Politics and the American Public Library

Examines the ways in which library administrators can use the political process to achieve their goals and objectives without compromising the deeply held ethical principles of librarianship. This text addresses questions of institutional identity; the political posture of public libraries; the development of strategic and tactical plans; the relationship between the internal power struggle of the library and its external political activity; library involvement in local politics; the use of public pressure to encourage public library support and the possibility of creating special library districts to alter the political environment for public libraries.