College and Research Libraries


r 

Legislative Naivete of Librarians 

Do librarians appreciate or understand the subtleties of the legislative 
processes? After participating in the recent Conference on Federal In-
formation Resources, I am convinced the answer is-no, they do not. Li-
brarians are still resentful of recent government actions which suggest a 
downgrading in priorities for support of libraries, but worse, we seem to 
be incapable of reversing the trend. On e positive step is for academic li-
brarians to be introduced to the Office of Management and Budgeting 
within the Exe cutive Branch. The OMB is an enormously influential office. 
It is staffed by planners, economists, and other fiscal experts in whose hands 
largely rests the future of federal support to libraries. These specialists do 
not hold grudges against libraries. On the contrary, most of them know 
very little about libraries-their operations, obj ectives and aspirations, or 
potential social contributions. Their knowledge is probably limited to in-
dividual, unique experiences of childhood and student days. One speaker 
reported that in a recent meeting with an OMB official, the first question 
he was- asked was "what is a library; what is it trying to do?" From this, 
it appears that w e have nowhere to go but up. 

On several occasions during the confer ence, librarians' resentments toward 
the present administration surfaced, but will our unhappin ess alone alter 
present administration attitudes? As on e federal librarian acidly noted, 
name-calling will not advance the cause of libraries in the eyes of the ad-
ministration. In fact, he observed that the present library predicament was 
largely the fault of the library community. Librarians have fail ed to sell 
their programs, or in today's parlance, to demonstrate a p ersuasive cost 
effectiveness. 

At one point, a member of COSATI nearly exploded. He admonished the 
conferees for their apparent political naivete; he said he was particularly 
appalled since those attending possibly repres ented the cream of librarian-
ship. 

With a few notable exceptions, such as Gerry Krettek and Stephen Mc-
Carthy, who have both served the profession ably in Washington, many of 
us know too little about the circuitous, seemingly arcane legislative pro-
cedures. Of course, name-calling, complaining, or self-immolation will not 
win the day for librarianship. Considering the political climate for the fore-
seeable future·, not only for libraries but for higher education in general, 
ACRL would do well to consider positive action to improve the legislative 
acumen of its members. A series of workshops staffed by librarians and 
others who are experienced in working with state and federal legislators 
would represent one immediate step. Greater efforts to sell the case for 
librarianship to our colleagues in other disciplines is another worthwhile 
approach. We certainly won't sell the case for librarianship talking to 
each other at ALA meetings. R. M. DouGHERTY 

I 181 



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