In the Picture: Representations of Librarianship in Children’s Picture Books Published in the UK between 1994-2014

ABSTRACT

This study examines representations of librarianship in children’s picture books published recently in the UK. Representations of libraries and librarians have been gathered from both the narratives and illustrations in a set of eight children’s picture books published in the UK between 1994 and 2014 using a novel data-gathering framework. It was found that depictions of libraries and librarians have been more favorable in the present century than they were in the last. Even when stereotypical aspects were detected, they did not produce a negative view of the profession, and no correlation was found between stereotyping and the overall view of librarians. The textual analysis corroborated literature review findings of a lack in differentiation between professional and para-professional staff, which may be causing misunderstanding of the level of skills and knowledge that librarians possess.

KEYWORDS:

• Picture books
• representation of librarians
• children’s fiction
• hermeneutic analysis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).