Progressive Librarianship

Public spending is under threat and public libraries are
suffering. At a time when libraries can play a critical role in
supporting people facing difficult economic and social situations, the
dominant conservative model of librarianship has nothing meaningful to
say about the role and relevance of libraries. It offers more of the
same, but no qualitative change so necessary today. It continues to
maintain the myth that there is no alternative to its own policies and
practices. There is thus an urgent need to alternative ideas and
practices to address people’s needs. The progressive librarianship
movement is taking up this challenge. It has also been active in Kenya
and Britain but its work is not widely know. The Kenyan movement
differed from the others in that it grew within the underground
political movement in the 1980s – the December Twelve Movement/Mwakenya.
Using original documents, this book records this hidden history. In the
process, it examines key concepts such as the role of libraries and the
relevance of service. Linking library work with the wider social and
political concerns, the book explores issues such as politics of
information, the role of activism and “neutrality” in library work. It
offers an alternative approach to librarianship, to the training of
librarians and to organisational change to make libraries more relevant
to people’s lives.