2. The School, the Library and the Feminist
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb054869 |
| Published date | 01 April 1984 |
| Date | 01 April 1984 |
| Pages | 9-16 |
| Author | Hélène Fawcett |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
2.
The School, the Library and the
Feminist
by Hélène Fawcett
The librarian who works in a school will find that she is rubbing against rather than
with the grain when she tries to practise "feminist values" in the management of
the school library. In most, not all, cases, the librarian will find herself in conflict with
the institutional arrangements, procedures and ethos of the school. Success in at-
tempting to resolve these conflicts will depend more on interpersonal skills than
organisational or administrative ones. Ideally, if her daily endeavours are to be positive
and effective they will be a contribution to reform of the institution rather than a reac-
tion to it.
School libraries are staffed in various ways—by professional librarians on a full or
part-time basis, by teacher-librarians, by teachers with special responsibility for the
library, by parents, school helpers, or almost everybody, or anybody, who has some
connection with the school. My experience in schools is limited to secondary mixed
comprehensives in inner London, where librarians are usually employed on a
full-
time basis and often have support and co-operation from media resources officers
and AVA technicians.
I gained professional and academic qualifications in Australian University libraries
where I began working immediately after completing school. I was thoroughly ground-
ed in cataloguing and classification, acquisitions, inter-library loans, reference and
readers' services departments. It was easy to acquire confidence and skill while work-
ing as a member of a team in an academic atmosphere where the functions of the
library were recognised, where the expertise of librarians was valued, and where "lear-
ning how to learn" was mainly the responsibility of students. I learned about libraries
by growing up in them. I was privileged. For more than a decade now I have worked
in two very different schools. The first was in a north London suburb, a single-site,
mixed comprehensive with purpose-built library near the science laboratories (worth
mentioning since the situation of a library in the school layout has a Strong effect
on who uses it and how it is used). At the time I began working there it was not
the school most favoured by local parents. It was rough—the first year of ROSLA,
and the strain on the school was enormous. Groups of heavy-booted boys rushed
into the library at lunchtime and jumped from table to table, frightening me by their
manner and appearance and terrifying smaller pupils who wisely hid under the tables.
When I complained to a senior master about these unwelcome intrusions I was ask-
ed for the names of these pupils. I didn't know their names, and of course if I wanted
help with unruly behaviour I needed to be able to identify the offenders. No printed
guidelines of school procedures had been issued to me. I found out what I needed
to know by talking to pupils, teachers, technicians, schoolkeepers and cleaners. In
seven years neither my name nor position appeared on any staff list.
To continue reading
Request your trial