ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at social exclusion, other current social policy and how it applies to libraries. It outlines good practice for delivering training courses and makes some suggestions for developing our personal awareness of this area. Social inclusion occurs at a later stage, once socially excluded groups and individuals gain access to the mainstream. Most public library services have written a social inclusion strategy or policy to cover topics such as community cohesion and community engagement which will fall within the overall local authority strategy. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) also considered training to be essential to the required transformation of libraries if they were to deal properly with social inclusion. The majority of library staff are welcoming and work hard to understand what tackling social exclusion really involves. Opposition to tackling social exclusion is going to come from any staff who are prejudiced.
