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December 8, 2006
More daft remarks
Last week the Councillor in Hertfordshire said that children prefer gameboys to books. This week it's the turn of Yinnon Ezra the head of parks and culture in Jane Austen's Hampshire:
"The traditional role of public libraries in lending fiction books is in terminal decline" says the boss of Hampshire's library service. But the comment by Yinnon Ezra, director of heritage and recreation, has been condemmed by the library charity, Libri.
Mr Ezra claimed libraries needed re-inventing to attract new users and survive in future. Winchester's Jewry street library is currently undergoing a £7m transformation into a discovery centre.
Mr Ezra said "The core business of public libraries, mass lending of fiction, is in terminal decline. "Libraries have to re-invent themselves big time or otherwise wither on the vine". He said that the county's first discovery centre in Gosport was seen by young people as a "cool place to go" and the county council was proud of the way it had been received. He added "They also see it as a place of learning". Library chiefs say growing disposable income and cheaper books means people are buying rather than borrowing books.
But the latest official figures show lending from libraries increased in 11 out of 33 counties in England and Wales last year. While Hampshire was bottom of the league table with an 8.8 per cent decrease in lending, Warwickshire, at the top, saw loans increase by 9.2 per cent.
Traditional library supporters argue Hampshire's performance would improve if less was spent on flagship buildings and more on books. Last year the county spent the least of any local authority in England on books at 97p per person a year, compared with £2.30 per head in Devon. Book lending in Hampshire has plummeted by 41 per cent since 1997 when the county council used to spend £1.75 per person on books, nearly twice the current figure.
Desmond Clarke, Winchester based chairman of Libri, said "If libraries are half empty of books, people are not going to use them - that fundamentally is the issue. "Winchester library has 20 per cent fewer books than five years ago. All the evidence shows reading fiction is more popular than it ever was. And there are lots of people who still can't afford to buy books - the elderly, disadvantaged and children. Nor do people necessarily want to own every book they read. But if we don't invest in libraries and in particular in the book stock, there is inevitably going to be a decline.
"It is Yinnon Ezra - not the public- who is giving up on libraries."
Rachel Masker, HAMPSHIRE CHRONICLE
7 December
Mr Ezra has just been appointed to the board of the MLA !!
Posted by Tim Coates at December 8, 2006 6:44 PM
Comments
And Elgar says he should resign.
Posted by: Elgar Atkins at December 8, 2006 7:48 PM
Pound Ezra! (metaphorically speaking).
Posted by: Christopher Hawtree at December 9, 2006 9:57 AM
I am a young person living in Hampshire I never go to the library and get all my books from the internet. Libraries have no appeal unless they are cool places to go. Books are cool but we can get them anywhere-I went to Gosport and saw their DC which was packed with people my age-lots of older people too. Lots of books too but it is a really cool place to go. I think you can stuff the library with books but people my age wont go! Im glad that Yinnon Ezra has the courage to be bold and is holding out for changing things-everything must evolve and change in the service sector, including staff and journalists. ahem...
ps, do you discuss stuff here, or do you just moan?
Posted by: Edd at February 10, 2007 6:00 PM
Ed
You are most welcome--- yes, we discuss stuff! so just say what you think. You can comment on an entry near the top of the blog, if you can find a suitable one. Tim
Posted by: Tim at February 10, 2007 10:44 PM