to, librarians have to provide another function outside of the realm of the normal. What are some of those services that librarians can provide to politicians to get votes? Meeting space, disseminating information, voter registration, pamphlets . . .  What are some of the other ways? Photo ops, election/candidate information, acting as polling centers . . . 

As you all know, every two years there’s an election. In some states, every year there’s an election. In this election cycle, can librarians provide any of these services to have an impact on the current election climate or the current election? You could supply space for non-partisan forums. We know that politicians always like to pay back those who helped them or assisted them with wonderful photo ops. They also want positive association with a group that is seen by the public as providing an invaluable service like librarians. A photo op is a good opportunity to invite anyone who is seeking public office to stop by the library to take a look at the facilities -- especially take a look at the polling center -- or a place where they can disseminate sample ballots or sample information. You can work with the election board to provide that service to community residents, especially in the age now when we’re reforming our political systems and investing in new technology to the public. Librarians can perform a valuable service by having the new voting machines or the new technology in the library in advance so that the public can come in and get a feel for what the electoral process is all about.

If you begin to do things like this, politicians will take a different look at you. You become players, and not just some box somewhere on the chart that they have to fund, or de-fund, if the budget is low. You become an invaluable source to disseminate information. And it helps them to be seen in public with people who are highly regarded by customers and constituents. You can also host special events and have meeting places where politicians can bring people into the community to discuss important issues.

Once a politician’s elected, and before that budget time, how can you continue to make yourself relevant in the political process? After making all of these services available in the pre-election phase, in the post-election phase librarians can serve as members of the transition team. Is that something that librarians often ask to be a part of? You have people from human services who want to be on the transition team, you have police who want a representative on the transition team, teachers always want to sit at the table on the transition team, why not librarians? Why not have a librarian develop the budget for the library? Why not have somebody from the library sit on the transition while the budget is being developed for other programs so you see where you fit in at the table? Why are you just waiting for the politicians to make a decision with no experience and no idea of what’s going on before you open up your voice to the process?

Transition Teams and Politically 'Neutral' Institutions

Librarians have to be active players in the political process, otherwise you have no voice at the table. You can be an active player in the political process without taking a formal, partisan position on the campaign itself. When you’re an active player, meaning that you give input into the system that ultimately elects the leaders that serve the community, you put your issues on the forefront of the issues that must be discussed in the context of that election cycle. If you’re not at the table you’re not involved in the process. Every politician tries to stand somewhere in the police precinct around headquarters to announce that they have the support of the sheriff, the police, the firefighters. The teachers, same thing. Where do politicians go when they want to do a reading? I know they often go to libraries too, but where do they first go? To the schools. Because of the teachers, who are on the transition team because they’re players. In a campaign, whether it’s a presidential level or local level, in addition to the professional staff you have on board, you have a representative or liaison from the police and firefighters union, a liaison from the teacher’s union, a liaison from the government employees, and librarians need a liaison as well. You’ve got to detail somebody in the system to be part of the process to make sure that you have a seat at the table.

The organizations listed above are players because they have advocates or unions or PACs that represent their interests. And so, in order for librarians to be influential as a group, librarians have to play an early role in the political process. Otherwise, if you’re passive, you can’t be players in the process and you’re not seen. That’s why, when it’s time to write a budget or to present a budget, librarians are always put down there at that last bit, in that line that can go either way. And then politicians choose to help only libraries that are close to their demographic groups that support them and libraries that they may personally have an affiliation with, and then they start cutting the rest. And there’s an uneven system that takes place after that. There are non-partisan ways that you can participate in the political process without getting involved with a campaign, without taking a position, by offering your services to everyone who’s running in the game. Everyone.

You're worried, certainly, about serving on post-election transition teams, at their hearts partisan.  At that point that individual is already elected and you’re part of the government. It’s your job. And you’ve made your services available to all of the candidates, to all of the campaigns. You're supplying general information. I always tell people that you come to the table with your needs. And I have not met one group in this country who did not already have their needs spelled out, from what positions they want to hold in the campaign to what positions they want to hold in the government, to what positions they want to hold in the transition team, etc.

It's my job as a campaign professional to try to juggle all of those needs, because when the firefighters come with their needs and the police come with their needs and the teachers come with their needs, then it’s my job to figure out how to juggle those needs. We [politicians] want you at the table because you help us get votes. You’re a source of how we get votes in the political process. You are the direct link to the people. And librarians are in a strategic position . . . not only because you’re well-respected, but because you provide valuable resources to the community, and because you’re strategically located! So how do you capitalize on that in the political process in a non-partisan way so that you can influence the political process? How do you get into a more strategic place where you’re sitting at the table when the decisions are made that influence your budget, your services, everything that you do as librarians, even the laws, the strategic legislation that impacts your profession. I’m trying to create that link between your future, your vision, and how you project that into the community using the political process as a vehicle.

When a library decides that it can lend an information specialist to a campaign or candidate to have them research, be more informed on the issues, etc., when a library promises to be available on Tuesday from 7-9:00 for a candidate forum and everyone is invited to attend, and the library can go out and get the League of Women Voters or some other non-partisan group to be the sponsor or the facilitator, it's on stage when the press and the politicians are there, and the general public, and it's welcoming people to the library, staff can talk about the new books, the new shelves, the new pictures, whatever, the library's injecting itrself in a non-partisan way but a strategic way. Things don’t just happen, you’ve got to make them happen.

One of your biggest natural assets when you look at how politicians and elected officials look at librarians, they see you as not just invaluable because you’re well-liked by the community, but also invaluable because you have a list of active voters. Active activists who come in and research politicians’ records, research politicians’ quotes, or the opponent’s quotes to keep politicians accountable. That’s a natural ally for librarians to utilize, to build as a resource. They can be your eyes and ears in the community. These are things that librarians can do because of your legal status as being non-partisan. Who are some of the other natural allies that have muscle in the political process that often can talk for you and beat up politicians when you can’t beat up your boss? That have numbers, bodies, money? The local chamber, foundations, grantors.

Going to the Top

Let’s talk about interfacing with the politicians in terms of the budget process, how you have to beg for resources. Who do you normally interface with, the mayor directly? The chief of staff? The department head? The county manager? The city council? How do you get the budget through? Let’s look at your obstacles and opportunities. I think it makes a difference in terms of who you make your case to, because often, when you start at the top, normally it trickles down. When you start at the bottom you don’t know if it’s going to trickle up. And so whether you’re making your case for your budget or your program or anything that’s controversial, revitalizing a program, or you need political cover or you need political approval, starting at the top is perhaps the best way to make your case. That’s because you’re on the schedule, and everyone in government sees that you’re on the schedule. If you don’t go through usual channels but went through someone you knew from the outside, like the chair of your foundation is the mayor’s best friend or went to school with the mayor, or served in the army with the mayor, finding that way to go to the top early in the political process will help you have a strategic relationship with that elected official.

There’s no such thing as starting from the bottom, because when you do, you’re often in the room with somebody who may not like their job, and may not care about you. Start at the top and find those relationships. From your outreach with the library and the foundation and all of the other tools at your disposal, you know someone who knows someone who knows how to get to the top. When you go in there and make that presentation, ask for the sky. Politicians will not always give you your horizon, but at least you start out with the sky. And that’s the same whether it’s the county mayor or the supervisor. I know there are different structures in all parts of the country, but I make the same argument: start off with that city council person or start off with the legislator, but go directly to that person even if it means you go around someone else to get it done. That’s being a player in the process. You want to take your budget or take your ideas to the person you know will be making the decisions. If you’re depending on their staff person to provide them that information, or expect somebody from the executive branch to provide the information to the legislative branch, I have bad news – it doesn’t work that way.

Go back to your allies, go back to those people who you know are connected to the library, go back to the Friends, go back to your foundation, because someone there knows someone who knows someone. Someone is well connected. That’s why injecting yourself in the political process in a non-partisan way makes sense because guess what, you’re already connected. You’re part of the team; you can set up an event and know you have the card of the person who is the scheduler who you can call who is now in that strategic office sitting right outside that elected official. Now you can call that person up and say, "Hey, girl, what’s going on? Oh, I need to come down and see the mayor." That’s the game.

Do your homework. You can always look on the Internet and website and see who’s involved with the campaign. Campaigns often have a chair, a vice-chair, a treasurer. These are positions mandated by law. Sometimes there’s a steering committee set up, and all of this information . . . by law, politicians are required, even on the local level now, to list all of these things. There’s more accountability tied into the political system now that we manage multi-million dollar budgets. We’ve had to put more and more information down now about who is involved in the process. You now have to list employers. If you give over $100 to a federal candidate and have an accumulative total of $200, I know more than just your name. I can go on the Internet right now and look up your political history; for example, who you’ve given money to over the last four cycles.

I’m training the Fellows to be agitators. And this is good information to bring back to those directors about influencing the political process if they are not already players in the game.