Library time: in pursuit of liberatory leisure

Abstract

Introduction. Our contemporary perception and experience of free time and leisure has been deleteriously degraded by the work-leisure binary. However, the public library’s leisure mode affords a distinct experience of time to its public that has the potential to exist outside the binary, and with that potential, the opportunity to imagine larger possibilities as well. Method. This paper is exploratory, applying a syncretic, interdisciplinary approach to applying theories of work and leisure to critical librarianship. Analysis. I fill a research gap by analysing the public library as a leisure space, applying the paradigms of Robert Stebbins, Julie Rose and Tricia Hersey among others. Results. Public libraries are unique leisure spaces with the potential to offer patrons experiences of leisure beyond the dominant leisure-work binary: library time. Conclusions. While public libraries are ripe with liberatory potential, attention must be paid to extant barriers to access for all members of the public, particularly those experiencing homelessness, who arguably have the greatest need for and least ability to realise leisure.

Keywords

• Critical librarianship
• Library studies
• The social values of reading and literature
• Leisure
• Recreation
• Library History