{"id":67,"date":"2023-08-15T15:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T15:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/frontlineculture.net\/?p=67"},"modified":"2023-09-06T14:50:27","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T14:50:27","slug":"public-libraries-professionalism-and-the-civic-turn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frontlineculture.net\/?p=67","title":{"rendered":"Public Libraries, Professionalism and the Civic Turn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Blog originally posted to ICC website 9th July 2019: <em>Kerry Wilson shares her contribution to the recent debate on the future of civic culture, led by academics at the department of Media, Culture and Heritage at Newcastle University.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"55\" class=\"wp-image-69\" style=\"width: 150px;\" src=\"https:\/\/frontlineculture.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/library-sign.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/frontlineculture.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/library-sign.jpg 990w, https:\/\/frontlineculture.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/library-sign-300x111.jpg 300w, https:\/\/frontlineculture.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/library-sign-768x283.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/>I was invited by the team to contribute to a session on \u2018researching the role of civic culture\u2019 along with panel members Bethany, Anna Barker and David Churchill (University of Leeds) and Lindsay Findlay-King (Northumbria University). We were encouraged as researchers in the field to share and reflect upon what we mean by the term \u2018civic\u2019 and the implications that definitions of this term have for broader understandings about public participation in cultural and democratic life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We focused in particular on the differential impact that austerity cuts might be having on different groups, places and kinds of organisations, and were asked to think about the impact that austerity is having on cultural organisations\u2019 ability to engage with broad ideas of equality, inclusion and social justice. I discussed the impact on professional standards and values in public libraries, and the ethical implications of an increasing shift towards community-run and volunteer-led services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Public libraries as statutory civic services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our fundamental understanding of the civic role and value of public libraries comes from their status as statutory public services, with the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 requiring local authorities to provide a \u201ccomprehensive and efficient\u201d public library service. According then to principles of equality and inclusion, everybody can reasonably expect to have&nbsp;<em>equitable<\/em>&nbsp;access to a functional library service. Local authorities must \u2018lend books and other printed material free of charge for those who live, work or study in the area\u2019 with definitions of \u2018comprehensive and efficient\u2019 including \u2018having books and other printed matter and other materials in sufficient number, range and quality to meet the general requirements and any special requirements of adults and children. [local authorities] should either keep these items themselves or have arrangements with other library authorities to obtain them\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite this, we have seen consistent cuts, closures, reductions in and reconfigurations of library services, including significant changes to the professional fabric of the service, nationally:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>5000%&nbsp;<strong>increase in community-run libraries&nbsp;<\/strong>since 2010;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>40%&nbsp;<strong>reduction in total staff&nbsp;<\/strong>since 2005;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>242%&nbsp;<strong>increase in volunteers&nbsp;<\/strong>working in libraries since 2008.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>In defence of professional library services<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The response from the sector has been to defend its statutory but also professional status. The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cilip.org.uk\/page\/MyLibraryByRight\">My Library By Right<\/a>&nbsp;campaign led by the sector\u2019s professional body, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, promotes and defends our rights to \u2018quality\u2019 library services and has resulted in guidelines for local authorities having to review their current services. Library workers themselves have&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/iccliverpool.ac.uk\/?blog=in-culture-we-trust-valuing-emotional-investment-in-our-libraries-and-museums\">self-organised through various relevant unions<\/a>, holding regular local and national demonstrations against library cuts and campaigning for the retention of statutory, professionally run local authority services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/groups\/libraries-taskforce\">Libraries Taskforce<\/a>&nbsp;was convened by government in 2015 to \u2018provide leadership and help reinvigorate\u2019 the public library service. Its action plan acknowledges different models for responsive local service delivery, including commissioned, sub-contracted and community-run services, but emphasises the need to define excellence with appropriate benchmarks and service standards, supported by a workforce development Public Library Skills Strategy. The emphasis therefore is on the value of \u2018professionally\u2019 run services in ensuring that a \u201ccomprehensive and efficient\u201d public library service is available to all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cultural work and the rhetorical civic turn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gradually however and within the context of austerity, the civic role of libraries and other community assets has been rhetorically reframed to reflect more localised \u2018grassroots\u2019 agendas as opposed to statutory responsibilities. This has been enabled and accelerated by wider policy narratives, including for example public health strategies and policies to support more preventive, community-based care agendas in addressing the social determinants of health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Libraries and other cultural services have adopted the language of social value and asset based community development to good effect, particularly through the arts and health movement. Through my own research with reputable cultural services with clear civic and socially-orientated objectives, including public and prison libraries, best practice in the field is increasingly defined by the range and volume of collaborating organisations; the integral supporting role of third sector and voluntary organisations; and the diverse range of \u2018life-course\u2019 professional skills and experiences held by members of the collaborative community of practice. Despite the value paced in professionally run library services therefore, the professional autonomy and identity of the sector is increasingly at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Professional ethics and care in cultural work<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My current research on&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/iccliverpool.ac.uk\/?blog=forging-the-frontline-public-policy-and-communities-of-cultural-practice\">professional ethics in the field<\/a>&nbsp;is highlighting other issues concerning collaborative (inter)dependence and risk in cultural work, particularly when undertaken by volunteers. This includes for example the extent of emotional labour undertaken by both staff and volunteers, both in performative terms and in relation to the impact on own wellbeing and resilience. This necessitates self-managed care strategies and enhanced reflective practices that are arguably performed most \u2018successfully\u2019 by those with the social, intellectual, cultural and material resources to do so. There are other more pragmatic risks involved when working with and as volunteers, in not having the same levels of reporting, responsibility and accountability as paid members of a workforce or structured organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Codes of ethics or professional practice exist to communicate the mission and values of an organisation or sector, outlining how professionals are supposed to approach problems, ethical principles based on its core values, and the standards to which the \u2018professional\u2019 is held.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As an example of the legitimation and regulation of professional ethics in cultural work, the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) launched a revised&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cilip.org.uk\/page\/ethics\">Ethical Framework<\/a>&nbsp;in 2018, following a substantial consultation with members. The framework now covers seven \u2018ethical principles\u2019 including human rights, equalities and diversity; public benefit; preservation; intellectual freedom; impartiality; confidentiality; and information, skills and information literacy. In various studies of consistent or \u2018enduring\u2019 values across different organisational codes and consultations, definitive principles include stewardship; service; intellectual freedom; equity of access; privacy; literacy and learning; rationalism; and democracy (Gorman, 2000; Hauptman, 2002; Koehler, 2015).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Codes of practice however become increasingly difficult to enforce and are limited in their capacity to communicate, regulate and enforce professional standards in complex, cross-sector work environments. The \u2018civic turn\u2019 to community-led library services therefore presents another potential risk to ethical practice in the sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Equality, access and cultural value<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other issues concerning equality, access and cultural value are emerging from cuts to our civic culture landscape that resonate with&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/iccliverpool.ac.uk\/?blog=cultural-policy-professional-ethics-and-the-public-good\">wider debates in the cultural policy field<\/a>. There are for example persistent structural inequalities in cultural work, concerning who gets to work in cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in the first place. In the context of austerity, there are ethical implications of cultural work being positioned as a cost-effective alternative to other state-funded interventions, and its impact on statutory social services. The recently announced government&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/assets.publishing.service.gov.uk\/government\/uploads\/system\/uploads\/attachment_data\/file\/750909\/6.4882_DCMS_Loneliness_Strategy_web_Update.pdf\">strategy for tackling loneliness<\/a>&nbsp;for example provides another example of political appropriation of cultural work, that promotes a \u2018community response\u2019 yet ignores the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/discoversociety.org\/2018\/11\/06\/on-the-frontline-loneliness-and-the-politics-of-austerity\/\">damage done to the cultural sector and other statutory public services<\/a>&nbsp;by austerity measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The third sector \u2013 increasing crucial to public library services \u2013 is equally under-resourced and in need of infrastructural support. This is particularly true in relation to the ethical provision of professional, quality public services, and the long-term investment needed in terms of the multi-disciplinary skills, experience and expertise of the people who deliver them and their high levels of personal commitment. Perhaps the greatest civic responsibility for all of us, then, is to join the campaign for statutory, professional public library services. It is still, after all, #MyLibraryByRight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kerry Wilson shares her contribution to the recent debate on the future of civic culture, led by academics at the department of Media, Culture and Heritage at Newcastle University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultural-assets-communities-and-place","category-blogs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Public Libraries, Professionalism and the Civic Turn - Frontline Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/frontlineculture.net\/?p=67\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Public Libraries, Professionalism and the Civic Turn - 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