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July 7, 2006
Tory Councils to close MLA and ignore DCMS
The Bookseller this evening has an article about the £277m wasted capital expenditure on library buildings in the past 5 years.
Mark Field, Conservative MP and Shadow Minister for the Arts is reported as saying:
"Maintaining buildings is important, but people are using flagships to say that everything in the library world is fine. We need to invest now in new book stocks and the services that reach end users. This report shows that there is enough money, but it is being used in the wrong way." The article goes on to say - "He (Mr Field) repeated his call for councils to pull away from the Museum Libraries and Archives Council and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and take the failing service into their own hands. "There is a lack of leadership", he said."
That really does take us into new territory. How exciting. The Tories could now develop a "Shared Vision for Public libraries" between Mark, Hugo Swire, and the leaders of Tory councils. That would be a way to make progress quickly. Let's hope.
By referring to "Flagships" Mr Field is pointing out the presence of a heavily armed Italian Air Craft Carrier in Bloggington Bay bristling with bazookers targetted at Mr and Mrs Dumpling in Barsetshire. Mrs Dumpling attended the Houses of Parliament this week for a conference on "The Recovery Centre Concept". That is why Mr Field is putting us all on the alert in this way. Mrs Dumpling was with Sir Ron Twitch, chairman of ERASE (the charity for cleansing books from libraries). Mrs Thin Biscuit, secretary of ERASE, sent her apologies.
DLA (Delay) the Department of Libraries and Archives was reported to be playing the whole matter with a Dead Bat, (a cricketing expression).
I have no idea what anything on this blog means, at all. But some people have.
Posted by Perkins at July 7, 2006 5:12 PM