The myth of material knowledge: reading the image of library buildings

Abstract

At the centre of most cities and towns in the UK, public library buildings form a significant part of the civic landscape. No other country has such an extensive collection of buildings principally designed for the collection, categorization, storage and provision of knowledge, learning and information, dedicated for public use. Argues that the role and function of the library have never been actualized. That the concern of cultural studies with social constructionism has ignored the obvious ‐ that the socio‐historic construction of an image of knowledge is represented by the placing and design of library buildings; and pre‐library notions of a global knowledge have become a reality through the development of information technology (the information superhighway) and this is displacing and superseding the constructionist displays of knowledge embodied in the library building.