Understanding Public Libraries: Management, Leadership and Ideology calls on practitioners, students and researchers to fully understand public libraries in order to change them and ensure their survival into the future. In it, experienced library leader John Pateman introduces a new analytical framework, based on the theories of dialectical materialism and cultural hegemony, to the public library. This framework can be used to identify three models of the public library: Management, Leadership and Ideology. This analysis from this book can be used to create an evidence base to demonstrate the social value of public libraries which can in turn be used to defend the public library against financial cuts, to create a business case for investment in public libraries to ensure that they are well funded and sustainable into the future.