ABSTRACT Public libraries operate within complicated webs of bureaucracy, from rules intended to create efficiencies and stabilize environments, to external accountability and reporting requirements. Yet, bureaucracy is not something that we talk too much about, within the discipline of librarianship, or as it relates specifically to public libraries. Hence, bureaucracy in public libraries represents an undertheorized space. This paper aims to spark conversation about bureaucracy in public libraries, including both positive and negative characteristics and effects. As literature specific to libraries as bureaucracies is in short supply, social science theory is imported to make sense of this dense and knotty topic. Specifically, Max Weber’s metaphor of the “iron cage,” George Ritzer’s idea of “McDonaldization,” and David Graeber’s take, in which water represents “the water in which we swim,” are applied to the context of bureaucracy in public libraries. As well, the new body of theory known as critical librarianship provides new perspectives and insights as to bureaucracy in libraries. This review of literature brings the bigger picture into relief, and offers some language with which to continue describing and addressing this otherwise misunderstood, overlooked issue of bureaucracy in public libraries.

中文翻译：

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作为官僚机构的公共图书馆：走向更批判的视角

摘要 公共图书馆在复杂的官僚网络中运作，从旨在创造效率和稳定环境的规则到外部问责制和报告要求。然而，官僚主义并不是我们在图书馆学学科内谈论太多的东西，也不是因为它特别与公共图书馆有关。因此，公共图书馆的官僚主义代表了一个理论不足的空间。本文旨在引发关于公共图书馆官僚主义的对话，包括积极和消极的特征和影响。由于官僚机构的特定图书馆文献供不应求，因此引入社会科学理论来理解这个密集而棘手的话题。具体来说，马克斯·韦伯对“铁笼”的隐喻，乔治·里泽的“麦当劳化”思想，以及大卫·格雷伯的看法，其中水代表“我们游泳的水”，适用于公共图书馆官僚主义的背景。同样，被称为批判图书馆学的新理论体系提供了关于图书馆官僚主义的新观点和见解。这篇文献综述使大局得以解脱，并提供了一些语言来继续描述和解决公共图书馆中这个被误解、被忽视的官僚主义问题。