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August 16, 2006
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 Tim Coates at August 16, 2006 1:24 PM