The Public Library

Citation

Haycock, K. (2010), "The Public Library", Library Management, Vol. 31 No. 3, pp. 219-220. https://doi.org/10.1108/01435121011027372

Designed as an introductory text on the development of public libraries in the UK and the range of services provided by them in the 21st century (p. xiii), this book offers three content areas: the history and modern context; service themes (equity of access; cultural and leisure roles; information, advice and informed citizenship; lifelong learning); issues in management and service development. The author, a lecturer in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Strathclyde, provides an easy to read overview, well‐referenced to major studies and reports. Regrettably, however, the material suffers from weak organization and placement.

The historical development is straightforward and acknowledges the major milestones from the Public Libraries Acts of 1850 and 1919 to Framework for the Future (Department of Culture, Media and Sport, 2003), and their characteristics. The principles first enunciated in the 1940s and 1950s stand to this day. From its beginnings in encouraging workers to use their leisure time in culturally beneficial ways, the public library today focuses on promoting reading and informal learning, access to digital skills and services, implementing measures to tackle social exclusion, building community identify and developing citizenship (Framework for the future).

Following from the historical development, however, the service themes are confused and confusing. Parts are ill‐defined: services, roles, themes, mission, principle, values, among others, are unclear, with some used interchangeably. Parts are sadly dated: do public librarians really commonly undertake checking facts in print encyclopedias? The examples given are “Stop all the clocks” as a mistaken title for Auden's “Funeral blues” and “Who was prime minister in 1950?” – the author maintains this requires a thorough knowledge of available stock yet an informed youngster could likely locate the answer and verify it in seconds electronically from home. Having said that, later sections of the book do address virtual reference and search engines. Parts are scattered: censorship, selection and filtering are dealt with in different sections. Some of the references are no longer relevant (quotes on the efficacy of filtering from 2000 and on the utility of e‐books from 2004). Parts are introduced without elaboration (supplier selection; bibliotherapy; information literacy; legal advice versus legal information).

Almost peculiarly, with the emphasis on equity and social inclusion, the role of youth services is very narrowly defined as a cultural and leisure role, introducing children to the world of books, information and reading. There is no attention to family literacy programs. There is also no attention paid to critical services and public spaces for teenagers.

Similarly, the “issues in management and service development” section is less issues than trends (the impact of information and communications technology), how‐to‐do‐it (performance management), or simply explanatory (governance and local authority structures). Some are lacking in substance (professional and staffing issues offers little more than several pages on CILIP, the national association).

More significant issues are buried throughout the book. Reference is made to the debate between the advocates for the use of ICT and those who do not see it as central to the function of a public library (this reviewer thought that issue was long over). The author goes so far as to say that ICT and related services should not be added at the expense of “traditional users and traditional services” –how far does one carry this? To what extent does one serve diminishing populations and ignore growing user groups like teens and young professionals? (Web 2.0 warrants all of half a page.) It is stated that marketing to the customer is not the same as marketing to library users but then “marketing” to customers is later equated with selling a product that the consumer does not want whereas marketing to the library user is equated with marketing a public service. This is debatable – neither is fully marketing. Similarly, the author suggests that the librarian needs to balance the right of the user to access against the best interests of society in providing it (quite aside from legal constraint): who decides?. Further, public librarians should not ally themselves with any particular political party yet they are to promote citizenship and social inclusion: surely one does not give up one's right as a citizen to become a librarian. These are significant issues, scattered about the book, not how the local authority is organized.

This begins as a general and traditional overview with an emphasis on stock (collections) and lending books, supplemented with an overlay of current developments in ICT. It is decidedly grounded in the public library as “public good” rather than demonstrating “public value,” yet another issue.