will not have specialist training in children’s work. There are some authorities in which
no central specialist control or support is available, and the development of services
locally depends upon the expertise, interest and enthusiasm of individuals.
During the last decade, the wide variety of provision which exists among authorities
has been influenced by significant political events. The 1980s and 1990s have been
marked by swingeing cuts in the public sector, and very few authorities have escaped
the resultant effects. There have been library closures, reductions in opening hours,
staffing cuts, slashed bookfunds and little refurbishment of the older library buildings.
Market forces, one of the hallmarks of Conservative philosophy, have pervaded
children’s libraries, with the spectre of charges being imposed for certain facilities—
something quite alien to the ethos of the free public library movement. The growth of
citizen’s charters as part of a move towards greater accountability and user entitlement
in public life, has prompted public libraries to establish customer charters and service
specifications, some specifically for young people. These documents set out the nature
of service entitlement indicating the importance of library services.
The value and importance of children’s librariesViewed historically, there has been a shift in the philosophy underpinning the British
children’s library service. While acknowledging the traditional and fundamental right of
young people to have access to a service (as enshrined in the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child, 1990), contemporary children’s librarianship perceives
children as an ‘investment’ and ‘at the heart of the core services’:
The role of the public library in meeting the needs of children and young people is of
paramount importance in the future economic and cultural health of this country...
[C]ontinuation of its service to them...is a critical factor in the future development of
the public library service as a whole.
Department of National Heritage 1995:64Traditionally, the library has been perceived as a major contributor to the development
of literacy, and this remains a primary aim of the service. Through its collections, and
ultimately through reading, the public library supports children’s leisure needs and
contributes to their intellectual, emotional, social, educational and language
development. In this way the library can create the habitual adult reader and user,
instilling a positive view of reading and libraries throughout adulthood. The emergence of
the new technologies has extended the concept of literacy to embrace, for example,
computer, visual and aural literacies, and children’s libraries are beginning to
acknowledge and respond to this challenge.
Public libraries also seek to create at an early age an understanding of the power and
importance of information in society, and to help equip the child with the skills
necessary to locate and handle that information.
Today, the public library fulfils complementary social and cultural functions through
its programmes of activities, promoting social interaction among young people, between
children and other groups in the community, while fostering an awareness of the culture
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