College and Research Libraries Guest Editorial Political Networking The debate surrounding classroom productivity is heard more and more throughout the country. In my state, Oregon, public debate is .couched in general terms of finding sufficient funding for higher education in a time of financial crisis. Private discussion is much more blunt and usually starts with the ques- tion "What do they do anyway?" The "they" refers primarily to teaching fa- culty, but clearly implicates all of us who are a part of higher education. What we have here is a group of people, in this case legislators, who still see teaching as a soft job involving si~ or seven hours a week in the classroom. Any attempts to explain that six or seven classroom hours per week represent many more hours of preparation falls on deaf ears and is usu- ally too little too late. This scenario can be repeated with librarians taking the part of the misun- derstood faculty and university adminis- trators representing the misunderstanding legislators. The question ''What do they do?" is most frequently asked during pro- motion and tenure discussions as library administrators seek to define the role of library faculty. Anne Beaubien captured it well in a C&RL editorial when she noted: "Librarianship has a chronically low pro- file among the information and education professions because people do not under- stand the depth and breadth of our exper- tise or the extent of what we do."1 I believe librarians should provide political leader- ship in building this understanding not only about the profession but also about academia as a whole. The common thread in both of the above scenarios is that the realization of the problem-for example, lack of understanding of what we do-almost always happens at a critical moment (budget time). Then any explanation appears to be not an attempt to enlighten but rather an attempt to justify. In other words, those seeking to explain themselves have not been doing their homework. They have not been pro- viding to those with budgetary power complete and continual information on what they do and why they are essential to a healthy economy. Although it is not news that legislators and university administrators are un- aware of the services and benefits pro- vided by those they are funding, it is becoming more and more critical as re- sources grow scarce. In Oregon, the dis- cussion of faculty productivity is taking place because mandated budget cuts are forcing legislators to scrutinize all aspects of state funding critically. "Doing more with less" is the motto of the day. As legislators seek to make cuts and to elim- inate inefficiencies, their gaze turns to higher education. Overall cuts in higher education translate into specific cuts in library budgets. We have to ask ourselves why this is happening. Is it true that teaching fac- ulty are overpaid and underworked? Is it true that library faculty are not up to par with other faculty vis-a-vis research and publication? If it is not true, why the per- ception? Certainly, some academics in li- braries and classrooms on campus have opted for the status quo. However, I pro- pose that much of the criticism stems from ignorance on the part of those with admin- istrative and/ or budgetary responsibility. Neither librarians nor anyone else in higher education has done a successful job of explaining and marketing their 291 292 College & Research Libraries services. When measured against funding for police or other "necessities," we come up short. We have not translated what we do into words that make sense to the ma- jority of taxpayers. We have not marketed ourselves or our services. We have as- sumed that those in charge value us as much as we value ourselves. . While the situation for the world of academia as a whole is severe, for librar- ies it is almost catastrophic. Library schools continue to close because they are perceived as not in tune with the research and teaching mission of the uni- versity. Nor, parenthetically, do they at- tract large donor dollars. The profession itself is greying, and budgets are declin- ing while the need for new monies is more critical than ever. The increasing entry of private corporations into the in- formation world (especially the elec- troruc information world), along with the now proverbial information explo- sion, are causing libraries to reexamine what they do and where they should go. The vision thing, as it is sometimes called, is sweeping the library profession. There is a growing need to redefine the profes- sion and to do so in a way that makes sense to us who are in it; and to those we want to be in it; and to those who will ultimately be supporting it. I propose that although we must con- tinue to work within the profession to define our changing role, we must spend equal time outside the profession making ourselves a part of the economic status quo. Particularly, we must get more in- volved in the political process of the ci- ties and counties in which we live. I use the term political process in its broadest aspects to include all types of network- ing and coalition building with those in- dividuals and groups who can affect legislative and economic change. In Oregon, we have seen librarians July 1993 and other library supporters mount a successful campaign against an anti-Gay rights initiative by creating alliances with like-minded groups. Critical sup- port of a local legislator who was in a close election race resulted in his coauthoring, sponsoring, and shepherding through the legislature major legislation for Oregon li- braries. I am convinced that when he put out the eleventh-hour call for help and when seven of the ten who showed up to help were librarians, he understood that librarians wielded political clout. However, the political arena, although critical, is only one avenue for network- ing. Participating in local civic affairs, working in service organizations, join- ing organizations other than library or- ganizations, attending local, state, and national conferences that are not primarily related to libraries, and publishing in jour- nals from outside our profession are all methods for marketing libraries and li- brary services. The goal is to become a part of the decision-making process- not simply to react to it. All of this is not to suggest that we neglect networking on campus, but we must recognize that the very institutions of which we are a part and fromwhich we would normally seek support are themselves in trouble. Indeed, I propose that librarians take the lead on our cam- puses in terms of coalition building. We could be the model for the rest of the academy. Because of our ability to access information quickly and efficiently, we are in a position to provide service and information to local, state, and national leaders. Building support and visibility through political and community activ- ism is the key component for ensuring that future legislators will never need to ask the question ''What do they do?" KARYLE BUTCHER, Oregon State University REFERENCE 1. Anne Beaubien, "Image Counts," College & Research Libraries 53 (Mar. 1992): 97.