We also found that there were no differences by party affiliation. As communities throughout California grapple with the challenges of funding their libraries in difficult fiscal times political advocacy is often considered as a solution. But it is a controversial solution and rightly so.
Political advocacy is a complex and sometimes frightening subject.
You can make your foray into the political arena with confidence if you know beforehand what your community will support. In a small community gauging public opinion is easy but in larger or more diverse populations defining community wants may require professional help. You must ask the right questions of the right people and you must compile the answers in a statistically sound way or your data will be impossible to understand or will lead you astray. In this article, David Binder describes the process that he used in finding out what San Franciscans wanted for their library and which lead to the successful passage of legislation guaranteeing library funding in that city. What he does not say is that the measure that was passed was not what its original supporters had in mind when they started their effort, but was developed after his surveys defined public desires.