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January 13, 2007
Faith and boldness
Here is my challenge to local councillors, council directors, library managers and professional staff and the publishing and library supply industries in all its forms:
I am looking for the opportunity to improve the public library service: it needs radical change. I think I know what needs to be done and how.
In order to make that possible I need the support of a number of councils, the directors responsible and all the supply lines, to transform their libraries into wonderful and useful services.
The alternatives to my plan are either to carry on as now and continue to watch the decline in library use, particularly for books - or to continue to follow the many and various plans of the MLA, which have produced no visible improvement in 10 years and are not likely to.
To accept this challenge requires bravery and boldness and it will be a leap of Faith. But I promise you, without that step, there will be no public library service which has at its heart the use of books and the material they contain -- very soon.
I have done as much as I can on my own. Now I need major and serious support. I need others to be as outspoken as I have been. I need to gather the best people around me and they in turn need to know they are working on solid ground. At the moment suppliers and local council officers are frightened of working with me because they (correctly) fear the disapproval of the MLA and the DCMS and the consequent loss of contracts or grants. That has to stop. Please feel free to draw this appeal to the attention of anyone who you think may wish to see it.
The sad truth is that there is no confidence in councils or in the library profession that the MLA can do the job. It is time to face that - and act quickly to save our public libraries. I am sorry to have to be the person who articulates this: there are others who should have done so; but if nobody else will it still needs to be said.
Posted by Tim Coates at January 13, 2007 10:22 AM