Public Libraries, Public Policies, and Political Processes

Paul T. Jaeger, PhD, JD, is associate professor and diversity officer of the College of Information Studies and co-director of the Information Policy and Access Center at the University of Maryland. He is the author of more than 130 journal articles and book chapters including Information Worlds: Social Context, Technology, & Information Behavior in the Age of the Internet (2010) with Gary Burnett; Public Libraries and the Internet: Roles, Perspectives, and Implications (2011) with John Carlo Bertot and Charles R. McClure; and Disability and the Internet: Confronting a Digital Divide (2012). Dr. Jaeger is also the co-editor of Library Quarterly and Information PolicyBook Series , and associate editor of Government Information Quarterly.Ursula Gorham, JD, is a doctoral candidate in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland and a graduate research associate at the Information Policy & Access Center (iPAC). John Carlo Bertot, PhD, is professor and co-director of the Information Policy & Access Center in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland. He is also president of the Digital Government Society of North America and serves as chair of the International Standards Organization’s Library Performance Indicator (ISO 11620) working group and is past chair of the American Library Association’s Library Research Round Table. John is Editor of Government Information Quarterly and Co-Editor of Library Quarterly. Lindsay C. Sarin is MLS program coordinator and a research fellow at the Information Policy & Access Center in the College of Information Studies at the University of Maryland. Lindsay previously worked in a number of diverse academic library settings, where she provided information literacy instruction and outreach services.

• AcknowledgmentsList of AcronymsList of Figures and TablesPrefaceChapter 1: Politics, Policies, and Public LibrariesChapter 2: The Development of Public Libraries as a Public Good in the United States Chapter 3: The Evolution of Policies Affecting Public Libraries in the Unites StatesChapter 4: Prevailing Governance and Economic IdeologiesChapter 5: Changes in Public Libraries and Changes in CommunitiesChapter 6: Engagement and Valuation of the Public Good Chapter 7: Demonstrating Library Value and Advocating for SupportChapter 8: The Public Library in the Local Political ProcessReferences About the Authors