Understanding Public Libraries: Management, Leadership and Ideology sets out a robust new analytical framework for understanding, managing and supporting public libraries. Drawing on the ideas of Marx and Maslow and their theories of dialectical materialism and cultural hegemony, experienced library leader John Pateman presents how this framework can be used in public libraries to create change and ensure their survival in the future.

Identifying three models of the public library – Management, Leadership and Ideology – the analysis from this book can be strategically employed to create an evidence base to demonstrate the social value of public libraries, which in turn can be used to defend the public library against financial cuts and create a business case for investment in public libraries, to ensure they are well funded and sustainable into the future.

Essential reading for practitioners, students and researchers in the library and information sciences, the ideological focus of this book importantly advances a scientific understanding of public libraries and ultimately poses and explores the vital question: whose interests should public libraries serve?