ABSTRACT
No one on the left should… think that a taste for high culture which means in short, a
taste for the best things in all arts – is anything but as conducive to the general good
as it is to their own.
(Grayling, 2002)
For the past decade public libraries, in common with many other institutions, have
been affected by government policies which are designed to bring excluded members
of society into the mainstream. In the United Kingdom, this has been a major aim of
the New Labour administrations, and strategies concerned with equality and diversity
look set to continue for the foreseeable future. Moreover, government Ministers
have made it clear that public libraries are to be included in future policy initiatives
designed to ‘combat social exclusion and promote neighbourhood renewal across
the country’ (Woolas in CILIP News 2006). It is now widely accepted that: ‘Public
libraries have an excellent record in tackling social exclusion by reaching out to
marginalised communities and offering a huge range of valuable services. Libraries
are integral to every community in Britain and provide a neutral environment where
people can access resources which might otherwise remain out-of-reach’ (Brown in
CILIP News 2006). The library is seen as a democratic institution which ‘succeeds
in reaching groups in the poorest social position’ (Vakkari, 1989).
