2. The School, the Library and the Feminist

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 attempting 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 reaction to it.