What's so special about the special librarian? Available to Purchase

‘Communication and organisational abilities of a high order’, ‘marketing and training skills’, ‘management experience’, ‘innovator’, ‘enthusiastic and lively personality’ — these are just some of the requirements listed in recent advertisements for posts in industrial and commercial libraries. So what of the dreaded ‘library image’ — the well‐known stereotype playing a passive, sometimes remote, role? — This is hardly described by the above turns of phrase.