Academic literature on the topic 'Public libraries Political aspects Victoria'

Political and cultural agendas determine the programs of public libraries, implying complex and often conflicting requirements in terms of their functioning. On one hand, they intend to materialize a political discourse of open and equal access to knowledge. On the other, they have functional and epistemological needs that might restrict or condition the distribution and access of books, equipment, and people. This article looks at how space, program, and use interrelate in the emergence of public libraries as a building type, focusing on how they express an intended public message and fulfil specific social and cultural effects. It is argued that each of these three aspects underpins power relations in libraries. By embedding an epistemology of science, space also embeds social and cultural hierarchies. Through defining an educational agenda for public libraries, program endorses the idea that citizenship depends on instruction and literacy, implying technocracy. Finally, by becoming collective under the frames of space and program, use materializes the idea of a “self-regulated society,” which embeds a twofold process: to be regulated by all others and to engage in a process of participatory action and regulation. The article reviews the literature on the historical emergence of public libraries and recommends that studies of contemporary libraries should consider how this building type originally framed social relationships through its architecture, materializing specific ideologies of politics and culture.

American Librarian Ralph Munn's historic tour of Australian libraries in 1934 is well documented. Along with Ernest Pitt, Chief Librarian of the State Library of Victoria, he spent nearly ten weeks travelling from Sydney and back again, visiting libraries in all the state capitals and many regional towns throughout the country. Munn's trip was funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which was then, through its Dominions fund, turning attention to philanthropic opportunities in the Antipodes. The resulting report, Australian Libraries: A Survey of Conditions and Suggestions for their Improvement (commonly referred to as the Munn–Pitt Report) is often credited with initiating the public library movement in Australia.

Reflexão crítica sobre bibliotecas como templo dos saberes, suas facetas e mudanças. Debate sobre políticas de acesso de acervos públicos e privados. Importância de bibliotecas para atender o ser humano em suas dimensões sociais, educacionais, culturais, econômicas. Abstract A critical reflection about libraries as knowledge temple, its facets and changes. Debates some political aspects of public and private access to libraries’ collections. Importance of libraries to take care of the human being in its social, educational, cultural and economic dimensions.

Reflexão crítica sobre bibliotecas como templo dos saberes, suas facetas e mudanças. Debate sobre políticas de acesso de acervos públicos e privados. Importância de bibliotecas para atender o ser humano em suas dimensões sociais, educacionais, culturais, econômicas. Abstract A critical reflection about libraries as knowledge temple, its facets and changes. Debates some political aspects of public and private access to libraries’ collections. Importance of libraries to take care of the human being in its social, educational, cultural and economic dimensions.

There has recently been a growth in physical convergence in cultural heritage domains. Part 1 examines this ‘trend’, its drivers and related issues, with particular focus on public libraries and museums. It offers an overview of practice, challenges and opportunities. Through thematic analysis of a comprehensive, literature review of both domains that looked at the wider aspects of collaboration, cooperation, partnerships and integration in the sector as well as physical convergence, it provides insight into background, theory and activities worldwide. It presents discussion on the meaning of convergence, the concept of ‘memory institutions’, the relationship between public libraries and museums in the context of convergence, shared mission and values, convergence and re-convergence, and professionalism and divergence. It concludes with consideration of practical aspects such as motivations for convergence, including digital technology, changing user expectations and culture, and economic and political challenges that impact on physical convergence in a dynamic local government environment.

Public libraries, which are undergoing technological and socio-cultural changes, today become centres of socialization of communities, creating social and cultural well-being, therefore, their effective management becomes the object of research. This is also relevant in the implementation of public policy: strategic documents (“Europe 2030”, “Lithuania 2030”), which guide public sector bodies to achieve a sustainable economy, also actualize the ability to anticipate the necessary changes in the organization.In addition to the usual long-term strategic goals (providing high-quality various services, programs, resources to people of all ages; developing existing collections; creating an environment that responds to community needs and promotes creativity), municipal libraries aim to strengthen the institution’s management and develop local communities. Due to COVID-19, the revised strategic plans of public libraries of the Republic of Lithuania have made the accessibility aspect of services even more relevant. Long-term goals testify to the need for strategic change, at the same time raise the problematic questions: what are the essential aspects of science in the management of strategic change in the municipal public library? What is the situation of strategic change management in Lithuanian municipal public libraries? The research aims to practically investigate the situation of strategic change management in Lithuanian municipal public libraries and to discern the aspects to be improved.Based on the scientific literature, we define strategic change as significant fundamental changes in the organization aimed at positive change: to eliminate shortcomings, negative consequences and take on new challenges inherent in the organization’s strategy. They are always linked to the strategic goals of the organization, are changing or touching the entire organization, requiring strategic and change management competencies.The strategic changes implemented in the libraries of the Republic of Lithuania in this decade are more attributable to adaptation or evolution, as there are changes in sustainable growth. According to the hierarchical structural model, strategic administrative (changes in management structures, processes) or strategic functional changes (e.g. changes in personnel, financial management strategy, etc.) are usually initiated in the municipal public libraries themselves. Strategic political and strategic changes in work are mainly driven by politicians. Strategic change requires leadership at all levels of an organization’s governance and is generally seen as a significant factor in increasing employees’ commitment to change.The management of strategic change in libraries as a process has much in common with the management of strategic change in other public sector institutions. Their management in libraries is influenced by external and internal factors, in particular public policy. Among the internal factors for municipal public libraries, the process of managing changes, in general, is important, as it was common practice in Lithuanian municipalities to work in accordance with the municipal cultural policy strategy without developing a separate strategy for the development of their own, separate institution. In the current context of increasing decentralization of governance, it is increasingly the responsibility of libraries to take the initiative and take care of the long-term goals of the organization.The public libraries of two neighbouring municipalities (Akmenė district and Mažeikiai district) were selected for the research, a strategy of mixed methods was applied, combining qualitative research methods (content analysis of documents) and quantitative research methods (total questionnaire survey of both library employees except director and deputy director using apklausa.lt, after receiving participants’ consent via e-mails).Having analysed the strategic plans and activity reports of the years 2011–2021 of public libraries in municipalities of Akmenė district and Mažeikiai district, it was revealed that the most important strategic changes in the recent period correspond to the guidelines of Lithuanian cultural policy (2010) and were mostly technological changes or technological-organizational: related to building reconstructions, renovations; with the digitization of administrative management and services; with the socialization of socially excluded groups, with the increase of digital literacy of communities through education, etc. The documents testify that the public library in Mažeikiai district, during the research, already had its own strategic plan, while the public library in Akmenė district, was developing its first strategy. Different experiences of strategic management have also led to partly different expressions of strategic change management in libraries. The library in Mažeikiai district constantly performs the analysis of external factors, while the library in Akmenė district yet only intends to do so. Among the external factors, the project activities carried out by Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, including public libraries, are important in both cases. By strategizing activities, both libraries conduct the performance analysis using SWOT, highlighting similar weaknesses (limited funding for modernization), strengths (systematically training staff, modernized public library infrastructure, strong collaborative relationships with other public and county libraries).Wider cooperation with business is not yet visible. The library in Akmenė district sees the consideration of the needs of stakeholders and the use of social partners’ resources as an opportunity, whereas the library in Mažeikiai district is already planning more active partnership relations, also with Lithuanian and foreign libraries.After conducting the opinion research of the employees of public libraries in Akmenė district and Mažeikiai district, the following most important aspects of the management of strategic changes in the studied municipal public libraries have been revealed:Situation – libraries undergo strategic changes initiated by external institutions through programs and projects; they have experience in implementing strategic change, communicating the results of change; there is no resistance to innovations in libraries; employees begin to be involved in strategic change management through separate sub-processes, while for the time being, managers take the lead in strategic change management; organizations lack a deeper understanding of strategic change, the competencies to initiate them involving the entire library community. Potential – employees would like to be more involved in the management of strategic change: 1) relatively good internal communication about already implemented (mostly project-based) strategic changes is revealed; 2) over 10 percent of employees are already involved in managing strategic change; 3) half of the surveyed employees feel able to offer ideas for innovations and strategic changes, the other 50 percent of employees feel “not invited” to do so; 4) Most staff feel ready to take on good practice from other (including foreign) institutions.This research has confirmed the insights of scholars and cultural strategists that public libraries today are undergoing tremendous change, making long-term perspective knowledge and strategic planning a necessity in every organization. With the growth of decentralization of management as well as the uncertainty due to global changes, in the public sector this is achieved through greater involvement of the community in governance and inter-institutional cooperation. Leadership alone is not enough.This research shows that municipal public libraries have the potential to initiate and manage strategic change themselves, as they have been involved in the implementation of changes initiated by external institutions for 10 years, there is no anti-change attitude in organizations. On the other hand, there is a lack of experience and competencies to anticipate change, initiate change, motivate employees to get involved themselves. This research also raises the debate questions that require broader research: Knowing that municipal public libraries are accustomed to working according to the programs, projects and plans coming from above, the question arises whether the current 2016-2017 legislation on improving library management approved by the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania is effective and meets today’s challenges; why there is no methodological assistance to public libraries on how to improve their management. What governance structure of municipal public libraries would be conducive to increasing staff involvement in strategic change management? What managerial innovations would increase employee motivation to initiate change?

Public libraries, which are undergoing technological and socio-cultural changes, today become centres of socialization of communities, creating social and cultural well-being, therefore, their effective management becomes the object of research. This is also relevant in the implementation of public policy: strategic documents (“Europe 2030”, “Lithuania 2030”), which guide public sector bodies to achieve a sustainable economy, also actualize the ability to anticipate the necessary changes in the organization.In addition to the usual long-term strategic goals (providing high-quality various services, programs, resources to people of all ages; developing existing collections; creating an environment that responds to community needs and promotes creativity), municipal libraries aim to strengthen the institution’s management and develop local communities. Due to COVID-19, the revised strategic plans of public libraries of the Republic of Lithuania have made the accessibility aspect of services even more relevant. Long-term goals testify to the need for strategic change, at the same time raise the problematic questions: what are the essential aspects of science in the management of strategic change in the municipal public library? What is the situation of strategic change management in Lithuanian municipal public libraries? The research aims to practically investigate the situation of strategic change management in Lithuanian municipal public libraries and to discern the aspects to be improved.Based on the scientific literature, we define strategic change as significant fundamental changes in the organization aimed at positive change: to eliminate shortcomings, negative consequences and take on new challenges inherent in the organization’s strategy. They are always linked to the strategic goals of the organization, are changing or touching the entire organization, requiring strategic and change management competencies.The strategic changes implemented in the libraries of the Republic of Lithuania in this decade are more attributable to adaptation or evolution, as there are changes in sustainable growth. According to the hierarchical structural model, strategic administrative (changes in management structures, processes) or strategic functional changes (e.g. changes in personnel, financial management strategy, etc.) are usually initiated in the municipal public libraries themselves. Strategic political and strategic changes in work are mainly driven by politicians. Strategic change requires leadership at all levels of an organization’s governance and is generally seen as a significant factor in increasing employees’ commitment to change.The management of strategic change in libraries as a process has much in common with the management of strategic change in other public sector institutions. Their management in libraries is influenced by external and internal factors, in particular public policy. Among the internal factors for municipal public libraries, the process of managing changes, in general, is important, as it was common practice in Lithuanian municipalities to work in accordance with the municipal cultural policy strategy without developing a separate strategy for the development of their own, separate institution. In the current context of increasing decentralization of governance, it is increasingly the responsibility of libraries to take the initiative and take care of the long-term goals of the organization.The public libraries of two neighbouring municipalities (Akmenė district and Mažeikiai district) were selected for the research, a strategy of mixed methods was applied, combining qualitative research methods (content analysis of documents) and quantitative research methods (total questionnaire survey of both library employees except director and deputy director using apklausa.lt, after receiving participants’ consent via e-mails).Having analysed the strategic plans and activity reports of the years 2011–2021 of public libraries in municipalities of Akmenė district and Mažeikiai district, it was revealed that the most important strategic changes in the recent period correspond to the guidelines of Lithuanian cultural policy (2010) and were mostly technological changes or technological-organizational: related to building reconstructions, renovations; with the digitization of administrative management and services; with the socialization of socially excluded groups, with the increase of digital literacy of communities through education, etc. The documents testify that the public library in Mažeikiai district, during the research, already had its own strategic plan, while the public library in Akmenė district, was developing its first strategy. Different experiences of strategic management have also led to partly different expressions of strategic change management in libraries. The library in Mažeikiai district constantly performs the analysis of external factors, while the library in Akmenė district yet only intends to do so. Among the external factors, the project activities carried out by Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, including public libraries, are important in both cases. By strategizing activities, both libraries conduct the performance analysis using SWOT, highlighting similar weaknesses (limited funding for modernization), strengths (systematically training staff, modernized public library infrastructure, strong collaborative relationships with other public and county libraries).Wider cooperation with business is not yet visible. The library in Akmenė district sees the consideration of the needs of stakeholders and the use of social partners’ resources as an opportunity, whereas the library in Mažeikiai district is already planning more active partnership relations, also with Lithuanian and foreign libraries.After conducting the opinion research of the employees of public libraries in Akmenė district and Mažeikiai district, the following most important aspects of the management of strategic changes in the studied municipal public libraries have been revealed:Situation – libraries undergo strategic changes initiated by external institutions through programs and projects; they have experience in implementing strategic change, communicating the results of change; there is no resistance to innovations in libraries; employees begin to be involved in strategic change management through separate sub-processes, while for the time being, managers take the lead in strategic change management; organizations lack a deeper understanding of strategic change, the competencies to initiate them involving the entire library community. Potential – employees would like to be more involved in the management of strategic change: 1) relatively good internal communication about already implemented (mostly project-based) strategic changes is revealed; 2) over 10 percent of employees are already involved in managing strategic change; 3) half of the surveyed employees feel able to offer ideas for innovations and strategic changes, the other 50 percent of employees feel “not invited” to do so; 4) Most staff feel ready to take on good practice from other (including foreign) institutions.This research has confirmed the insights of scholars and cultural strategists that public libraries today are undergoing tremendous change, making long-term perspective knowledge and strategic planning a necessity in every organization. With the growth of decentralization of management as well as the uncertainty due to global changes, in the public sector this is achieved through greater involvement of the community in governance and inter-institutional cooperation. Leadership alone is not enough.This research shows that municipal public libraries have the potential to initiate and manage strategic change themselves, as they have been involved in the implementation of changes initiated by external institutions for 10 years, there is no anti-change attitude in organizations. On the other hand, there is a lack of experience and competencies to anticipate change, initiate change, motivate employees to get involved themselves. This research also raises the debate questions that require broader research: Knowing that municipal public libraries are accustomed to working according to the programs, projects and plans coming from above, the question arises whether the current 2016-2017 legislation on improving library management approved by the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania is effective and meets today’s challenges; why there is no methodological assistance to public libraries on how to improve their management. What governance structure of municipal public libraries would be conducive to increasing staff involvement in strategic change management? What managerial innovations would increase employee motivation to initiate change?

This paper examines the complex questions that arise around the appearance of children in contemporary performance. Drawing on performances by Nottingham-based theatre company Zoo Indigo and by Tim Etchells and the Flemish theatre company Victoria, I consider the extent to which Hannah Arendt's theorization of natality as ‘the new beginning inherent in birth’ that gives rise to the political potential to ‘begin something anew’ can help us to understand the ethico-political dimensions of children's appearance as natal, biological and relational beings in contemporary performance. In particular, I draw on feminist interpretations of Arendt's work to articulate the significance of the embodied aspects and ethical quality of children's relation to adult spectators and performers. I argue that these performances prompt a rethinking of the child's potential to generate political intervention, which moves beyond Arendt's gendered account of political agency in a public sphere from which children are excluded.

Objective – Analysis and discussion of attitudes of U.K. citizens toward the architecture and design of the country’s public libraries. Design – Content analysis of essays submitted to the U.K. Mass Observation Archive (MOA). Setting – Citizens of the United Kingdom. Subjects – 180 respondents from a panel of 500 Mass Observation Archive (MOA) volunteers. Methods – The MOA originated in the 1930s as a way to gather qualitative evidence regarding everyday life of the British public. Most of the data gathered takes the form of variable length essays written by a panel of 500 anonymous volunteers. The volunteers respond to specific directives, and in this article, Black summarized responses to a directive he originally posed to the 500 volunteers in 2005: ‘Public Library Buildings’. Black issued this particular directive to the panel of volunteers in the autumn of 2005 and results were made available to the public by mid-2006.The MOA received a total of 180 responses, of which 121 were from women and 59 were from men. Both users of libraries and non-users were included in the sample. The respondents were not a representative sample of the British public because men, ethnic minorities, lower socio-economic groups, and those living outside of the South of England were underrepresented. The author analyzed the content of the 180 submitted essays to gain insight on attitudes regarding public library design and architecture. Respondents were asked about public library location, environmental fit, architectural style, sensory aspects of the building, and whether or not the building resembled other types of public buildings. Although he posed several questions, Black focused on answers to three questions: what do you think about the design of modern library buildings? Do you prefer them to older style buildings? Have you seen older libraries renovated into more modern libraries, and what do you think of them? Black then analyzed the responses and grouped them into four major attitudes toward the architecture and design of public libraries. The author chose not to code any of the responses and instead chose to analyze the ‘discourse’ in and not necessarily the ‘content’ of the essays. After analyzing the discourse, Black contextualized the evidence he discovered. He then discussed political and cultural issues with relation to the four major attitudes and how these issues affected the current landscape of libraries. Main Results – The four major categories derived from the essays that Black analyzed included: preference for the new; preference for the old; preference for a mixing of the old and the new; architectural indifference, the library as ‘place’ and the concept of ‘libraryness.’ Those with a preference for the new preferred the newer, more modern building because it fit better within the world of information technology. These respondents also felt that the older buildings were too intimidating and cold. Those who preferred the older architecture and design felt that the buildings allowed them to access a piece of the past, and they thought an older library to be more impressive, historic, and generally have more elaborate and interesting architecture. These respondents pointed out the fewer places to hide in new libraries, and indicated that new architecture is boring and stolid. The third group of respondents preferred an older exterior, but an up-to-date interior with a more modern infrastructure. They enjoyed the large impressive buildings but liked the interior to contain comfortable, modern furniture, good lighting, as well as updated technological tools. Finally, the remaining group of respondents did not place importance on the physical space of a library, but more so the services and collections within the physical space. Conclusion – The discourse derived from the MOA and analyzed in Black’s article summarizes the attitudes and preferences that citizens of the UK have regarding public library architecture. Among the 180 responses to the ‘Public Library Buildings’ directive, there is a clear tension in these attitudes and preferences. The information gathered in the MOA directive on public libraries could also provide political and cultural leaders with evidence of a need for renewal or rethinking of the country’s public libraries.

The article examines the social aspects of the formation and cultural and educational activities of museums of Kazakhstan at the beginning of the twentieth century on the basis of archival materials. Socio-economic and political changes that took place in the 20s of the Soviet period had a significant impact on the culture and education of Kazakhstan, the elimination of illiteracy, there was a need to develop cultural and educational direction. A special Central Asian Committee for Museums and the Protection of Ancient Monuments has been established for the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, and a society of local historians has been organized in the republic. The article describes how the research society of Kazakhstan has established the organization of libraries, museums and archival affairs, has made every effort to make them a place for the promotion of knowledge and culture among the population.

This chapter describes some aspects of the development of VICNET, an assemblage of computers, cables, modems, people, texts, libraries, buildings, dreams and images. It is a system that is difficult to characterise, it is dynamic both in geographical and ontological scope, size and usage. I have attempted to capture some of its nature through the use of several vignettes that may give the reader a small insight into parts of its being, then using some of the techniques and explanatory and exploratory mechanisms available from the field of science studies such as heterogeneous engineering and Actor Network Theory (ANT), I reveal some of the ways that VICNET came into existence. Many computer systems are undergoing continual evolution and it is extremely difficult to discern their configuration and what objects have agency at any given point in time; they can be thought of as open systems as described by Hewitt and de Jong (1984). VICNET, an Internet information provider established in 1994 as a joint venture between the State Library of Victoria and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, is one such system; it is being used by a large number of people and public libraries, yet simultaneously it is evolving and being shaped by the technology, the users and the environment of which it is part. Consider the system, VICNET as it is called, as a node of a much larger network. I have attempted to unfold this node to reveal the social and technical worlds contained therein, but I also fold the VICNET node in itself so that it becomes part of a much larger sociotechnical system – the Internet. This process of folding I refer to as a topological transformation and it is by studying transformations of this type that may help us understand how open systems come into being and evolve. In what follows, I provide a brief background to VICNET and the data collection method I used. Next, I discuss some the analytical techniques that are available for those who wish to study the development of technological systems. Following this all-too-brief comment I then present a selection of vignettes that show the varied nature of this socio-technical system. Presenting these then allows me to develop further the idea of social topologies introduced in the section on analytical techniques. In the final section there is some discussion as to why this way of looking at socio-technical systems may be useful.