The Good Library Blog

What are you talking about Tim?

Librarians have been aware of supplier selection system for quite some time now.

From what I hear from friends and associates and what I infer from the professional posts advertised it is being taken up in quite a few authorities.

Most of the professionals I have spoken to are only too happy to let the suppliers take responsibility for trawling through the weekly lists of new publications because it leaves us free to do other vital work.

We are also, believe it or not, aware of the importance of a backlist. We supply the books that are out of print or difficult to find or too expensive for the average person on the street to buy. It is our job.

Librarians like books, that's the reason most of us took to the profession in the first place. We realise the importance of books in a library and we want to make as many books as possible available to our users.

In our library we work hard to ensure that we replace withdrawn stock, that we supply user requests as quickly as possible and that we buy as wide a range of books as we can. When necessary we argue the case for certain expenditure with our stock manager.

I don't think that our service is perfect, but it is nowhere near as terrible as the service you describe. Our stock could be better and we wouldn't object to more money in the stock fund but it is certainly not as poor as one would think from reading your blog.

I have used public libraries elsewhere and yes, the quality of stock has been dramatically different in different areas, but I have never used a library in the poor state you describe on a regular basis.

It is incredibly frustrating to have to explain to users on a daily basis that we haven't thrown out all of our books to make way for computers (they are still on the shelves, we just moved them), that just because we don't happen to have the book they want at this very moment does not mean that we can't get it for them (I believe even high street chains might take a few days to supply a book that is out of print and on an obscure topic) and that we do have new books/ classics/ history (or whatever they are asking about) and if they give me a few minutes to look on our catalogue I can find a particular title for them.

These opinions are not based on fact. They are based on supposition and ignorance. We don’t just get rid of books without good reason and if we didn’t occasionally move our stock around then we wouldn’t have any room for new books.

We have to fight enough prejudice as it is and, yes, as professionals we are aware of the various issues threatening our future. Public librarians fight a daily battle to provide much needed service to local communities. We are not paid as much as our colleagues in academic or business libraries, most of us do the job because we believe in public libraries. As a profession we are given very little respect or support.

We really don’t need a back-seat driver with an opinion and a knack for publicity telling us how to do our jobs. Whilst I agree with some of your ideas, I don’t appreciate the fact that you have undermined public faith in my profession by implying that we are all clueless.

Miriam

Very good to hear from you. Where are you?

Tim

Hello Tim,

Thank you for replying to me!

I’m glad that you don’t mind me commenting and hope that I may be able to contribute to discussions in the future.

As a public librarian I feel very strongly about many of the issues you raise (as well as some that you haven’t mentioned).

I’d rather not make a public statement regarding my place of work as it would be heavily frowned upon by the council’s Marketing and PR department. I’d be happy to discuss this off the record however, bearing in mind the usual disclaimer that any views and opinions I express are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.

Miriam

It's a pleasure! And I shan't press you on where your library is- although you would have received a lot of friendly visitors- you are right to be circumspect.

However, I have to deny that my views are not based on fact. By and large they are most certainly based on actual facts - although of course they might be national or council statistics that don't apply to individual libraries.

Remember, too, that the public own the library service, so these are views from the front seat- not the back seat. It is not a service that is the private domain of library professionals- it is there to give the public what they want.

Go on- tell us more- you are sincerely and genuinely welcome and I think everybody wants to hear your views.

With best wishes

Tim

Tim,

Sorry if I was a little unclear, I didn’t mean to insinuate that your views are based on supposition and ignorance. I am aware that you research your material and, although I might not always agree with your conclusions, I don’t mean to question your statistics.

That particular statement was intended to relate directly to the paragraph above it and my experience of dealing with users who have an unfounded view of our service in particular.

I agree that we are a public service and that we are ultimately accountable to the people we serve but at the same time we are also professionals. It is our duty to find a balance between the various and often conflicting needs and desires of our users with the resources that are available to us and it often seems, to me at least, that our efforts and experience are widely underestimated.

I appreciate that your criticisms are not based at our service in particular but, unfortunately, public perception tends to be such that what is true for one is seen to be true of all. For example, after recent national publicity about library closures several users in our branch libraries seemed to be under the impression that we were bound to close their local library. This, as far as my colleagues and I are aware, is certainly not the case and has never even been a consideration but some people were convinced of the idea.

I look forward to contributing in the future.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Miriam

I salute you, Miriam, for standing up for yourself, your job, your library and your colleagues. If only they were all like you. We are fortunate in having a small but extremely good local library and a decent library bus service too which is especially welcomed by pensioners, the village house-bound/car less, and mums with small children. We also, in the ground-troops, have some librray staff who actually read and love books... it is not the ground staff who are ever to blame, and I am sure Tim would agree. It is the backroom staff, the middle and upper management - and even more, the Councillors. To most of them, alas, libraries are a waste of space and also they are very very easy to target for cuts. Some of the worst offenders though have been the senior librarians I have met who have been longing - LONGING - for the death of the book and the rise of the computer, for half their working lives. I know. I have met them. I have talked to them and despaired.
Those are the people Tim is getting at. But for the foot soldiers in the branch libraries I have nothing but admiration and respect.
Keep it coming. And 'respect.'

Susan,

Thanks for your support.

I would have to say that my experience of working in small branches is similar to your experience of using them. Seeing the difference that we make to a community can be incredibly rewarding, clichéd as that may sound.

I certainly don’t disagree with criticism of Councillors who cut library funding or managers who want to do away with books altogether! Unfortunately I am willing to bet that it is the front-line staff who are called upon to explain these crazy decisions to their users.

Miriam