The effect of the Education Reform Act on public library services to children

Abstract

This article investigates the effects of the 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA) on school library services (SLS), the support services to schools provided by most Local Education Authorities (LEAs) in England and Wales. While the research aimed to present an over all picture, it had a particular interest in the management of change and, with this in mind, established a close contact with 14 authorities over the project time-span. It was obvious, from the time of the Education Reform Bill, that the new legislation would have a major effect on SLS: it was less apparent that it would affect public library ser vices to children. However, the research did find that the Act was having an impact on children's library services, and this article attempts to identify the nature and extent of that impact, and to discuss possible future implications.