Small libraries

A one-person library (OPL) is a library led by a single person or a single professional librarian without any professional library peers. These libraries represent the vast majority of libraries in the world. They may be found in public and governmental settings, in companies and any organisations, in academic and research and as private initiatives for many subjects. Very often they are specialized towards a specific subject of collection and thus part of the special libraries scene. In 1972 the U.S. Special Libraries Association (SLA) invited at their annual conference to a discussion on the issue of such a library type under the heading "The One Man Library" led by Guy St. Clair by then librarian at the University Club of New York of New York City. Thanks to the long time engagement and dedication of Guy St. Clair after the initial meeting, the One Person Library became a global movement proliferating to other countries throughout the world. Guy St. Clair defined the one-person library as “one in which all the work is done by the [single] librarian” (1976). The SOLO Librarians Division of the Special Libraries Association defines a SOLO as “an isolated librarian or information collector/provider who has no professional peers within the immediate organization.” Other names for an OPL are solo librarian (in the U.S., the UK, and Israel), sole-charge librarian (in Australia and New Zealand), or one-man band (used by Aslib in the UK).