LOCAL AUTHORITY MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES AND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE

The starting point for this paper is research undertaken for the British Library by the author and Margaret Lomer during 1981 and 1982. The principal reasons for carrying out that research were the concerns expressed by public librarians as to changes which had occurred in the management and organisation of local authorities from the mid 1960s to the mid 1970s (ie approximately the period from the reorganisation of London local government to the reorganisation of local government in the remainder of the country). The changes which were of most concern were part of the movement towards “corporate management” and which involved the creation of conglomerate “programme” committees and directorates by amalgamating existing service committees and departments. Some librarians felt that the inclusion of the library service within a programme structure represented a diminution in status and was likely to have an adverse effect on the service. This concern was heightened by Peter Shore's ultimately ill‐fated proposals for Organic Change in 1979 which resurrected the desire to find the best, or most appropriate, location for the library service within the management structure of the local authority.