The Good Library Blog

« July 2006 | Main | September 2006 »

August 31, 2006

"Framework for the Future has destroyed public libraries"

Just teasing-- the headline in tomorrow's Bookseller actually says

Library book spend shrinks

Book spending by England's public libraries continued to fall in 2005-06, despite a 5.6% increase in the overall library service budget to £756m.

I'll write more when I see the full article.

Posted by Perkins at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

Another senior librarian speaks about PwC

There are a number of senior librarians who sensibly avoid making a show of who they are but give me their views about what is on the blog and in the air.

This is one of the most experienced information librarians in England, and I respect his view

"Tim

As you know, this work by PwC is really the tip of the iceberg.... people like yourself have called for a much more comprehensive overhaul.... not simply stock procurement.

There is always a worry that the Library Service innovates too little, too late.

Is 'hub and spoke' a bit of a fudge? "

Posted by Perkins at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

Paying for CILIP

In the flurry of comment that followed my piece about CILIP I learned one thing I had not previously understood.

The membership fees for CILIP are not paid by the members (in a public library service), they are paid (in some councils at least, perhaps in most) by the council tax payer directly.

I had assumed that the member, faced with an annual invoice would make a judgment about whether membership constituted value for money and so forth- but no, all that is needed is that the bill is presented to the council and they pay it

That's not right, is it? If it is the case it makes my point about CILIP being more aware of its public duty even more strongly. Anyhow, I don't think it should happen in that way- it means the management of CILIP is not sufficiently subject to a fair market for their service.

Posted by Perkins at 9:04 PM | Comments (1)

The bedrock of the public service

This came this afternoon

"The public library service is the bedrock from which those of us in other sectors take our examples of service to users. Perhaps you had your tongue in your cheek when you posted this most recent entry. I dont think that public librarians will need to put up a robust response to your remarks - there are plenty of the rest of us, with backgrounds in all sectors, who think you have got yourself into a bit of a tangle

Posted by: Lesley Kumiega at August 31, 2006 02:25 PM"

Lesley-- Delighted to hear from you: so in which sector and where do you work? I didn't have my tongue in my cheek at all. Tim

Posted by Perkins at 3:21 PM | Comments (7)

Another quango

We have the MLA, the regional MLA's and now I hear we have "regional cultural consortia"

So in the South East- there is the pervasive interest of the DCMS, who have a statutory concern for public libraries; the MLA who produce reports like the foolish "Price Waterhouse" report; SEMLAC, who are only known for incredibly expensive Christmas lunches and summer parties, God knows how many local councils --- and now "The South East England Cultural Consortium" who pay their chief executive £80,000 per annum- or so I was told.

Goodness me- we won't be able to afford librarians next.

Posted by Perkins at 3:13 PM | Comments (1)

45,000 hits on the blog

The blogometer went over 45,000 hits for August at about 7 o'clock this morning.

Many thanks to everyone. Tim

Posted by Perkins at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2006

Reform of CILIP

Councillors come in all shapes and sizes. Being a local councillor in England is not going to make you famous unless you do something very naughty; but on the other hand the role gives some councillors the centre stage and other councillors the opportunity to do a lot of good. I have met many councillors in my pursuit of better libraries and on the whole I like them. I am sure there are rogues, but most have a sense of decency and democracy which is worth some respect.

By and large they are completely deceived by their officers and, if I do have a criticism, I am surprised by the extent of this. One would have thought they would not be quite so naive- but on the other hand, when you see how most are handled and misled, you would not have expected such skills of deviousness by civil servants and government officers paid to perform civic duty.

Councillors allocate taxpayers' money to officers and professional librarians so that they can run a decent public library service. They don't know the detail of how to do that, they expect the professionals to do their best and to give them guidance as to the role councillors need to play. Councillors don't expect to have to correct the actions of library professionals but they do expect to be able to participate in and advise on the sensible and well informed direction of the service.

So nobody, for years and years, has managed the library professionals. They have been trusted to use the money effectively. They have a professional body, called CILIP, with whom each can confer. CILIP have a responsible role to play in the library service. Nobody manages CILIP or demands anything of it; it is expected that they will be honourable and public spirited. They should provide the collective guidance that will give the country a decent set of public libraries

So what happened to our public library service? Now that it has all gone wrong, where do the changes need to be made? Of course we have to look to councillors to insist upon changes- but that is difficult when the only source of advice they receive is from the people who need to change. It is very difficult for councillors to correct what has gone so horribly wrong. However much they want to see improvement, they aren't in a position to manage it. They can only insist on it.

The problem lies with CILIP. Its influence has to be completely transformed. Its collective inherited view of how to operate libraries has to be flushed away and replaced. The senior staff of CILIP have deceived themselves into believing that they represent the commune of library professionals. They don't: they are not a private club, for if they were they were they should play no influential part in the public service. They answer to ordinary people for a service for which the people pay. The public are their stakeholders. It is CILIP that is destroying the public library service by its disconnection from the public need, from its blindness to the problems of the service and its denial of influence from the outside which could help.

If the public library service is to survive another 5 years, CILIP must either be totally reformed by its own members- which would be better- or its influence removed and replaced by some other management mechanism, which is probably a much more realistic plan. The people of the country should not have to wait any longer while library professionals make up their mind whether they wish to give good service. It is time for some action.

There needs to be new management preferably drawn from outside the sector, not just elected by members, but also appointed by councillors; a revision of such charters as are represented by the body; a completely new approach to management training and development and whole new sets of skills training and work experience. There needs to be a new definition, by Parliament, of what the role and responsibilities of the professional body are and a new set of regulation to make sure that high standards are achieved and maintained.

Only then can councillors possibly begin to do the job we ask of them.

I call upon all parties in Parliament to seek urgent and radical reform of the professional bodies of the public library service. The Parliament in Scotland and the Assembly in Wales need to do the same.

Posted by Perkins at 8:38 PM | Comments (7)

Crime writers everywhere

The person I mention in the next item about Buckinghamshire ("Theft") once explained to me that the, then, chief librarian of the county behaved as if he came from the same planet policemen come from. "I know them well" she said- which is true, she is one of our most literary and famous crime writers.

To her, I dedicate this entry. Having studied the many and various problems of the MLA, it hadn't crossed my mind that, more than anything else they needed to appoint yet another layer of management. But they have! And it is described in their own words here

Posted by Perkins at 6:02 PM | Comments (4)

Theft

There are moments when I believe that civil servants and local government officers believe that their only role is to steal money from the public.

Followers of this blog will know that in Buckinghamshire, the people of the county pay £8.5m each year for their library service. This year, seeking to make a budget saving of £200,000, the council proposed to close 8 of the thirty two libraries. In the document in which the detail was described to the councillors and the public they listed all 32 libraries along with the cost of operating them and the total cost was £3.8m. The document also delared their intention of spending £700,000 on books and other "materials" like DVD's. £4m was unaccounted for and unexplained. Since January no council officer or councillor has been prepared to answer questions about the finances.

However at the same time, local people were offered the opportunity of spending even more money (not just their own, but also the budgets of their local parish and district councils, to keep their libraries open. In other words the council generously gave the residents the opportunity to pay several times over for the library service which it is their public duty and legal obligation to provide.

What have the Minister, the MLA and the DCMS, or even Conservative Central office done to remind the council of their responsibilities (the county has a Conservative administration)? Absolutely nothing in all cases. Absolutely nothing.

Of course the residents who are putting each other through the painful financial hoops of setting up charities, not-for-profit companies and all the rest of it, have not been told of this chicanery. They just want their libraries to stay open and they are doing and spending their level best to achieve that.

I was told today that one of them approached John Dolan of the MLA for help. Mr Dolan among other things suggested that the Society of Authors might provide a willing mug, who on the off chance of selling a few books might provide a celebrity front for the village campaign. What Mr Dolan should have been doing was to try and persuade Bucks county council that instead of multiple theft of their residents money, they would more honourably be occupied, operating a decent library service. That is his job.

A very good friend of mine, a most noted author and honourable follower of the cause of public libraries was approached to fill this role. She however, smelled a biscuit, so to speak, and scanned this blog for the true story of Buckinghamshire County Council (of which she is more aware than almost anyone, having followed its lunacy over the years)

So, much more politely than I could ever be, she warned the Society of Authors of the scam Mr Dolan had suggested, and advised them to steer clear of any of his other bright ideas.

"I cannot agree to be a patron or figurehead for your campaign because, while I applaud your determination to keep the libraries going, I deplore the fact that instead of applying funds already allocated to the Bucks Libraries to save your libraries, it appears the Bucks County Council intends to offer you start-up funds; thus people of Iver will be paying twice over, since council tax already pays for the existing libraries. I support and applaud every effort to retain the existing libraries and until they are finally closed the battle is not lost. Proper management of the library budget with more books is the solution." She said.

Posted by Perkins at 4:21 PM | Comments (3)

Hello from Tennessee

I was thrilled to get this from Jennifer Watson in Tennessee -- Jennifer, many thanks indeed.

I hope a librarian in one of our public libraries will give us a similar account of what they do.

"I haven't read the Bookseller article, but I wanted to respond to the question of what "back-room people" do all day. Some of the work performed by library staff out of sight of the public includes: selecting materials to add to the library's collection; physically processing materials to put on the shelf (barcodes, spine labels, etc.) and repairing damaged materials; negotiating licensing and pricing of online resources; processing invoices; maintaining the physical facility (replacing lightbulbs, cleaning, etc.); setting up online access to databases; maintaining linking and search services to facilitate easier access to online resources; adding information to the library catalog; maintaining the library's web site, computers, printers and software; maintaining the integrated library system, specialised software which manages everything from patron information to fines, checkouts and the library catalog; processing interlibrary loan requests; planning new library services; providing staff training. Without back-room people in libraries, there would be no books on the shelves, no functioning computers in libraries and no online databases to use. Jennifer Watson, Head, Electronic & Collection Services (i.e. "back-room person"), University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, USA."

Posted by Perkins at 4:02 PM | Comments (2)

"Market research" and "consultation" in Colyton in Devon

Market Research has a bad reputation with the public, but when I was a young marketing manager I learned how extremely valuable and full of insight good market research can be. My boss, who is a wonderful friend, taught me that you need several pieces of research to confirm a view and that it ought to agree with your own instinct. In other words- use common sense to understand what it means. Good market research can then be as revealing of the truth as good writing.

Local Councils undertake what they call "Consultation" which is not the same thing at all- although they frequently claim they have done market research when they have merely conducted a half-baked consultation. Market research is (or should be) a genuine attempt to find out what people think of the matter in hand. Consultation is only about asking people how they think they will be affected by a decision if it is made.

A market researcher studying libraries will undertake a "usage and attitude" study by asking non-leading questions about how people use their time including many other things as well as libraries and it will be revealing

A council consultation will ask "how will you be affected if your library is closed?" which you can see is a completely different matter.

In the nine years since this Government proclaimed its commitment to the public library service, they have never commissioned a full "Usage and Attitude" study of public libraries. That means that there is no detailed understanding of how and why people use libraries and why they find them either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. There is no continuous measurement of the aspects that matter- because no one knows what they are. Given the millions of pounds spent trying to persuade the public they care about libraries and their future and the vast investment in so many frameworks and action plans, that is an astonishing truth.

In little Colyton, in Devon, however, which the county council chose at random as one of its library closures, the local people have mustered their own piece of proper market research. It is so revealing and so obviously truthful. I have included some of the key findings, below

Colyton lies to the east of Exeter and just to the north of Seaton

You need a map to understand some of the questions

Background to the Questionnaire

“It takes 2 hours to make a return trip to Seaton. Would anyone expect people in Exeter to have to travel 2 hours to change their books!”

“I can easily walk to Seaton but that is no reason why others less able should have to do so.” (a 17 year old respondent)

“We visit the library as a family. We just could not afford the cost of travelling together to Seaton.”

“My wife is housebound and I use the library to get books for both of us. I could not leave her for the time it would take to get to and from Seaton.”

“It’s my library. In my town. I do not want to go anywhere else!”
(a 12 year old respondent)

“This would be another decision that hits the poor. We do not all own cars!”

“I am on a low income, but do not qualify for free travel. My wife and I could not afford to travel to another library.”

“I am 90 years old and I walk slowly. I visit the library often to meet people. I couldn’t do that if the library was in Seaton.’”

“I have been a member of a library for 60 years but I will not be able to continue.”

“I never go to Seaton. Why would I go just to change a book?”

What does the Survey say about the Case for Closure?

• There is dissatisfaction that the (Council) consultation did not focus adequately on local provision
• The Devon proposals are rooted in the assumption that Seaton is a town that can and does service some of the needs of Colyton. The survey does not bear out that assumption
• The largest group of users, the over 65s, are also the group least able to contend with the problems of accessing Seaton Library
• The independent use of a library by children would virtually cease if Seaton was the primary library facility
• Improved facilities at Seaton would be at the expense of considerably reduced use of libraries by Colyton residents
• There is very strong community support for the development of dual-purpose library facilities.
• There appears to be far greater current use of the library than published figures suggest.
• Evidence indicated that increased opening hours would significantly increase library use.

Analysis of Library Action Questionnaires

Total Responses: 362

Responses to Specific Questions (%)
1. Are you in favour of closing Colyton Library if this would result in improved provision in Seaton?
Yes 0 No 100

2. Are you satisfied that the Devon County Council Library Survey Questionnaire seeks sufficient information to objectively consider both the case for retention and closure of the Colyton Library?

Yes 5 No 87 Don’t know 8

3. If your nearest library facility was at Seaton, would your use of the library......?

Increase 0 Decrease 98 Stay the same 2

(17%, mainly from the 55+ group, indicated that they would cease to use any library)

4. If the nearest library was in Seaton, how would you usually travel?

Walk 5 Car 52 Public Transport 23 Cycle 3 None 17

Would the journey cause any difficulties?
• Very poor public transport/cost
• Parking in Seaton and need to walk from the car park
• Many indicated that they do not normally go to Seaton (ie it is not a natural centre for Colyton residents) hence any visit would be library specific

5. (a) (Parents only) How many children do you have under the age of 16?

Total number 62

(b) Do your children use the library facilities?

Yes 62

(c) Would your children be able to independently use Seaton Library?

Yes 2 No 60

6. Could a mobile library adequately replace the current library facility?

Yes 0 No 94 Don’t know 6

7. How would increased opening hours influence your library use?

More use 62 Same use 38

More than half the 65+ group would not use the library more if there were longer opening hours, but the working age groups indicated strongly that use would increase.

8. (Non-library members only) Would extended opening hours make you more likely to use the library?

Yes 80 No 0 Don’t know 20

Non library users comprised only 5% of the total responders

9. How would improved stock and enhanced computer facilities (eg broadband) influence your library use?

More use 66 Same use 34

Returns indicated that improved facilities would impact most markedly on the library use of the under 65 age group.

10. Would you be in favour of an expanded library in Colyton providing a range of community activities?

Yes 95 No 5

Posted by Perkins at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)

To Librarians and Senior Council Officers: an alternative to Price waterhouse Cooper

"Update" is the journal of CILIP, the professional body of librarians.

In Update this week Phil Kerridge who is a senior manager of the library service in Cornwall has written an article (which I have copied below) in which he identifies the scale of the problem facing the public library service and urges professionals to look outside the normal frame from which they would find solutions. He even encourages them to open discussions with me, an observation which I know, is unusual and will be disliked; but for which I am both flattered and grateful.

My response to his invitation is to welcome it with all the energy I have. I have suggested before on here that the way forward is to hold relatively small seminars with three or four councils who are committed to exploring all possible options, which I would host. Particularly I would urge councils, in such a forum to work with their existing suppliers much more closely than they do and at a much more senior level within the council than is the normal practice.

This invitation is open to all councils- in fact I think it is the fruitful alternative to the foolish Price waterhouse cooper/ MLA report and initiative. I sincerely hope we can work together to improve the service for the public. We should all be grateful to Phil for bravely opening this door, I certainly am.

UPDATE August 2006: Phil Kerridge

"This comment is typical of many to be found on the Museums, Libraries and Archive’s Council’s (MLA) love libraries website after their recent transformation of Newquay, Richmond and Coldharbour libraries.

“Fabulous as ever. New library brill! Staff excellent, service with a smile, books superb. Thank You!”

Working for Cornwall ’s library service but not on the Newquay Love Libraries project I am aware of colleagues’ inspiration and sheer hard work not only to complete the renovation but also to bid for the funding in the first place. The result is brilliant, Newquay library’s interior is unrecognisable from its previous incarnation as a faded and jaded 1960s glass palace.
I start straying off message when I hear claims that here we have a recipe or a model to transform every library in the country. My emergent heresy is even occasionally shared on the Love Libraries website. D Clarke sagely reminds us that “Improving just three libraries is not tackling the real issues facing the public library service. My local authority is struggling to provide an adequate service as a result of budget cuts and high overhead costs. For example, the book stocks in the lending library have been reduced by 20% in the past five years.”
So what are the real issues facing the public library service? Are the current national initiatives likely to help? Are they just icing on the cake? Or what is the state of the cake? And how long is it before it crumbles?
The refrain of decaying buildings, falling book funds, inadequate opening hours and falling use albeit recently boosted by the People’s Network has been around for years and nothing has radically changed.
Less well known but quite apparent from Loughborough University ’s LISU is the variation in spending levels amongst the 149 English library authorities. London libraries spend more per capita at £25 in 2002/2003 than English counties at less than £15. Metropolitan districts and unitary authorities are somewhere in between. Why is this so? Why are libraries nearly 50% more expensive to run in urban areas compared to rural ones? Is this replicated in the world of bookshops? Perhaps ex Waterstone’s boss, Tim Coates, could tell us?
Even amongst counties there is enormous variation is spending. Strangely those counties spending the most also tend to spend the most per capita. Based on 2004/2005 projected spends from LISU and 2004 mid term population estimates: of thirteen authorities spending more than £10 million only one has a per capita spend of less than £15 per head. Of the 20 low spenders, below £10 million, all but 4 spend less than £15 per capita. I wonder why larger high spending county councils fail to achieve economies of scale?
In 2006 things have begun to crumble big time. More than 100 public libraries have been threatened with closure. Many are to be found in rural counties, not only with traditional low spending levels but also hardest hit by recent government grant settlements. In the next two years this will get worse. Dorset has threatened to close 13 libraries in anticipation of an £849,000 budget reduction in this and the next two years. In my own authority we had to make savings of around £250,000 in 2006/2007. In Cornwall we have not closed any libraries and have in fact opened two extra small libraries and renovated a few others. This has been possible by reducing overheads: making managerial and support posts redundant, reducing the costs of mobile libraries by serving the county with fewer vans, rationalising staffing levels and the introduction of new technology.
It is very likely that in Cornwall the next two financial years will be as difficult as 2006/2007 – at least that is what we are being told. Thus we may well face further budget cuts of around £1/2million in the next two financial years. If that’s right preventing either cuts in book spending or library closures will be very difficult indeed. Investment in new technology would assist but the up front costs are large. Sharing costs like information technology infrastructure, which have risen sharply in Cornwall , with neighbouring councils would assist but I can see nothing on the horizon. If the council could reprieve the library service, then that would assist too but there are other enormous budget pressures like the costs of waste disposal because of new landfill taxes, the rising costs of caring for an ageing population and the widespread desire to develop Cornwall ’s civilian airport, also in Newquay. So I am pessimistic here too.
In between Dorset and Cornwall Devon has also announced library closures. There they have managed the publicity abjectly. When asked the head librarian was apparently unable to trace the criteria for selecting libraries for closure and having at last done so couldn’t explain this in a way that could remotely be described as comprehensible. Despite this Devon deserve some sympathy. LISU data suggests that they are amongst the most efficient of any library service. Their percentage spend on books and materials at 22% is way ahead of the game and close to Tim Coates’ Who’s In Charge objective of 25%. At £12.24 per head their spending is at the bottom of the counties league. So it should be no surprise that Devon is in the vanguard of the trend to close libraries.
If Cornwall and Dorset are typical then rural low spending library services face budget reductions of over £3/4million over a three year period. I can only imagine that this year’s 100 threatened library closures might be chicken feed compared to what could happen by the end of the noughties.
It may be that recent bad press publicity may offset library closures. This won’t mean however that library services are saved from reductions; just that other savings will be made almost certainly including the book fund. How long can libraries survive if book budgets are even worse than they are now? Alternatively local communities may take over their public libraries, which will be staffed by volunteers. Affluent communities will rise to the challenge and will be claiming that their libraries are in every way superior to the bad old days when they were run by those dreadful county councils. Elsewhere and more commonly it will be different; let’s get used to the new statutory library service freely available to all in urban areas and small towns, so long as they are very well-heeled.
So what is happening at the national level to avert this impending funding crisis? Answer I am afraid; not very much. In recent articles in both the Public Library Journal and CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) Update MLA spinners hardly deign to mention budget problems in either this year or those on the immediate horizon. Nobody has ever been very troubled about how library authorities provide a statutory service under wildly different spending regimes. Nobody questions whether there might be significant economies of scale if there were less than 149 library services in England or they co-operated to reduce costs more effectively. The general tone is one of great optimism. After all we have Framework for the Future, which has just been updated. There are platitudes galore about being at the heart of the community, reaching diverse communities of potential users, putting libraries at the heart of local government and providing the right quantity and mix of resources. There are to be fair valuable programmes that begin to address some of the right targets including Love Libraries, the £80 million Big Lottery fund for community libraries and the work done negotiating deals for online reference books for the People’s Network. Yet the MLA reminds me of Wayne Rooney playing against Portugal . They charge around with lots of enthusiasm but unfortunately most of this sometimes quite remarkable and expensive effort is either misdirected or falls woefully short of what is really needed. When they are really needed be it Wayne in a penalty shoot out or the MLA at Appledore, Burton Bradstock and Little Chalfont there they were sitting on the touchline.
So who is taking the prospect of library services, particularly in rural areas, being decimated seriously? Answer: nobody apparently but Tim Coates and the residents who have packed community halls around the country to protest about the closure of their library. Certainly not the MLA. Certainly not CILIP and most certainly not David Lammy, the minister who has done nothing this year and in whom I have every confidence that he’ll do nothing next year about any library closures or cuts.
So what are the solutions? In the library profession we all say more money! Until most people learn to prefer paying council tax to moaning about the weather I say this is unlikely. Critics like Tim Coates claim that not only can we can keep libraries open, spend more on books and increase opening hours but also do all this at a lower cost. If we really loved libraries we ought to be talking to Tim; instead the profession treats him as a pariah. In Cornwall I have never seen what we had to lose. Either he has ideas that would improve the service at the sharp end or if not and we are something like as efficient as we think we might be then we would have gained a powerful advocate to fight our corner.
A strategy of ignoring Tim Coates is also short sighted. The Tony Blair era is almost over. Gordon Brown and David Cameron will both be looking to set themselves apart from the policies of the last ten years. In doing so will they listen to the MLA and CILIP, whose frameworks and spin are widely seen to be failing library services or Tim Coates, who is actively and successfully articulating the concerns of Middle England’s residents campaigning to save their libraries?
Don’t ask me! Just listen to shadow arts minister, Mark Field, who is urging Tory councils to pull away from the MLA and DCMS (Department of Culture Media and Sport) and take failing library services into their own hands.

Posted by Perkins at 9:24 AM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2006

Clap trap

I am told there are some new figures about libraries about to be released within the next week. Without even looking you can be certain no one will have done anything significant about books, opening hours and the state of the buildings. They will all have got a lot worse. In 2005, six libraries closed. In 2006 nearly 100 libraries will close. In 2007 my prediction is, because the managers responsible are still playing party games like those below, between 300 and 500 public libraries in the UK will shut. Our public libraries are (the Reader's Digest told me today) in a serious crisis

And here is what the MLA are doing:

Libraries hold key to growth of the "knowledge economy": report
Tuesday 29 August 2006
England's public libraries are playing a crucial, but often overlooked, role in the growth of the knowledge economy, a new study has found.

The report, "Public Libraries in the Knowledge Economy", commissioned by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), shows libraries play a central role in communities' economic vitality.

MLA's Senior Libraries Adviser Andrew Stevens said the report, by The Local Futures Group, makes a strong case for promoting public libraries as economic development partners, particularly in relation to the knowledge economy.

"The challenge is now for local authorities to make the most of that expertise by ensuring they involve their libraries as partners in economic development activities", Mr Stevens said.

"The report shows that libraries are helping local communities to develop new skills, particularly in hard-to-reach groups and those who may otherwise be left behind in the drive to position the UK as a ‘knowledge economy" Mr Stevens said.

Every library authority surveyed by the report's authors provided learning and skills support in basic skills, family learning and education for young people. Most also provided ICT training.

In addition, many library authorities are providing invaluable services to businesses, particularly new businesses, in their communities.

The report found four out of five of the libraries surveyed provided business services ranging from dedicated book stocks to market research assistance and that these services were considered invaluable by business users and enterprise agencies.

The report also found that while libraries saw themselves as crucial contributers to local economic vitality, only 25 per cent were involved in Local Area Agreements, the local structures for developing shared priorities and delivering "joined up" services.

"The report makes the case for libraries to play a more overt role in economic development activities in their communities," Mr Stevens said.

"Public Libraries in the Knowledge Economy" is available at the MLA website http://www.mla.gov.uk/website/programmes/framework.
If you really want it

My points here are

1. This is one government department commissioning an expensive report from an agency that seeks work from government departments.

2. The MLA wants the report to say that libraries are so important that they need more government funding and so do the MLA-- so that's what the report does say. This is the process Government departments call "advocating"

3. Everybody knows that if libraries are good they can contribute be informative and extremely useful in bettering people. It's obvious and it is interesting and important. There isn't a politician in the country who doesn't understand that and they don't need an academic report to tell them. However, if they are bad, they are no use to anyone- and there are many politicians who don't realise what a bad state the libraries are in.

4. The MLA's job should be to make libraries better first- then they can boast about what a good job they have done. But not before.

Posted by Perkins at 5:05 PM | Comments (0)

August 28, 2006

Local library boards

In America, as I understand it, most public libraries have some kind of "local library board" which is a group of people from the community.

I think this is a good idea for England, too, because one of the problems of which libraries stand accused is of having "lost touch with the people they serve" (that is a quotation from market research). The local library board can serve many functions - people often mention fund raising and organising author visits- but, for me, its first and foremost function is to make sure that whatever the library does it serves all of its local community as a good public library.

However, I wasn't surprised yesterday to see a piece of research which said that wherever in England attempts have been made to set up good working library boards they have failed. There are none. There are some "friends of libraries" but they are not the same thing; generally "friends of libraries" defend libraries from closure or mutilation, but they are unable to make themselves part of the strategic decision making body of the library; they are excluded from that.

The reasons it doesn't surprise me are

- the embrace of local views is contrary to the practice of local government
- local government officers are encouraged to be defensive and secretive and a board would not allow them to behave in that way.
- members of the public libraries branch of CILIP are taught that they should not have to deal with the public and others will do that part of the job for them.
- for some reason civil servants and government officers change when they go to work and instead of behaving like normal people, behave as if the public were the enemy that had besieged their citadel.
- If you want proof of that you can see that of the many hundreds of government officers who visit this blog site every day there is a mere and brave handful who have the courage to engage in the conversation. The rest assume they will be defended from the criticisms made by the authority of the organisation for whom they work.

We need open local government and well informed local library boards (for each library) would be a help in achieving that.

Posted by Perkins at 12:49 PM | Comments (3)

August 27, 2006

Vietnam

The Vietnamese have a need for libraries

Posted by Perkins at 4:25 PM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2006

Dismay in Bloggington

Upon receipt of Mr Grimsdyke's letter, Mrs Sideloader was weighed with dismay. She had sent several messages to him appealing for his help in the battle to Save the Libraries of Bloggington. These are all to be closed, except for the Carnegie library on the harbour front, in order to pay for the new Government library labelling and cake filling factory which is to be sited in the old Navy Yard at Bloggington.

Clearly her letters to him were being intercepted. Evil deeds are afoot.

She was also not delighted to read of the expertise of this Mrs Dandelion.

She had to find a way to get a message to him which would not be stolen on the way.

Posted by Perkins at 5:17 PM | Comments (0)

The Dumchurch letters 26 August: Excitement in Drizzle

Dear Mrs Sideloader

I haven't heard from you for a while, no letters at all. I hope you have not all forgotten me.

There is some excitement here as the Mayor of Dumchurch has nominated little Drizzle library as a pilot for our new style of libraries. The local people have been invited to join a library board and I know for a fact that bunting is being sewn for the opening.

I have asked the shop designers from Rotalot's the book shop chain, to draw out a whole new layout of bookcases and furniture. We hope to make the library feel like one of those luxury lounges you find in the best hotels, with books everywhere. There will only be the tiniest counter because all the computers in the library will allow you to borrow or return books, or to register yourself on the library membership. Lots of cosy chairs and desks where you can work privately.

In the meantime I am working with Bollikins the bookseller to make sure that the library has the best possible book stock we can afford. There is a Mrs Dandelion who, while she could not hold a candle to your experience, will, I'm sure prove to be a very able librarian for Drizzle, and she will be in charge of the stock that Bollikins recommend. We will also be able to take large quantities of books that have hitherto been kept in a nuclear bunker under the motorway, out of the reach of local people, but which contains most wonderful gems of the past. There will be a large section of the new library especially for old books.

I am very grateful to the Mayor for allowing all this to happen. It will take a couple of months to organise, I'm sure.

I do hope your letters are not going astray. It is true that not many people know where Dumchurch is, especially as it is not shown on any maps of The North.

Perkins has taken to kippers

With fondest regards

Grimsdyke

Posted by Perkins at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

August 25, 2006

MLA in the regions

The MLA South East (mlasoutheast.org.uk) have just published their Library Development Plan (August 2006).

There is no mention of books! There is no mention of implementing the recommendations of the PKF and PwC reports.

The National Library Service Standards only get a brief mention. There is nothing in the plan about improving the quality of book stocks, extending opening hours, increasing library usage, eradicating inefficiency and encouraging authorities to share services.

No wonder that every council officer in the country and even members of the Society of Chief Librarians are so sceptical about their role.

What a waste of money: what I cannot understand is by what Act of Parliament does this expenditure on regional MLA's take place. Local councils have a duty to provide a service; the Minister has a duty to superintend. Parliament has never, so far as I can see, sanctioned expenditure by regional MLA's. Who approved this plan and with what authority?

Posted by Perkins at 5:42 PM | Comments (9)

"Libraries are overstaffed"

There is an article in the Bookseller today by Katherine Rushton which I have attached below. She says that the public library service is "severely over-staffed"

I have been saying for 6 years that all the evidence I can find suggests that local council library services have a lot more staff than they need to do the job they do. Not only do they have more staff but those staff incur overhead costs which also mean that the service costs much more than it should. That money could be better spent, particuarly on books, longer opening hours and redecoration of buildings.

However, what is interesting about Katherine's article today, which is prompted I imagine by last week's debate about book supply, is the number and identity of the people who have suddenly started agreeing with me. Rob Froude, evidently means what he says as evidenced by what he is doing in Somerset, and he is a very senior member of The Society of Chief Librarians. Andrew Stevens who is also quoted is no less than the chief policy adviser on libraries at the MLA (a title he mysteriously shares with John Dolan). Andrew's claim that the PwC report might "reform efficiencies at every level" is about as realistic as saying that a heavy dew will end the hosepipe ban- but this is the first time I have seen an admission by the MLA and DCMS that there is "an overstaffing situation".

The spokesperson for Lancashire reveals a great deal that I'm sure will be of interest to the electors of that once wonderful county.

When people at this level start admitting that libraries are "severely" overstaffed it is time for librarians to give up asking for more money, and for councils to stop recruiting new people.

Curiously there is no comment from SYRUP the professional body. Maybe their pen is stuck in the treacle.

Libraries are "Overstaffed"

Katherine Rushton, Bookseller, 25 August 2006

The public library service is severely over-staffed but councils are axing branches before employees, key figures in the sector are claiming.

The head of one library wholesaler estimated that 20% of the 21,691 posts (full-time equivalent) in the service in England could be axed without affecting the quality of the service. "There is a bit of a 'job for life' attitude... clearly there are significant staff cost savings to be made"

Former Waterstone's MD and library consultant Tim Coates said that a third of library staff are due to retire in the next decade which presents a "big opportunity to reorgansise the service", redirecting funds to books. He lambasted last week's Price waterhouse cooper's report into library supply for being too narrow. "It's time to tackle the excess of management tiers. The PwC recommendations will add two extra layers."

But Andrew Stevens, senior policy adviser for libraries at the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, said that, although the PwC report focused on supply, its implications would be wider. "If we can crack this one, it gives us opportunities to reform efficiencies at every level" He said that "good local authorities bite the bullet and deal with overstaffing situations".

Somerset County Council has reduced its number of library posts by 10 in order to close a £104,000 budgetry shortfall without closing branches. Head of libraries Rob Froude said that small libraries "cost so little to operate that the net loss to communities is just not worth the small gain in budget."

But other library authorities do not share his logic: a senior figure at Lanacashire County council - which plans to close nine libraries and is reviewing another three- confirmed it had moved all jobs to other branches. "If you take posts away, you are into redundancy payments and there is no immediate saving to be made," he said. Lancashire employs 770 staff across 76 libraries.

Posted by Perkins at 4:55 PM | Comments (7)

Wakefield Carnegie Library

Does anyone know the story of Wakefield Carnegie library? Here is an article about it

Posted by Perkins at 4:15 PM | Comments (0)

Women's Institute

Is anyone in the Women's Institute? I have just read an article which reveals that the WI is in the top ten most influential organisations in the country.

I need your help

Posted by Perkins at 3:05 PM | Comments (2)

A professional librarian comments on the Price waterhouse Cooper report

"I have spoken to a wide range of friends and colleagues about the Price Waterhouse Cooper report and not one of those working in public libraries thinks it is a viable project. I'm hoping that this means local authorities on the whole will not buy into the scheme.

Dumbing down libraries on a national level is not going to improve our service and neither will the exodus of good library workers who will look for work elsewhere as they are asked to provide an increasingly poor service to the public. "

Posted by Perkins at 12:22 PM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2006

Laugh or cry?

I don't know whether I am going completely mad; I suppose I must be, but firstly I saw a poll in the Bookseller which said that for libraries to work the Government should give the management more money to spend, and secondly I read this article.

When the public library service has closed down completely in five or ten years time, I hope somebody takes the steering committee of the supply review, the entire MLA and project team at Price Waterhouse Cooper and dangles them from Tower Bridge.

Let me explain again.

Firstly, about one quarter of the money given by Government to run the public library service is wasted on inefficient practice. That is £250m per annum, which if divided equally between more books and more redecoration of buildings would provide a wonderful public library service. The inefficient practices were identified last year by PKF in a government report and not one jot of action has been taken to correct them.

Secondly, since there was a rush of competitive activity between current library suppliers in the last 18 months has meant that that the savings of £10-20m on discount of which PwC talks is fully available now to councils who take up the better terms on offer. Very little extra saving will be available by buying direct from publishers, because library books need to be processed for lending and publishers don't do that.

Thirdly: In many councils NOW, there is an urgent budget crisis for the library service which means that, unless they work with the suppliers in order to reduce the costs of their backroom operation - there will probably be 300-500 library closures next year. Book puirchasing is probably already down to 7% of total spend and will fall to 6% within 12 months. Libraries have allowed themselves no money to buy books.

The PwC report on supply is totally irrelevant to this emergency and will do nothing to address the long term problems. By the time they begin implementation in 2008, the library service in many councils will be almost closed.

The Library Service does not need more Government or Taxpayers money- it needs to learn how to spend properly the money it has

Buying books direct from publishers will not improve the range or selection of books in libraries.

We are walking over the cliff edge and NOBODY is doing the right things. FOR GOODNESS SAKE, WILL SOME POLITICIAN PLEASE HAVE SOME COURAGE AND CALL FOR URGENT ACTION AND DO THE RIGHT THINGS INSTEAD OF THE WRONG ONES.

My heart is breaking with frustration

Posted by Perkins at 9:01 PM | Comments (1)

Many thanks to Private Eye

I put out an SOS about Newington library about an hour ago and I'm very pleased to report that Private Eye have already sent the editor's charabanc brim full of reporters, photographers, cartoonists, bananas and joke makers, down to Southwark to sort out the council.

Posted by Perkins at 5:23 PM | Comments (2)

Help!! London Borough of Southwark closes Newington Reference Library

I just received this

"Tim, I read your article with interest because Southwark Council plan to close my local Newington Reference Library which is in East Walworth a very poor and disadvantaged ward in London just south of the Elephant & Castle. The library is well used by people from many backgrounds 7 days a week. I'm told it's because it's not DDA compliant. Others tell me that's a red herring and it's just about money. The closure date is November 1st. Thankyou for your story, it's given me a few ideas, but how to get an effective campaign started? Time and money are short.Any advice? "

Julie - we need to contact the papers, particularly the Evening Standard, the Bookseller, who will definitely mention this, Publishing News, the Guardian; the Times; the Telegraph; BBC London and any local paper in South London. If anyone reading this can contact their local ward councillor in Southwark, who may not know about it

There's certainly no need: Southwark have tons of money and DDA problems are all solvable.

Is this a Tory Council now?

Posted by Perkins at 3:22 PM | Comments (3)

An international conference

This is the kind of away day at which professional librarians gather and decide the future of the public library service.

And I'm worrying (a lot) about the collection of cookery books in Drizzle public library

Posted by Perkins at 1:01 PM | Comments (0)

Another day at the MLA- another planet

Am I crazy or do the MLA inhabit aa different planet full of pots of gold and permanent employment plans- for which we all pay- which have nothing to do with rescuing the library service?

Here are this week's press releases

Who is in Charge here?

Posted by Perkins at 12:51 PM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2006

Very important message

Mr Elgar Atkins has read the 1964 Libraries Act and he writes-

Been reading the Act.

It places a duty on the Minister to superintend and promote the
improvement of the library services provided by the 149 library authorities and the library authorities must provide him with information to enable him to carry out this duty.

It places a simple duty on library authorities to provide a
comprehensive and efficient library service for persons desiring to make use thereof.

It gives the Minister the power to make orders compelling improvements in library services and, in the event of default to dissolve a library authority and replace it with something better or to take direct control of a library authority. But these powers will only be exercised if the Minister reeceives a complaint.

So here is where the power of the people comes in. If your readers get stuck in the treacle of local authority administration, their remedy is simply to lay a formal complaint to the Minister who is duty bound (by law under this Act) to investigate and respond.

I commend this course of action to your bloggers.

Posted by Perkins at 8:12 PM | Comments (3)

Honourable intentions

While I have frequently criticised the MLA, I have always tried to tell them what, in a constructive manner, what I think they should do. For example, my analysis this week that there are certain councils which are likely to have difficulty coping with next year's budget round is in itself, three suggestions

a. That the MLA should try to help individual councils
b. That they should set themselves priorities and focus their resource
c. That the councils I listed should be contacted

Last year, when the job of senior policy adviser at the MLA was advertised nationally, I applied for the post. I thought that it was only honourable to do that, so that if there was a way I could make a contribution, as it were from the inside, then I wanted to show that was willing and eager to do that, as indeed I am. My application was turned down without an interview. The recruitment consultant, whom I did meet and who kindly said he found my CV both imperessive and entirely suitable for the job, told me that the MLA did not think I was worthy of an interview 'as I was not sufficiently interested in 'social inclusion''

In a similar vein this week a friend of mine, who is, in my view a person with the kind of experience and wisdom, which would be incredibly valuable to the direction of the MLA, applied for one of the many advertised board positions. He also waa turned down as unsuitable. We have done our best to show honourable intentions.

Posted by Perkins at 9:18 AM | Comments (2)

August 21, 2006

Liverpool again

Thanks to Bill Neve for this

Just to confirm the accuracy of the Private Eye story here is the transcript of an online enquiry session with Liverpool library:

Chat Transcript: I have just read in The Good library Blog that" Private Eye that the Liverpool Library has 'invested ?12,000 in five 'muscle toning' stations to be installed next to the computing area and used by people queuing for internet access'. Fitness instructors will be on hand (at further cost presumably) to demonstrate the equipment. Also 'the city plans to roll-out the idea into branch libraries next' Please tell me this is not true!

Librarian: Hi welcome to Enquire yes what you've heard is true I'll check it out and get back to you

Librarian: It is all part of their refurbishment for Capital of Culture. We will checj details for you. It may take a few minutes.

Librarian: They will be mini gymns and at the moment are only confined to the Central Library in William Brown Street. It was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post a few weeks ago. Would you like us to find you the exact reference?

Bill Neve: Thank you for confirming that. I had hoped it was a Private Eye spoof story.

Librarian: The article can be found in the Liverpool Daily Post August 4th 2006 Page 19 and also £rd August Page 9. They want to encourage their library borrowers to "build fit bodies as well as fit minds" and if successful will be extended to branch libraries at the end of the year. They open in the Central library on 4th September this year

Those of us with a slightly longer memory will recall the story that Liverpool libraries disposed a few years ago of incredibly valuable collections of music. There is an air of whimsy even about the answers from the librarian above.

Posted by Perkins at 4:19 PM | Comments (1)

Liverpool

Further to the entry below about Liverpool libraries turning themselves into internet cafes and health centres.

Last year the libraries in Liverpool reduced their evening opening hours and as a result the most recent published figures show that book lending in the city declined by 25% in one year.

People talk about "lack of leadership" in the public library service. It is right that each council is held responsible for delivering a high standard of libraries, but wrong that the library fraternity in each council feels able (and is permitted) to decide its own version of what a public library is. That comes about because there is a vacuum of leadership and clarity in the DCMS and MLA and with the current regime there isn't sufficient credibility in what is said to change that.

Library authorities should not be permitted to and should not receive central government or lottery funding for transforming the buildings of the library service to some other function than providing a decent library service.

No training machines.

Posted by Perkins at 8:23 AM | Comments (3)

August 20, 2006

Libraries in Liverpool

Thank you to the reader who sent this:

'Dear Tim Coates,

I just read in Private Eye that the Liverpool Library has 'invested £12,000 in five 'muscle toning' stations to be installed next to the
computing area and used by people queuing for internet access'.
Fitness instructors will be on hand (at further cost presumably) to
demonstrate the equipment. Also 'the city plans to roll-out the idea
into branch libraries next'.

Thank you for your blog. I am a regular reader. I thought I'd let
you know about this just in case you hadn't come across it already -
though I suppose you have. I love libraries as a quiet place to read and learn which seems to be an unfashionable habit at the moment.

Readers will be pleased to know that Liverpool has been named the Intergalactic City of Culture.

I had a stonking row with the board of the MLA last year when Liverpool libraries closed in the evenings. The council complained to the local paper that they couldn't afford late opening any longer. The local paper asked my view and I looked at the figures to discover that Liverpool library service is among the wealthiest in the country-and indeed their own documents supported my view that they are certainly not short of funds and can easily open in the evenings

However the row emerged when I discovered that someone called Sir David Henshaw who was the leader of Liverpool Council was also on the board of the MLA. He didn't like the public criticism of how the council spend every one's money and wasn't prepared to look at the figures with me, so I could have explained how his council could afford to keep the libraries open.

Then, he has been more successful than I have been.

Posted by Perkins at 4:05 PM | Comments (3)

Libraries at risk of Closure in Wales and Scotland

On the same basis as the lists for England were prepared in the next entry, here are the councils in Wales and Scotland, who, if they do not undertake some radical urgent management action, are most likely to close libraries.

In both Scotland Wales there are a large number of councils who do not make entries to the national return- so I do not know how complete these lists are.

Wales
Powys
Gwynedd
Pembrokeshire
Ceredigion
Flintshire
Conwy
Bridgend
Blaenau Gwent
Carmarthenshire
Neath Port Talbot

Scotland
Highland
Scottish Borders
Shetland
East Ayrshire
Eilean Siar
Dumfries & Galloway
Stirling
Aberdeenshire
Clackmannanshire
West Lothian

I am, of course, offering to help any council anywhere address the problems it faces in its library service.

In these two lists and the ones for England, it is not hard to deduce that we have a huge potential problem in rural libraries, where they are most needed. I think there is a call for a concerted effort to help before the libraries have shut

Posted by Perkins at 10:38 AM | Comments (3)

The next round of library closures

I keep warning that unless some quite urgent steps are taken there will be further rounds of library closures in the next year. If there have been almost one hundred this year, it's not hard to suggest that there will be three or four hundred next year. Nothing is being done that is radical enough to prevent them.

Looking back at the figures for 2004/5, it was possible to predict which councils were most likely to close libraries. On the list of the 20 most vulnerable in England (I shall do separate lists for Scotland and Wales)

Northumberland
Rutland
Doncaster
Cumbria
Shropshire
Calderdale
Telford & Wrekin
Isle of Wight
North Lincolnshire
Durham
Devon
North Yorkshire
Lincolnshire
Leicestershire
Somerset
Wiltshire
North Somerset
Cambridgeshire
Dorset
East Riding of Yorkshire

I have marked the ones that did close some libraries, or, in the case of Cumbria and Somerset who are going to extraordinary lengths to prevent closures. There will, I'm sure be other councils taking preventive action, too and many which have excellent operations (I know Shrpshire do) but if I were in the DCMS/MLA, these are where my resource and effort would be directed.

One can anticipate that they will all need help next year as well as will many others.

This is an approximate analysis based only on resources available, but because it doesn't contain Lancashire and Buckinghamshire who also closed a lot of libraries, it does raise the question as to the operation of those two councils.

The next 10 are
Rotherham
Kent
South Gloucestershire
Suffolk
Gloucestershire
North East Lincolnshire
Norfolk
Cornwall
Nottinghamshire
Middlesbrough

Posted by Perkins at 9:49 AM | Comments (1)

August 19, 2006

Tears in Bloggington on Sea

Mrs Sideloader was weeping on the sofa in the self help section this morning when she saw the headline in the "Bloggington Bugle" -

"Cautious welcome for cake filling factory"

The building of a cake filling and library book labelling factory on the site of the ancient naval dockyard in Bloggington will bring 1,000 new local government jobs to Bloggington, but funding the new council jobs will mean closure of all but one of the public libraries and the removal of most of the books from the remaining Carnegie library on the dockside. The Carnegie library will be turned into a "Recovery Centre"

"How could the Bloggington Bugle say this, she wept with tears like Alice. They have always supported our libraries. Where is Mr Grimsdyke in our hour of need"

"Save the libraries of Bloggington" she cried in despair

Posted by Perkins at 9:02 AM | Comments (1)

August 18, 2006

Ministerial Statement

Here is the (very good) article in Publishing News about PwC.

But I find it very hard to make any connection at all with all the stuff about new labelling factories and the comment of David Lammy, the Minister who says the report will

"“bring libraries closer to the people who use them and to help them understand the needs of those who don’t.”

That is wishful thinking on his part

Whither libraries?
A new report proposes radical solutions but will they work? Ralph Baxter reports
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY service can make annual savings of £22m by adopting a new supply structure, a new report has claimed. But Better Stock, Better Libraries, commissioned by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council and compiled by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, has been called into question by some who dispute whether such savings can be achieved, or doubt the report will be implemented.
The report could lead to publishers boosting business through direct supply but, along with library suppliers, they would face greater discount demands. Both public libraries and library suppliers face the additional possibility of job losses if the report’s recommendations are implemented, leading to back office and processing functions dealt with in new regional centres.
A radical new business model for libraries is outlined, consisting of four components: An ‘e-marketplace’ would be created to order the vast majority of library stock online from any supplier wanting to offer its services; a national strategic commissioning body would manage the marketplace and assist with the quality of service provision; ten library ‘clusters’ would be created to secure back office efficiencies; and individual library authorities would then meet local demand.
The report estimates that the gross savings of more than £22m per annum will comprise additional discounts of up to 7.5% on average levels (saving nearly £10m) and a reduction in the cost of stock procurement of at least 35% (saving over £12m). The costs of implementing the report are estimated at between £4.5m and £7m. Currently, £85m a year is spent by public libraries on book stock.
Andrew Stevens, Senior Policy Adviser for Libraries at the MLA, told PN the report represented a major opportunity for the library service. “This is about changing how libraries work so they become more efficient, improving the customer experience and finding ways in which we can encourage other new entrants to the stock supply market.”
The projected savings are a conservative estimate, he added. The report would lead to an overhaul in staffing arrangements as the emphasis is placed on ‘customer facing’ roles in libraries over back office administration. Stevens acknowledged: “There are likely to be some redundancies at the end of the process. I would imagine that councils would be looking to move staff from one function to another where possible, but that is for them to decide.”
One key aspect of the report is to encourage new entrants into the supply market, including publishers, who would receive orders through the e-marketplace. Publishers consulted broadly welcomed the changes but said they wanted to see genuine willingness from libraries to improve technology. Amanda Ridout, MD of General Books at HarperCollins, added: “I am pleased that the Publishers Association Libraries Group has engaged with this project and look forward to being involved in further discussions. Our prime concern is that savings made in the book supply chain should be reinvested in book stocks in public libraries.”
Suppliers expressed concern over how the level of discount savings quoted could be achieved with Kathryn Pattinson, MD of Askews arguing: “It’s unrealistic to believe that the type and quantities of titles required by libraries can be bought at the discounts achieved by the likes of WH Smith, Tesco and Waterstone’s, for example. High levels of discount may be obtainable on best-selling titles but those levels of discount cannot be obtained from the majority of smaller publishers who contribute vastly to the wide range needed to provide the best possible social inclusion services to communities. Libraries could not, therefore, realistically achieve the same levels as the big retailers over their much more diverse range of material.” She concluded: “Unpalatable as it may seem, any significant cost savings would need to be from staff reduction/re-organisation rather than relying on additional discount.”
Culture Minister David Lammy hailed the report as one which will free up money to “bring libraries closer to the people who use them and to help them understand the needs of those who don’t.” However, Lammy, the focus of much of the criticism over the direction of the service, faced increased pressure from Mark Field, Shadow Culture Minister, who said the Government was “clueless” on libraries and added: “Whatever conclusions and recommendations this report makes are wasted because they will never be implemented. No action was ever taken after possible efficiencies were outlined in last year’s DCMS/PKF report and I’m sure the same will be true with this one.” He said the identification of administrative inefficiencies was useful but the proposed savings represent just 2% of library service costs.
But Stevens emphasised that significant support was in place to make the report effective. “We have brought local government and the Society of Chief Librarians with us during this process. This report will provide real service benefits to local library customers and we are not going to back down.” An implementation plan will be produced by the end of September before the MLA starts work on the realising the new systems. A phased implementation is planned, beginning June 2008.

Publishing News
Friday 18 August, 2006

Posted by Perkins at 9:02 AM | Comments (1)

August 17, 2006

District Auditor

There is a comment on the entry about Powys in which a call is made for an examination of the matter by the District Auditor

The District Auditor is the ultimate sanction available to residents who believe their council has not acted in a proper manner with public funds and over the provision of public service.

I would support the call for a District Audit of the affair of proposed library closures in Powys and add that I believe the same should take place in Lancashire, Buckinghamshire, Calderdale, Devon and Dorset. I would also like to see an Ombudsman examine the affairs of the MLA, the DCMS and the Minister of State with respect to their various responsibilities over public libraries.

Posted by Perkins at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

Publishers and public libraries

There is a now a lot of book trade press comment about the PWC report and an article has appeared today in the Bookseller about supply routes (below).

I need to explain to members of the public that this rather technical debate about the route by which libraries purchase their books is really peripheral to the main problem. It seems that the same explanation needs to be made to publishers, too.

My view is that one of the reasons the stock in local libraries is poor is because the seat of influence over their stock is already too far away in the County or Borough Council offices. There needs to be more empowerment of individual local librarians and they need more budget of their own to spend. The best people in the service need to be in libraries, not offices, experienced at selecting their stock to meet their very local needs. Any wholesaler or library supplier can sift the welter of new publications- that is a separate job from holding the best local stock.

One of the calculations which underpins this report is that 90% titles bought by one council are bought by all the others. That may be true, but if one measures the overlap between individual libraries (especially the essential small rural and community ones) the overlap can be as low as 30%. Moreover a large portion of a library budget needs to be spent replacing copies of titles which have become damaged or lost: good backlist is essential as Miriam Palfrey emphasised here the other day. Obviously there is no consistency between either individual libraries or councils as to which those will be. That is why "buying" on a regional scale can end up with worse individual libraries.

The programme proposed by Price Waterhouse moves selection responsibilty from council offices to regional offices; and even more important, it does nothing at the same time, to address the inefficient expenditure in those council offices, which will actually become worse. That inefficiency is the other (even larger) reason why the stock in individual libraries is poor- not enough money is left for buying books, after all the wages have been paid.

Those of us in the book trade who have seen all these things know full well the arguments between central and local buying. WH Smith shops have central buying and independent shops have local buying. Local buying can be dreadful, but in the right hands in can be wondeful and infinitely better than central buying, which is always in the middle of the road.

Whether a publisher supplies via a wholesaler, a library supplier or state run regional depot, is a tiny point of detail of minimal interest to the public. To argue over it from a publisher's perspective is of no value to the people who use libraries, and is a matter that will anyhow be very easily left to the market place which already exists; it is already an exacting market as Kevin Holden says in the piece below. It is a red herring in the context of the extreme problems of the service, and Andrew Stevens of the MLA should, by now, have understood that. If he had insisted that PwC provided proper figures to support their report (as they were asked to do) it would have been clear to everyone else, too.

There is a saving of £200m available which is ignored and the report has recommended extreme action to address a possible saving of £10 -£20m, half of which has already been taken in increased discounts in the past 18 months.

That is why this report is akin to folding the napkins on the Titanic as the ship goes down with the silver.

To be more candid- publishers need to get involved in this subject and I wish they would- but they need to understand the whole matter properly first, which they currently are not doing. Whatever the serious problems of the library service are, they are not about discounts of supply; and actually by taking the position they are, publishers are allowing the MLA to be distracted from the main problem. I would be happy to meet any publisher or group of publishers and explain why. (for a fee!)

August 2006

Libraries may buy direct

Libraries may end up bypassing wholesalers and buying stock from publishers direct, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) has claimed.

The plans were set out in a PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) study, Better Stock, Better Libraries, published by MLA and DCMS.

The shift would be led by publishers looking to increase their margins, and facilitated by PwC plans to introduce into the market a single, simplified set of servicing standards.

The m.d. of one major publisher said: "If there's nothing that wholesalers can supply that publishers can't, then we'd certainly go direct to libraries to regain our margin. We don't want to supply the market on retail terms, but wholesalers have forced the issue."

These comments follow the row sparked by the Bertram Group in February, when it announced plans to draw more stock for its library supply division from its trade arm--leaking wholesale discounts into the library supply sector.

Bertrams c.e.o. Terry Reilly was unfazed by the PwC report. "I don't think that they've yet decided on whether servicing, bibliographic data or supply selection is going to be in-sourced or out-sourced," he said.

But other wholesalers expressed concern. Holt Jackson chairman Kevin Holden said: "Publishers can always sell cheaper themselves because they know precisely what discount we're getting. If this goes through, there is no future for us at all." He was also sceptical that a market with publisher-suppliers would be more open. "[PwC] are trying to set up a competitive marketplace, but they're doing that by introducing publishers who each have a monopoly on their titles."

But MLA senior policy advisor Andrew Stevens defended the move: "The new standards would be really, really stripped down. The less and less different [library processes] become from the rest of the marketplace, the more opportunities they have to have a choice."

PwC will launch a more detailed implementation study in September, and the MLA will set up the infrastructure by 2008.

Sceptics of the PwC report have raised concerns that the money saved by greater efficiency will not be ploughed back into the library service.

Desmond Clarke, chairman of libraries charity Libri and a former director of Faber, said: "Local government is under considerable pressure and there is a real risk that the savings will be taken elsewhere."

Library consultant Tim Coates said: "Councils don't hand back money they have begged from central government."

Their comments follow Minister for Culture David Lammy's announcement that the PwC report offers libraries "the tools to save money that can be reinvested in longer opening hours, in better computer and internet access, and of course in more books".

The £100m library service budget is controlled by local government rather than at national level, so Lammy has no legal power. "These are local decisions, and we cannot guarantee that every penny will continue to go to libraries," a DCMS spokesman said. "But on the other hand, it seems equally unlikely that every penny will not go to libraries."

MLA policy advisor Andrew Stevens said the PwC reforms would still "protect libraries" from council cuts. "Councils would be grabbing that money anyway. Far better to take it from backroom services than putting library closures or the book fund up first," he said.

Posted by Perkins at 5:00 PM | Comments (3)

Library services in other countries

All my efforts to try and revive the public library service in the UK have been firmly and normally rudely rejected by the British Governments- in England, Scotland and Wales. My eye turns hopefully to other countries where the civil servants may be at least a little more polite. I mentioned China yesterday. Here are

Iran, and

Brunei

I'm available. I'm sure SYRUP and DLA would be glad to see the back of me. But who will save the libraries of Bloggington?

Posted by Perkins at 11:37 AM | Comments (1)

Despair in Bloggington

Dear Mr Grimsdyke

Thank for all your letters from Dumchurch, I cannot say it sounds a very interesting or attractive city, and it is hard to understand why you keep writing letters about matters we perfectly well understand. We are much more concerned to hear news of Perkins, or that you will both be coming home safely, soon.

We have dreadful news. DLA (Delay: the Department of Libraries and Archives) has selected Bloggington on Sea for the site of one its regional cake filling and library book labelling factories. This is to be an enormous industrial enterprise employing 1,000 council officers. Mr Chocolate Profiterole himself is the be chief executive and Miss Cherry Slice will be executive chief. I think it is a demotion for both of them to which they have not taken kindly.

In order to fund it all the town libraries are to be closed down except for our dearly beloved Carnegie library on the harbour front. Even in there 2 out of each 3 books will be removed from the entire collection. The council are concerned that there be no discrimination in the selection, so the removal is to be done at midnight with the lights out by a blind man. In other words even our wondrous 'History of Naval manoeuvres in Bloggingon Bay during the reign of Queen Anne' by Mr Elgar Atkins will be reduced to just volumes 3,6,9,15 and 18 (Of course volumes 12,13,14 have been missing a long time to allow Perkins a comfortable place to sleep)

We are putting out a desperate cry for relief and "Save the libraries of Bloggington" Posters are going up all over the town, especially on the front windscren of the Mayor's Ferrari

Please help us - you old fool

Your affectionate Mrs Sideloader and Ron

PS A strawberry milkshake, with ice cream, awaits you, if Pedro's Ice Cream parlour survives these horrors.

Posted by Perkins at 9:57 AM | Comments (1)

The Dumchurch letters 17 August: Cookery Books

Dear Mrs Sideloader and Ron

The Mayor and Councillors of Dumchurch believe that no one wants to use the libraries any longer and they propose to close a number down. Their evidence for this is the steep decline in the numbers of visits and book loans. They do know that adding more computers to the libraries has brought in a few regulars who use them for a variety of purposes, not all connected with the general notion of a library.

I wanted to explain to them that the reason for people not using the libraries as much as they did even last year, might be because of what is on offer.

In order to better understand this I went to visit the branch library at Drizzle and I made a list of the books in the 'Cookery Books' section. I have put the list below here, in the order they are on display.

At the same time I sent the list to Bollikins the Bookseller and asked them these questions:

1. What percentage of national demand for books in the UK is met by cookery books (including diet,. food and wine, chefs, healthy eating etc)?

2. If you add together the national hardback and paperback sales for each of the titles on the list, what percentage of the national demand for cookery books, would they satisfy?

3. If you put the most popular 77 titles from your national sales pattern, what percentage of national demand for cookery books would they satisfy?

4. If you had 100pounds to spend by how much would you increase the popularity/ usefulness of the section? Ditto for 200 pounds etc

5. Should the section be bigger or smaller?

Discuss!

Drizzle Library

Cookery, includes Food and Wine, Chefs, Party food, Healthy eating , Diet etc

2 shelves- about 6ft of display space; no shelf edge markers; all spine out

1 A-Z of food Bissell
2 Turning up the Heat Smith
3 Man Walks into a Pub Brown
4 It must be something I ate Steingarten
5 Cook's guide to Asian Ingredients Morris
6 Ma Cuisine Escoffier
7 Entertaining with Katie Stewart
8 Ready Steady Cook 3
9 Ready Steady Cook 4
10 Classic Home Cooking Wadey
11 Cook's Handbook Prue Leith
12 Jenny Bristow's everyday cook book
13 Brian Turner : A Yorkshire Lad
14 Cooking for Kings Kelly
15 Floyd on Spain
16 Natural Born Fillers
17 Weight Watchers Carefree Cooking (NEL)
18 Fast and Fresh Cooking Schwarz Bonino
19 Teatime treats Day
20 Fish Cook Zilli
21 Macrobiotics An invitation to Health and happiness
22 Super Food Pratt Matthews
23 Everyday light hearted cookbook Lindsay
24 Detox Dieting graimes
25 Dairy Free Lactose Free Diet Plan
26 Cooking for Arthritis Berriedale
27 Allergy Free Cooking Pannell
28 Eat to beat Arthritis Marguerite Patten
29 Healthy heart cookbook Schwartz
30 Healthy Heart Elspeth Smith
31 Cooking for Diabetics Berriedale
32 Diabetes Eat Enjoy Christine Roberts
33 Delicious food for Diabetes
34 Life without nuts Caroline Jackson
35 Diabetes Cookbook DK
36 Dr Atkins new diet cookbook
37 Broader than Beans Lesley Waters
38 Feeding the Imagination Vegetarian Society
39 Leith's Contemporary Cooking Prue Leith
40 Vegan recipes Leneman
41 Vegetarian Cookery Rose Elliot
42 Kind hearted cooking Sonia Allison
43 Rosemary Conley Low Fat Cookbook
44 Entertaining with Food and Drink Michael Barry
45 Quick and Easy Wok Cookbook DK
46 The Wok Cookbook Gina Steer
47 Les Halles cookbook Bourdain
48 Tony and Giorgio BBC
49 Japanese Cookery Ortiz
50 Flavours of India Pathak
51 Ken Hom Cooks Thai
52 Risotto risotto Valentina Harris
53 A taste of Africa Hafner
54 Real Chocolate Coady
55 Farmers' market guide to Vegetables James
56 Ken Hom's vegetable cookery
57 Perfect Poultry Readers Digest
58 Taste of the Sea Rick Stein
59 Everything tastes better with bacon Perry
60 Dear Francesca Mary Contini
61 Complete Cookery Course Delia Smith
62 Easy bread machine baking Holmes
63 Quick Breads Franklin
64 The Bread Book Sarah Lewis
65 Making bread at home Jaino
66 Noodle Lorenz
67 Sweets Tim Richardson
68 Vegetarian 4 Seasons Rose Elliot
69 Cakes for fun Jane Asher
70 Fresh Vegetarian Cookery Sarah Brown
71 Sweet Food Murdoch
72 Puddings and Deserts Kitchen Library
73 Fairy Cakes Farrow Hamlyn
74 Gingerbread Houses Morgan and Gilchrist
75 County Fruits and Flowers Claire Webb
76 Christmas Figures Linda Pewsey
77 Cocktails and Punches Michalski

Posted by Perkins at 9:36 AM | Comments (2)

August 16, 2006

A library closure in Scotland

It has been a bad day for closing libraries. Here is another. By the way Elaine Fulton never answered any of my messages.

Posted by Perkins at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)

The reason why

Two conversations today made me understand something that should have been plain to me ages ago: the reason why senior managers of the public library service have so resolutely refused to undertake the reform without which the service will die soon.

If you read the next entries about Lancashire, Yorkshire and Powys, what is obviously happening is that the senior management are hanging on desperately to save their pensions. They couldn't care tuppence about what is left of their public libraries after they retire. If they are all closed, who cares.

If you are under 50 in the library service heed my warning. Unless there is reform there is no future. You need new management at CILIP and you need to support the kind of overhaul for which I am calling.

If you are a member of the public, be certain, unless councillors and MP's are made to shake in their boots, the public library service is already finished.

If you are a library supplier, start looking for another job, or join my call for change. There will be no book purchases for libraries before many years are past.

Posted by Perkins at 5:56 PM | Comments (0)

More closures in Yorkshire

I'm afraid this article is the taste of things to come. I am utterly depressed

If I were head of the MLA now, I would request that the Minister use his statutory power to intervene in the operation of the library services of Calderdale and Lancashire. We have to got tol sort out the detail of why this happening and stop it NOW

Posted by Perkins at 3:16 PM | Comments (2)

Flimflam

Mark Field the Tory shadow minister for libraries has surpassed himself with his condemnation of the latest hocus from the DCMS, MLA and PwC

This is incredibly embarrassing for the MLA, which, as a non-governmental body is responsible for supporting a local government operation run by all the political parties. In fact The Tories run more libraries than all other parties put together- so for the MLA not to have even run this past Tories before publication is ineptitude on a scale of which only they are capable.

16 August 2006, the Bookseller


Tories lambast library report

Mark Field, shadow minister for culture, has condemned the latest report on library book purchasing from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) as being "another 100 pages of flimflam to add to the blizzard of paper gathering dust on the inactivity shelves of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport".

The report "Better Stock, Better Libraries", undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers, claimed to have identified a way for libraries to save up to £20m, having found that 149 library authorities across England spend £85m a year buying books, at a cost of £35m in processing. The report said that significant savings would be achieved if libraries reduced duplication of book ordering; simplified library book processing requirements; made greater use of e-commerce; and encouraged a more competitive market for library book supply.

Culture minister David Lammy welcomed the findings, saying that the opportunity offered by the report was "a significant one". John Dolan, head of Library Policy at the MLA, said that a 40% overhead in buying stock was "unacceptable by any measure of efficiency". He added: "The report shows how libraries should work collaboratively to reduce costs."

But Tory Field questioned the usefulness of the report. "Whatever conclusions and recommendations this report makes are wasted because they will never be implemented," he said. "The crisis in our public library service is about the decline in books in our libraries, the closures of libraries, lack of vision in its management and waste of public funds--none of which will be helped by this report."

This report identified savings of up to £20m from the whole library service which represented just two per cent of the total, Field claimed. "As ever with this government, regional quangos have been identified in this report as a valuable answer to administrative failures despite innumerable incidents of fiasco and financial wastage in such regional bodies."

Field said that he would continue his contact with councils to encourage improvements to the whole library service, including increasing book stocks while addressing the efficiency failures which were highlighted in the report.

Philip.Jones@Bookseller.co.uk

With language like that one has to wonder whether Mr Field is spending his summer holiday reading this blog. Mr Lammy should do the same

Posted by Perkins at 1:24 PM | Comments (0)

More library closures in Lancashire

Here we go on the next round of library closures

In the Spring Lancashire County Council closed 12 libraries.

Now they are proposing to close a further 3 at least.

Here is the article

Has anyone seen any visible sign that they have tried to make the operation more efficient and comprehensive before they do this? I haven't. The awful awful reality is that the prediction that the library service is being closed down by default, is true and the closure is taking place in front of our eyes.

Posted by Perkins at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)

China

A very large number of the hits on the site are coming from China

I understand that the Chinese Government are keen to develop their network of public libraries, which must be vast.

How important that any lessons that could be learned here should be of use to them.

Don't start an MLA!! That's one.

Posted by Perkins at 12:00 PM | Comments (2)

Phil Kerridge and the PwC report

Phil Kerridge made some absolutely essential points in a comment yesterday..

The first is that when MLA contract a consultant (which they have done in the last 2 years to the tune of 4 million pounds)the consultant should be acting in the best interests of the people of the country; their duty of care is not to the MLA- but to the people who pay for and do or would use the library service.

I believe that this is a very serious mistake to print (as the report does as clear statement) that the consultants only have a duty of care to the officers of the MLA. This could easily be misinterpreted to imply that Price Waterhouse Cooper might only write whatever it takes to get the next contract from the MLA (which is a "Non- Governmental Body") and not what is in the interests of the people. Of course that could not possibly be true. If that were their motive it could imply that they will simply write whatever meets with the approval of the MLA and its steering committee of paid professional librarians. Nobody would believe such behaviour possible or honourable.

Moreover one would have thought that Consultants such as these, if they judged that what the MLA was asking for or "steering them towards" was not clearly in the best public interest, they would naturally say so. That is part of their job. The opposite is unthinkable.

No consultants with as high a reputation as these (or others like them) would dream of beaving in any other way.

However the question remains as to why this report fails to address and quantify so many of the problems identified in the previous phase of the work by PKF (who, one notes, failed to be awarded the contract for the next phase). In PKF the suggestion that savings of a much greater level could be made relatively quickly, seems to have been completely forgotten

I hope someone from Price Waterhouse Cooper and the MLA will come on here and put the record straight. Or even from the Government - which funds the MLA

This is what Phil said

Nice work for Pc W if you can get it! Don't they sum it up when they decline to accept responsibility for the adequacy, completeness or accuracy of the model or the assumptions upon which it's based? But perhaps that's pleasures of consultancy - all the fun and none of the responsibility?

Shouldn't there be a comparative intermediate model where libaries sort out their support costs, streamline to NAG etc etc and my friends at Askews carry on doing what they do very well? That way you avoid the risks of all the grandiose IT built into the proposals. But perhaps that's Tim! (Yes - it is exactly what I would suggest. Tim)

In any event £22m shared amongst 149 authorities - about £150k each but not before 2008 if we're lucky. The real question is what sort of a library service will be left when for example Dorset will already have taken £847k away from their £6 million - ish - budget?

Typical MLA - great scheme perhaps, shame it doesn't address the real problem!

Phil

Posted by Perkins at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

Powys library closures

May I draw attention to this comment yesterday about the 3 library closures in Powys, which were prevented last week by strong protest from local people

Powys Library Service,

It appears (from what was written in the press) that the elected members decided on closing the three Libraries named. That is not true, senior members of the Library Service put the names forward after the Council asked that every department make cuts. They (the councillors) did not ask for Libraries to be closed they asked for cuts-cuts in expenditure.

May I suggest three places to make these cuts?

Posted by Perkins at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)

Novel prize

If you aren't a regular on Susan Hill's book blog then I most certainly recommend it. You can see how helpful she has been to me and I am very grateful- but her blog is fascinating anyhow.

She has launched a new prize for a novel, to be judged by people who run book blog sites and has very graciously asked me to be one of her group (which I hope will be wide and unexclusive). So I am looking for novels to read so I can submit them as candidates. Please send me books or titles so I can get hunting. Here are Susan's rules:

The novel has to be published between 1 January and 31 December 2006 so there are 3 months and a bit to go with plenty of new novels coming in the autumn. Double check the Booker longlist because their dates of eligibility are different - some of them will have been published at the end of 2005 - before you include any of them.

I don`t think we have any restrictions except that the book has to be written in English and published in the UK. No age or other barriers.

Posted by Perkins at 9:46 AM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2006

2,000 hits yesterday on this blog

Actually 2,105 - which is amazng. We shall pass 40,000 in August. Many thanks to everyone. Please keep adding comments, I think we are beginning to hear voices that should long ago have been heard. Don't feel you have to use your own name and if you wish me to obscure your email address, I can easily do that. But please say what you feel- members of the public, those who work in libraries, those who work in local or national government or just itinerant jam rolls. All are welcome. Tim

Posted by Perkins at 2:41 PM | Comments (1)

A place to read or work

A public library is a place you can go to sit, read and, if you wish work quietly and privately.

So a good library needs seats that are comfortable and clean and working space that is practical, dignifed and a bit solitary.

I wish libraries would not place all their desks together so that people are crammed and have no space to themselves. I have just been in two libraries in which I would have felt uncomfortable to sit and work.

Similarly I wish libraries wouldn't put all their internet stations together and on desks that have no space for papers or books.

Posted by Perkins at 2:26 PM | Comments (3)

A biscuit speaks

DLA, (pronounced Delay) the Department of Libraries and Archives held its end of term prizegiving yesterday long after all the other schools had gone on holiday.

Mr Woolly Jumper, the headmaster, is already on the beach in the war torn north London Borough of Libraria. Mr Jumper appears to have taken his cricket bat with him, dead or alive and Miss Bo Peep OBE of the Knitting agency was not to be seen. However the head of gym Mr Custard Cream OBE was only too pleased to stand in his place and make yet another of his famous speeches.

He congratulated the school on the achievement of its object of removing all the books from libraries everywhere. Nevertheless he sounded a note of caution by reminding children that while good efforts were being made to fill the empty shelves with cream cakes and chocolate biscuits, he noted in some places the habit of tasting the cakes meant that as many as 40% were not being displayed.

In a large number of cases the cakes were half eaten or worse.

These remarks caused some surprise among the librarians from the Great City of Glum, where until recently Mr Custard Cream was himself the chief librarian. Everyone knows that the libraries of Glum have not had any books for a long time, but reports have also revealed that the practice of eating the cakes before displaying them, in Glum, has reached such a level that all that is left are a few crumbs and no comfort

Mr Custard Cream was speaking on the 'Yesterday' programme. He went on to present the prizes including a large brown envelope to the firm of Consultants who had fixed up the whole thing.

Mr Chocolate Profiterole and Miss Cherry Slice were on the podium with Mr Cream OBE who also announced the opening of ten regional cake cream filling factories, in the regions.

Posted by Perkins at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2006

A view from the library

Here is Miriam's comment on reading the Price Waterhouse Cooper report, with which I completely agree.

"The problem I have with this report (other than the fact that it is so horrible to read) is that it seems to address the concept of libraries in a very abstract way. I am not opposed in principal to the idea of regional ordering and distribution centres but this model doesn’t seem to have been thought through on a logical scale.

Yes it would be great if libraries could get a huge discount on books, if our management systems could communicate and if processing and cataloguing were uniform but changing these things all at once would take up a huge amount of time and resources which would impact upon basic services.

A discrepancy between old and new stock can’t just be handled by shelving them differently (most of us don’t have unlimited space). If we change the way that stock is catalogued it is necessary to recatalogue all of the existing stock. This is possible but it would take a lot of time and effort. Just because new technologies are currently available does not mean that we should automatically subscribe to them, if 10% of authorities currently use Radio Frequency Identification technology then the stock of 90% of library authorities do not contain RFID tags, are all of these books supposed to be written off?

Maybe I am just very stupid but I can’t seem to grasp the concept of the eMarketplace as described here. I understand that local consortiums negotiate a deal with an individual supplier so that they are effectively buying in bulk and therefore receive a discount. As I understand it the eMarketplace procures books from various suppliers and purchases titles from them on an individual basis. I freely admit that I know next to nothing about procurement software but this all seems very complicated. Is it currently feasible?

Supplier selection is a relatively simple process compared to what is described here. The stock analysis software described would have to perform some quite intricate analysis in order to assess all of the factors mentioned on a regional scale. Existing automated supplier selection processes do not offer the level of sophistication that is hinted at here and I know from personal experience that the statistical evidence generated by library management systems can sometimes be very misleading unless looked at in context. LMS (nice use of use of annoying TLAs and obfuscation throughout the report by the way) sometimes barely communicate between different branches let alone between different authorities.

I can’t imagine any sensible stock manager allocating the suggested percentage of stock funds to an outside agency. If all stock funds (except for the 5% on local interest books) are allocated to a regional hub then what is left for maintenance and display purposes? Not all books purchased are newly published; we also replace lost or damaged stock and fill stock gaps. Fiction books are often published in series; would this proposed software not only order new books from a series held in a particular library (something that our supplier selection system can’t do at the moment) but also decide that some of our existing stock should be replaced? If I withdraw a popular book because it has been returned with half the pages missing will it be flagged in the regional hub or do we just have to wait until someone requests it? What do we do when 10 copies of the latest best-seller which have been on order for months don’t show up if we have nothing set aside to pop down to our local bookstore?

As you say a much better idea would have been to examine the problems from the bottom up, as it seems as though the writers of this report have little idea of how a public library actually works on a day-to-day level. There seem to be an awful lot of things here that could go horribly wrong and a great risk of making things worse rather than better."

Posted by Perkins at 8:38 PM | Comments (1)

Heaven

I have explained in an earlier entry that the Department of Common Sense (DCMS) is situated underneath Victoria Station with secret entrances only known to certain persons and other types of cake and biscuit (cookie). Within it lies the Department of Libraries and Archives (DLA: pronounced Delay)where all matters are handled with a dead bat (which is a cricketing expression)

Well today I discovered that Heaven is on the fifth floor above the station. Here lies the terrestial office of Google, where angels live and soft music sooths the atmosphere.

"We can help you with your libraries" they seemed to sing,"Search no further" It was a moment in paradise.

Posted by Perkins at 8:25 PM | Comments (1)

Bank Holidays!

I have raised the question before about why libraries close on Bank Holidays

Whether you are in London and the new learning year is about to start (It's Labor day in America) or you are at the seaside and the kids are still on school holiday, the libraries need to be open for the August Bank holiday.

But I was in one today boldly declaring already it would be shut- not just for August Bank Holiday Monday, but also for the Saturday and Sunday as well.

Someone tell me why.

Posted by Perkins at 8:24 PM | Comments (3)

MLA- DCMS - Price Waterhouse Cooper report

Here is the reference to this morning's press release and report. As when examining the quality of stock in a library, it is important to think what you are hoping to see before you start looking

In this case we are looking for the outcome of two years study into the efficiency of the op;eration by its managers our public library service- paid for and conducted on behalf of the public

Posted by Perkins at 9:49 AM | Comments (2)

Fighting Dirty

The Hemingway style of Peter Richardson's account of how Manor Library in the London Borough of Lewisham has been saved is worth careful reading

Read on

Hi Tim,
Well, it is A weekend!
Thanks for the political entry on the blog. We did do well! And it did transfer to some new thinking on Manor House Library.
The Council claim they realised it was too expensive when Mace, their appointed Project Managers looked at the figures. This was reported at a Council meeting on the 11th January as "The Manor House Project in its current form is unaffordable. Options were to be considered for its future."
The fact, that a Labour councillor for 23 years in the ward the library is situated decided before the 11th to decamp to a safe seat in Deptford for the coming election (May 2006) implied, amongst other things, that the 41 objections to the "current plans" for the Manor House, attempting to push it through would result in a political backlash. We played our part in that as described previously. So they engaged a new group of architects to solve the problem.
Well, this is a victory for us, because the solution they have created involves maintaining the Manor House almost as it stands now, and still install disabled access. The East wing is to be modified - that is lowered in height to match the height of the West wing and widened slighlty to match the West wing's width. Symmetry rules, OK?! Gone is the wanton destruction of both wings the previous plans involved, as is the ghastly southern extension proposal.
How? Well, the introduction of the Training Unit previously planned is no longer an option, so the creche can remain in the existing building. Two birds with one stone, here: No third agency in the building. No extension south in to the park. Cost? Not too different to the figure deemed unaffordable. And how to finance it? Capital funds. But, we were told there was only about £1.4M left after the previous architect consultancy was paid and the balance had to be borrowed via the Prudential Borrowing code, which meant the Training Unit at Ladywell were required to move to the Manor House to release their property as collateral for the loan.
But, events, Dear Boy. Events. Prudential Borrowing is now incorporated in to Capital Funds and individual loans no longer need individual properties as collateral. Very convenient!
Also the House is to be retained in public use and ownership and as a public library. The new plans devote the ground floor to library space, the basement to services, creche and classrooms: the top floor to storage and possibly office space but this floor is unlikely to be rentable for technical reasons.
Already a Wi-Fi hotspot, IT fa