Introduction

This chapter looks at the historical development of public libraries since their establishment in 1857 and asks the question: ‘which model – traditional, community led or needs based – is most likely to have a sustainable future?’ The traditional public library still predominates, with strategies, structures, systems and cultures that have been modernised and reformed but not fundamentally changed for over 170 years. It is this model that makes public libraries such low-hanging fruit for cashstrapped councils and neoliberal ideologues. The community-led library had its day in the 1970s but was crushed by the juggernaut of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's monetarist policies, which understood the cost, but not the value, of public libraries. The needs-based public library is a rarity within capitalist societies, but can still be developed under the right conditions, which include strong leadership and a constant focus on the role and importance of ideology. Public libraries are part of the ideological superstructure which is shaped and determined by the economic base. But this process can also work in reverse, and the needs-based library, in particular, has the potential to become a call to action in the class struggle (Pateman, 2016).

Dialectical and historical materialism

There is more than one model of public library. Since its creation in 1857 the public library has gone through a series of developments. The original model was the traditional library. It was traditional in terms of its strategies, structures, systems and culture. This model predominated until the 1970s, when a new type of public library began to emerge: the community-led library, which was born out of the womb of the traditional library.