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September 11, 2006
The management of public affairs
At Government seminars discussions are held at which senior politicians and civil servants declare that
'Central and local Government agree a shared commitment to the highest possible social, economic and environmental aspirations for their communities'
These fine words are passed onwards to those, like the officers in the MLA, whose job it is to advocate the value of public libraries to local councillors and their financial controllers
These officers produce strategy papers and press releases which say 'libraries are much more than places to borrow books: they have a vital role to play in helping local authorities achieve their communities' social, economic and environmental aspirations'
The officer in question, when he is criticised in the press (as he is in the next entry on this blog) could say 'What have I done wrong? I did what you told me to do.'
Oh dear; 'The state we are in'
I have learned that irony does not work on civil servants or local government officers, therefore I feel obliged to spell out that what that civil servant should have done was explain (in detail) exactly HOW public libraries can help achieve those aspirations, when they are operated properly. Moreover, if that civil servant failed to do that (as he has)- the job of his boss, the chief executive of MLA; and then the chairman of the MLA; and the board members of the MLA; and the civil servants of the DCMS; and then the Minister of State-- is to remind him of and make him do his job: which is to articulate how public libraries fulfill that role-- viz by having good collections of books and other information; are open long hours, and are in clean respectable, safe buildings, suitable for study and spending private time. By doing these things to a high standard they make an enormous contribution to "social, economic and environmental aspirations" and a great deal more including the education and culture of the people in the country.
Posted by Tim Coates at September 11, 2006 12:40 PM