Introduction

We are getting very close now. The peak of Ideology is within reach. It will take just one more hard push to get there. But the last mile is always the hardest. Dangers lie ahead. There will be false paths that lead to dead ends. Some of these will be signposted ‘neutral’, ‘apolitical’, ‘classless’ and ‘ideology-free’ because that is what we have been socially and professionally conditioned to believe about public libraries. We are like the two fish that were swimming along together one day when another fish came by and said, ‘The water is nice today.’ The two fish carried on swimming a little way and then stopped and looked at each other in bewilderment: one of them said ‘What the hell is water?’ That, in a nutshell, is Ideology. We can't see, touch, hear or smell it, but it has a constant impact on our daily lives. We are programmed from birth to believe certain ‘truths’, whether that is ‘capitalism is better than communism’ or ‘public libraries have nothing to do with Ideology.’ This makes it very challenging to write about Ideology and public libraries. For most people, these words don't belong in the same sentence, never mind being the subject of a whole book. You should hold this thought in your mind as you reach for the peak. At some point you may throw your hands up in the air in frustration and say, ‘but what has all this politics got to do with libraries?’ or ‘I can't see the library because the politics are getting in the way.’ But, as Marshall McLuhan said ‘The medium (library) is the message (politics)’. At first, this concept might seem vague and is indeed a lot to grasp. But understanding the meaning behind these words can revolutionise the way we think about public libraries.

Public libraries have been around for nearly 200 years. They are an enduring public institution. In the United Kingdom (UK) they enjoy similar levels of public affection as the National Health Service (NHS). Like the NHS, they are a public service that is available to all free and at the point of need. They have survived two world wars and numerous economic downturns. They have demonstrated resilience and the capacity to change in order to both improve and survive. They are used by millions of people every year. They have changed countless lives. But now they are facing an existential threat. Neoliberal politics and austerity economics have combined to challenge the very premise of why public libraries exist. They are a public good that no longer fits into a world order which values everything solely in monetary terms. Even when they make an economic argument for their existence – and it is easy to demonstrate the return on investment that they generate – this is dismissed by politicians who regard ever-shrinking public sector budgets as finite and rationed. In this environment, how can a public library possibly be more important than a hospital or a school? They are a low-hanging fruit that has been plucked in England for nearly 20 years. And there is no end in sight to this senseless harvest, whichever political party is in power.

Public libraries are now subjected to the type of intellectual scrutiny and economic logic that prevails on the television series Dragons’ Den. It would be a brave person who tries to pitch the public library to the kind of hard-nosed business people who make decisions in the Den, in Whitehall and in local councils.

Introduction

The peak of Ideology has been reached. From here you can look down (in more ways than one) on the Leadership base camp and the Management foothills. From where you’re standing, they look relatively small and insignificant, compared to the magnificent vistas and all round vision that Ideology affords you. But you still have much to learn. Your journey is, in fact, never ending. The Ideology library is an asymptote: an ideal that you are constantly reaching for but can never fully obtain. This protects against complacency and revisionism. You must always be on your guard against old ideas that will re-emerge if the ideological struggle is not maintained at all times. This makes the Ideology library dynamic and never able to rest on its laurels. We have one more guide to learn from whose ideas were forged through the experience of leading and maintaining a revolution that has turned China into one of the most powerful countries in the world: Chairman Mao. And he did it through the power of ideology. Before the Chinese Revolution in 1949 China was a divided, feudal country with no national library system. The Revolution transformed Management libraries into Leadership libraries and then Ideology libraries under Mao's leadership. Mao stressed the importance of both leadership and ideology in the revolutionary process, which included the Great Leap Forward and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. As Mao (1940, 382) said: ‘Revolutionary culture is a powerful revolutionary weapon for the broad masses of the people. It prepares the ground ideologically before the revolution comes and is an important, indeed essential, fighting front in the general revolutionary front during the revolution’.

There are a few things you should know about Understanding Public Libraries. First and foremost, it is written from a Marxist-Leninist perspective. That is what makes my analysis new and different. This book is both political and partisan. It forcefully argues that public libraries should serve the proletariat. I will say that again. It is a partisan tract in favour of the working class, and it is written in the name of Marxism- Leninism. I state this for clarity so that there are no misunderstandings. I am being honest here so that there will be no surprises. I make no apologies for taking this approach. After all, most other books about libraries have also been written from a political (capitalist) and partisan (bourgeois) perspective. But the authors of these books do not have to declare this because their work is part of the cultural hegemony or dominant narrative about how society and public libraries ‘naturally’ work. But capitalism is neither ‘natural’ nor permanent. It is a transitory stage on the historical development of society from primitive communism to slavery, feudalism, capitalism, socialism and communism. History did not end with the advent of capitalism. There are still two stages to come. Understanding Public Libraries raises high the banner of Marxism-Leninism and constitutes a true and tested guide for public librarianship, the working class and the glorious future of communism.

Many of you may be unfamiliar with the concept of dialectical materialism, which is the world-view of Marxism-Leninism and the lens through which public libraries are analysed in this study.

Introduction

So, here we are at the start of our journey in the foothills of the Management library. We must be prepared for what lies ahead. We begin by checking our backpacks, making sure we have enough food and clean socks. We coil our ropes and fix crampons onto our boots. Most importantly we test our compasses and follow the contours of the itinerary on our maps. We know where we want to get to but it is not entirely clear how we are going to get there. The lines on the map look solid and reliable, but the reality of our journey may be very different. There are bound to be some unexpected pitfalls and setbacks. There may be sudden strong winds, violent storms, hidden crevasses, landslides and avalanches. We might not all make it. As we look up to the peak of Ideology, it is hidden by clouds. Maybe it doesn't really exist after all? There is only one way to find out. Our guides on the first stage of the journey are very experienced. Charles Handy is a veteran in the field of understanding organisations. He will be an invaluable source of wisdom, knowledge, theory and practical skills. He knows everything there is to know about Management. Don't be afraid to ask him any questions that cross your mind – even those that might seem trivial or ‘stupid’. Those are often the best kind of questions. Gramsci is also on hand if you have some more detailed or specialist queries. If you don't immediately understand his answers, don't worry, everything will make sense by the time we reach base camp.

Introduction

You are nearly there. Just a few more steps and you will be at the peak of Ideology. Our final guide is Larrain who will help you understand the essence of the Ideology library. On your journey you have learned that Management is important. And Leadership is vital. But Ideology is essential to grasping the realities of public libraries: why they were invented, who invented them and the class interests they were designed to serve. The Ideology library is alive and well in the socialist countries of Cuba, China, Vietnam and North Korea. I know this to be true because I have been to these places and seen the Ideology library in action. It is truly impressive. It is the highest stage of public library development. I am most familiar with the Cuban library system. I have visited Cuba many times and in 2002 I was awarded the Cuban Culture Medal (which is rarely given to non-Cubans) for my work in support of Cuban public libraries. The following year I was honoured to share a platform with Comrade Fidel Castro at the Third Cuban Cultural Congress held at the Karl Marx Theatre in Havana. The history of Cuban public libraries since the Triumph of the Revolution in January 1959 passed through all three key stages of development. Before the Revolution, Cuba had very few libraries. The Management libraries that existed were for the privileged and the rich. There were no libraries for the working class and the poor. This changed very quickly after the Triumph of the Revolution when Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba made Culture one of the Pillars of the Revolution, alongside socialised healthcare and education for all, free of charge.

Introduction

Well done, you made it! That wasn't so bad, was it? Gramsci can be a little difficult at times, but he has brought you to the base camp of Leadership without too many problems. Corrigan's compass and Gilespie's map were also very useful. We can now rest here a while and take in the new environment. So, what has changed? The landscape of ‘doing the thing right’ has given way to a more rugged terrain – ‘doing the thing right’. Once again, we have guides to help us navigate the path ahead. Charles Handy is still with us and has been joined this time by Raymond Williams who will show us how cultural materialism can challenge, but not fundamentally change, the cultural hegemony that underpins the Management library. ‘Oh no’, I hear some of you groan, ‘This sounds like Gramsci all over again, but without the Italian this time.’ Raymond will do his best to explain but, as with many new concepts, it may take some effort on your part to fully grasp what he is saying. And, like Antonio, he wasn't writing specifically about Public Libraries – so you will have to use your imagination a little to make those connections. You might also struggle with the concept of Juche leadership and wonder what the hell it has to do with Public Libraries: the simple answer is ‘a lot’ but this may only become fully apparent when we get to the end of our journey. For now, just relax, rest, breathe deeply, enjoy the fresh air, but beware of the wolves. Have something to eat, get a good night's sleep, and prepare yourselves for whatever comes next.

Introduction

Did you sleep well? No bad dreams? Good – breakfast is ready, but there's no bacon as the wolves broke into the provisions tent last night. Our guide to the Leadership library will be Modrzhinskay, who is an expert on the Battle of Ideas, which must be won if the Leadership library is going to be born from the womb of the Management library. So think of Modrzhinskay as the midwife who will oversee this process. But I must warn you that, if you had problems with Gramsci and Williams, you may really struggle with Modrzhinskay: it is hard enough to spell or say his name, never mind explain his ideas, but he will do his best to help you. Remember that English is not his first language and he is more familiar with Leninism than Public Libraries, but he still has much to say that is relevant to our journey. He will try to avoid using jargon and difficult language, but sometimes this is unavoidable – new ideas need new words to describe them – and of course there is also the danger of ideas getting lost in translation. When looking at the map of our journey, Modrzhinskay will use a very special pair of glasses to focus his thinking. One lens is called Marxism and the other is Leninism. When you look through these glasses you will find that Marxism- Leninism will help you to see things that were previously hidden or invisible to your eyes. So be careful when you put them on. The world will appear very differently through them. Look up and you will clearly see the soaring peak of Ideology. So near, yet still so far.

In this chapter we turn to discussing local policies and how to use them to support the actions that need to be taken to make your library more diverse, inclusive and equal. Policies provide a useful framework and can help ensure that everyone understands what is expected of them, but actions are at the heart of making change. Too often we spend far too long in discussion and far too little time in action. So, as you move towards creating policies make sure that they are designed to encourage and facilitate actions.

Throughout this book you will find actions that you as an individual can do to make your workplace a more welcoming, inclusive and diverse place. Although individuals working on improving their workplaces is often at the heart of moving forward in EDI, there is only so much that any one individual can do, and working on your own can lead to burnout.

One way to maximise the effect you have and to avoid burnout is to think about your sphere of influence (Bonfield, 2021). Many of the ideas and tips in this book will give you ideas on how to change your everyday practice and ways of influencing your immediate colleagues or managers. But how can you widen your influence further? A good way of doing this is to do as the ancient Roman Stoics did and consider your sphere of influence, and the spheres of influence of your allies and supporters (Figure 3.1 on the next page).

Let's start at the beginning.

What is EDI? It stands for equality (or equity), diversity and inclusion. It is not the only acronym in this space but it is the one mostly used in the UK. Hopefully, if you have picked up this book then you are already on your journey to providing a more equal, diverse and inclusive library service where you work. You may want to learn more about EDI, or you might already be a seasoned expert in it, just interested in someone else's take. Both of those are valid places to be.

This book will not give you all the answers. It is important to be clear about this from the outset. No one book, or author, or speaker can tell you how to ‘do EDI’ and anyone who says they can is lying. Instead, as individual librarians we must work to listen to as many voices as we can, to really think about those viewpoints, to put ourselves in someone else's shoes as much as is possible, to synthesise all the information we have. And then to do something about it.

This book is the result of my work doing just that. It is not the end of my journey into learning about equality, equity, inclusion, diversity, justice, but it is a milestone along the way. Hopefully, some of the conversations I’ve had, and some of the work done by other people whose voices are featured in this book, will help you to move on with your journey.

Library spaces often host events, for example:

• ■ to bring new people into a public library

• ■ building tours

• ■ teaching sessions for undergraduate students

• ■ visits from publishers

• ■ visits from authors

■ conferences where library staff are discussing best practice.

The possibilities for events are practically never ending, but each one can be improved by viewing it through an EDI lens.

In this chapter we will discuss a variety of topics to help ensure that your events are as inclusive and welcoming as possible. This is a fast-moving field and new ideas pop up all the time so rather than think about these tips as ‘the way to do it’, consider the angle they are coming from. As with all EDI focused topics we want to consider a few main questions:

• ■ Are those in minority groups encouraged and welcome to attend the events?

• ■ Is it as easy as possible for those in minority groups to attend?

• ■ Are you catering to diverse needs and expectations during the event?

• ■ Are you providing a diverse array of events and listening to what everyone in the community would like?

Who gets to attend?

Speakers Which topics get spoken about, and by whom, can shape the conversation for the future. By ensuring that you invite a diverse range of speakers into your library space you can encourage diversity in those who attend (Dominguez, 2012). When people look at a line-up of speakers and see no one who looks like them, speaks from a similar set of life experiences to them, or provides them with relevant insight, they are unlikely to attend. They may write off future events without even looking at the programme.

Legal frameworks

Providing training on EDI is not a legal requirement for organisations within the UK, however it is often the first concrete action that is put into place when library managers attempt to make a library more diverse, inclusive and equal. Frequently, EDI training is given to new staff, or possibly given yearly to existing staff on a level with subjects such as cyber security and fire risk. However, this is not always the case – sometimes training is voluntary. Unfortunately, voluntary training can lead to a situation where you are preaching to the choir, with those who could most benefit from the training failing to prioritise it. Without compulsory training, it is difficult to ensure that all staff members understand the expectations of them, and of patrons, and know how to deal with situations when they go wrong.

If your organisation provides training already, now might be a good time to look at what it contains, ensure it is up to date regarding legal require ments, and decide whether the content reflects the EDI environment that you are building within your organisation. If the training simply describes the Equality Act 2010, you may wish to look at alternative providers or additional training material.

Many organisations buy in training courses rather than creating their own, which is often the most cost-effective method of providing training and likely to provide higher production values than a course which is created in house. However, it is important that the training is assessed for suitability.

Promoting EDI is not about compliance with the law, although compliance with the law can be thought of as the absolute base line to work to. Legal frameworks around equality are rarely aspirational and instead cover very basic provisions to prevent people from being actively victimised at work, or in their communities, because of their identity.

In the last few years, worldwide, pushback has been seen on some frameworks and laws resulting in cases with protections being actively removed, such as the right to an abortion in the USA (Coen-Sanchez et al., 2022). In the UK we have not seen quite this level of rollback, but across the political spectrum politicians are quite happy to stoke arguments over EDI issues as part of their campaigning strategy. This has been seen from even the highest levels of UK government with the Conservative party including in their Long-term Decisions for a Brighter Future campaign with a poster entitled ‘Kicking woke ideology out of science’, with a pretty, but meaningless, image of some coloured beakers. Many scientists pushed back on this, pointing out that EDI work is essential to them, to allow women, people of colour, people with disabilities and anyone else who might otherwise have a harder road to have access to education and knowledge. An issue which is also close to the hearts of those of us who work in libraries.

Managers in many organisations rely heavily on the law when dealing with EDI issues. Rather than thinking about how to make sure that all their staff and patrons are able to use their services, and feel welcomed and respected, many managers instead concentrate on reducing risk around legal ramifications.

Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) are topics that consistently appear in institutional strategies and ways of working documents. Managers at most institutions want to be seen to be engaging in this area, ensuring wellbeing for their staff, and welcoming in a diverse range of library users. But it can often be very hard to know what works, and what is achievable. Activities can gain popularity and spread throughout the library section – Black History Month book displays, the use of unconscious bias training and the creation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ+) staff networks being prime examples of EDI based initiatives that have become ubiquitous. In this book I address the positives, and sometimes negatives, of activities such as these, and hopefully introduce you to a wide range of other projects which may give you fresh ideas.

This book is designed as a concise and broad introduction to many of the topics you may encounter when trying to make your library inclusive and welcoming to library users and staff. It is a deliberately practical approach to EDI, concentrating on suggesting achievable actions which will make a difference to patrons and staff within your library. I have very rarely dived into theory, or discussion of the big global picture surrounding the push for equity, instead opting for a book which I hope will help you create an EDI focused mindset. At the end of each chapter there is a list of resources which will help you to learn more deeply about the topics covered. The views expressed in these books and resources will not always agree with mine. EDI is a fast-moving topic, and there are a multitude of viewpoints. I advise you to read widely and listen to many different voices on the topic.

Throughout, you will encounter case studies which describe projects carried out in a range of libraries. Some were written after interviews with the staff who spearheaded the projects, others were collated from already existing reports on the ideas behind them. The projects may not translate directly to your library, but by considering how staff have approached them, you may develop similar ideas tailored to your own situation.

Almost all libraries share concerns about physical space and it can be a considerable challenge for library staff to ensure it is accessible and welcoming to all.

Some libraries are within modern buildings, with modern regulations where facilities such as fire exits and wheelchair ramps are considered standard, but when libraries are in 19th and even 20th century buildings, albeit they were purpose built as a library, they can be difficult to bring up to the standards we expect in the 21st century.

Frequently, in these days of stretched and underfunded services, public libraries share buildings with other council, governmental or social services, or even other commercial organisations. This can cause increased difficulties in ensuring that staff and patrons feel welcomed, valued and safe. In some cases, particularly in professional or research libraries, the library may not have any dedicated space, or only a small area in a larger building. In these organisations the patrons may simply use library resources from their usual working environment. Although the library may not have much power over improving shared spaces, you may find it possible to join estates or EDI committees which have a remit for the building more generally.

Intimidating libraries

Can you remember the first time you stepped foot inside a library? If you were introduced to a public or school library as a young child, then maybe not, but this is not the case for everybody. These spaces can be strange and intimidating for those who haven't had the opportunity to learn about libraries early in life.