Evelyn Kerslake

Public libraries, public interest and the information society theoretical issues in the social impact of public libraries

Draws on recent literature from the fields of library and information science, communication studies and social sciences to discuss the issues underpinning current attempts to justify public library provision of information in a social context where information is beginning to be seen as a commodity. Discusses the conventional rationale for public library provision, defines the social impact of public libraries and places it in a historical context. Considers the present urgency of current concerns with particular reference to funding. Concludes that research and demonstration programmes in this field aim to provide new evidence about the effectiveness and value of public libraries. The rationale for public libraries must take into account their continuing vital function as a promoter of citizenship and democracy.

Reviewing the literature on public libraries and social inclusion

This paper critically assesses the literature in the area of current UK community development work to examine the actual, and potential for, social impact and effectiveness of public library initiatives. Evidence of the social impact of public libraries is divided into three sections: first, the impact on the community, in sustaining local identities, in promoting social cohesion and in promoting cultural diversity; second, the skills impact, in helping to equip people of all ages to enter or re-enter the labour market; and third, the economic impact in contributing to local prosperity through the regeneration of town centres and local businesses and in decreasing poverty both on an individual and regional level. These analyses demonstrate the ways in which public libraries can work to promote the social inclusion of individuals who otherwise, for any number of reasons, may be marginalised.

No more library classes for catherine: Marital status, career progression and library employment in 1950s england

Abstract This article uses a discursive analysis to explore constructions of unmarried women in three 1950s library career novels. We suggest that, within these texts, spinsters were constructed as oppositional to single women. Through a discussion of the stereotype of the library spinster we illustrate that spinsters were portrayed as old and unattractive, as “Other” to single women who were portrayed as young and heterosexually attractive, or “heterosexy.” We also argue that whilst the stated aims of these career novels were to encourage teenage girls into library work, they also, paradoxically, along with other contemporary discourses, contributed to the impoverishment of some women’s library career prospects. A significant factor in this curtailment was the marriage bar which we define in relation to employment generally and library work specifically. Our arguments are supported by reference to both library history and women’s history.

Flexible information workers: training and equal opportunities

Describes the extent of flexible working practices in library and information services (LIS) in the UK, drawing on a recently completed study. Outlines concerns about training expressed by managers in case study organizations and in the literature. Investigates gender and equal opportunity implications in training flexible workers when LIS continue to be dominated numerically by women, yet hierarchically by men. Discusses examples of gender‐based discrimination in training provision and allocation taken from the literature in women’s studies and business studies. Considers the potential of National Vocational Qualifications and the Library Association’s framework for continuing professional development in relation to flexible workers. Outlines the British Library Research and Development Department‐funded study investigating training for flexible LIS workers.

Flexible working in libraries: profit and potential pitfalls

Flexible workers are a growing part of the library and information sector, as they are in the service sector generally. Yet their specific needs and requirements have been greatly ignored. Outlines increasing flexibility in the labour market generally and discusses flexibility in library and information services. Discusses the incidence of established flexible working patterns such as part‐time, job‐share, temporary and flexi‐time working, and also of newer work forms such as homeworking and annualized hours. Uses data from a survey of 475 library and information services with a staff of 38,008 individuals. Examines the advantages and disadvantages of flexible working, and outlines the solutions worked out by case study organizations and managers. Suggests that effective use of flexible workers in library and information services necessitates the updating of management techniques and organizational strategy.

‘Jolly good reading’ [1] for girls: discourses of library work and femininity in career novels

Abstract Through a consideration of career novels and historical studies of Womens labour market activity, this article explores the feminisation of library work in the United Kingdom in the 1950s. It considers the interplay between the numerical and discursive feminisation of the sector by focusing on contemporary constructions of Womens suitability for certain kinds of library work due to supposed essential qualities. It argues that these presumed inherent characteristics of domesticity, a willingness to serve, orderliness and an ability to care for children combined to give femininity some value as a form of cultural capital: femininity could be traded in the labour market for low-level library work. However, although some women progressed to higher level work, their success was atypical: masculinity had a higher value in this market and thus the majority of the more senior posts went to men. Consequently, the article notes that alongside the feminization of the more junior levels of library work, a ...

Current practice in training flexible information workers

Reports findings of research investigating the training needs and opportunities of flexible information workers. Concludes that unless positive action is taken to address the needs of flexible information workers, they have fewer training opportunities than other workers, which has negative implications for overall levels of skill in the information labour market. Draws on quantitative data from a survey of 551 UK library and information services, and qualitative data from focus groups with flexible information workers and interviews with their managers. Argues that there are legislative, quality and workforce planning imperatives urging managers to address the needs of flexible information workers. Illustrates the differentiation in training offered to flexible and permanent full‐time workers using both quantitative and qualitative work. Presents examples from the case study organizations to offer ways to counteract these difficulties.

Angry Sentinels and Businesslike Women: Identity and Marital Status in 1950s English Library Career

Abstract Much energy has been exerted on the ‘image problem’ in librarianship, and negative representations of library spinsters. This paper outlines a different formulation of these issues by focusing on identity and constructions of marital status. It is argued that marital status was critical for women workers in this sector due to the widespread use of the marriage bar which curtailed womens employment on marriage. Yet we illustrate that womens identity cannot be assumed to be constructed within normative discourses of heterosexuality, and an alternative discursive approach to identity formation is outlined. The exemplars used are from library career novels published in the 1950s and 1960s. This paper was delivered at the Library History Groups ‘Libraries and Identity’ Conference, held at the Library Associations Under-One-Umbrella 5 meeting at UMIST, 1-3 July 1999·

Storm Center: a discursive approach to constructions of library workers

The film Storm Center was released in 1956, featuring Bette Davis as a librarian in small town America. The narrative is a parable of anti‐communism in the McCarthy era where the town council tries to remove a book on communism from the library. The librarian opposes this and is fired. The details and consequences provide a rich framework for a discursive approach to the text. A discursive approach is chosen because of the film’s extensive use of thematic oppositions around the central concern of censorship and freedom of information. A number of discourses are briefly explored including: femininity; the individual and the group; emotion and scientific rationalism. Concludes that qualitative work in library and information studies might benefit by considering the type of questions posed by discourse theory, as outlined here.

Women and librarianship: a review article

Reviews the significance of the report: Women and librarianship, produced by Patricia Layzell Ward and published by the Library Association in 1966; as the first major UK academic study of its kind. The importance of this report stems from its timeliness, coinciding both with the emergence of the Womens Liberation Movement and the long overdue election of the first woman, Lorna Paulin, to the post of Library Association President. Although great pains were taken in the report to stress the unfair treatment suffered by women library workers, the fact that the library profession at that time was still commonly using the marriage bar precluded a more radical tone, calling for social justice for women workers, even though that might have attracted more attention. The reports genesis is traced to a 1962 series of management lectures arranged by the Association of Assistant Librarians in which staffing problems, notably the position of qualified married women, were raised. Despite an initial muted reception in the professional press, many of the reports recommendations have since become familiar aspects of the contemporary library employment scene, albeit with different terminology. Two of the reports major findings are reviewed: the lack of part-time posts which might allow women to pursue paid work; and the difficulties facing women competing for senior posts. Reference is made to selected, recent UK-focused publications in order to explore the ways in which these issues have been developed up to the present.