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July 24, 2006
The Dumchurch letters July 24
Dear Chrysanthemum
Having a clear understanding of how many people are needed on the rota of each of the libraries in Dumchurch, as I described yesterday, I then addressed what seems to me to the problem of greatest priority.
In Dumchurch the libraries are not open long enough and their hours of opening are not predictable. There are some which are open some mornings and some afternoons; others open for a whole day and then close the next; some open on Saturday mornings and one opens on a Sunday afternoon.
For someone who lives in the town, as they go out in the morning, to know which library might be open at that time on that day requires an expertise equivalent to high proficiency in The Times crossword puzzle. It is neither helpful, nor, as the jargon goes, inclusive, for those unfamiliar with libraries.
Therefore, having carried out our calculations on the rota, we were able to ascertain reasonably well the cost of having each library open regular hours every day of the week. I suggested we start by identifying, for each library, and by discussion with those who work on the rota, what would be involved in opening every library from 10am to 6pm every single day.
We found that there were several people on the rotas of different libraries who would prefer to work different hours to those which they currently do. So, as before, by a discussion among those involved we were able to establish a fair cost for a new and much longer set of opening hours.
This didn't mean we had a firm plan with which to procede; it meant we had a realistic idea, library by library, of what would be involved and when it might be possible to make the changes.
These plans for each library are not "Budgets" they are "Ritoa's" which stands for "Ready if the opportunity arises" as it might, for example if someone's circumstancesa change and they wish to work different hours.
Perkins generally comes with me on the visits to libraries. I think he misses the sea air, however people in libraries are inclined to make a fuss of the library cat and he likes that.
Grimsdyke
Posted by Tim Coates at July 24, 2006 1:11 PM