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January 16, 2007
Paying £450
The annual national statistics for the performance of the public library service up to March 2006 are being published this morning. There are no other data produced locally or nationally from which you can see how your money is spent and what results it produces. The data come from a private company called CIPFA.. The Government do not produce data of their own; nor do local councils.
If you want to see this information you have to pay CIPFA £450 or so.
If you can't afford that, then all you can see are the government press releases telling you that the public library service is wonderful and quoting very selectively a few figures which suit them.
That's wrong. The information should be quarterly, striaghtforward and free. It should show clearly both national and local figures which make it obvious to the public how the service is performing. It would help everyone if it said "This is what you appear to want, this is what you paid, this is what you got and this is how many of you used it."
The officers responsible have been told this by parliament and everybody else, over and over again.
While I try to find a friendly shoulder over which I can look at the figures a local council has bought (using our money)-- that's all I can tell you about what the figures reveal! but the Daily Mail reports this morning that libraries have been turned into internet cafes-- so so they weren't very impressed by the press releases they saw.
Posted by Perkins at January 16, 2007 9:52 AM
Comments
The E-gov Monitor Press has a Press Release:
http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/9061
Some key extracts from the summary of CIPFA Stats on their website:
"Despite a 3.1% fall in book issues since 2003-04, over 330 million were borrowed in 2004-05."
"The trends in library use are mirrored by changes in expenditure. In 2004-05, just over 12% of library expenditure was on materials and, as in previous years, around 70% of this is spent on books (defined as reference, adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction)."
"It is evident that local authorities are also diverting resources from books to multimedia and electronic uses, expenditure on which has increased almost 30% since last year – to just over £6 million in 2004-05 compared to £4.7 million in 2003-04. The amount of money spent on audio and visual material is up by 4%."
"Income and expenditure information from the survey shows that overall local authorities spent almost £1,100 million on the provision of library services in the UK in 2004-05. This reflects a 3.5% increase from the previous year."
http://www.tisonline.net/issues.asp?content_ref=2972
(registration required)
Incidentally Tim have you seen a copy of the CIPFA Report on charging for Public Library services issued in October2006?
"Library Services covers the changing role of public libraries, with government policy focusing on promotion of reading and informal learning, access to digital services including e-government, and measures to tackle social exclusion. Although core library services have traditionally been free, charges may become necessary to control demand and target prioritised users, and could actually make libraries more accessible in contributing to the cost of longer opening hours and improved services."
Posted by: Martyn at January 16, 2007 10:48 AM
From the MLA website:
The figures, the most accurate available on public library usage, reflect a 4% increase in the total number of books added to stock, despite a 2% reduction in spending on books. More effective spending allows local authorities to get more stock for their money, freeing up funds to spend in other areas.
"Importantly, the numbers related to children’s books show that if public libraries invest in more children’s books and provide more stock, the public will demonstrate demand through borrowing. A 7% increase in the number of children’s fiction books added to shelves was supported by a 3% increase in their lending.
Nothing about adult lending figures at all.
Posted by: Martyn at January 16, 2007 10:59 AM
I wholeheartedly agree that statistics on the library service should be freely available. I find it incredible that a statutory service provided by local authorities is not monitored by the Office for National Statistics, as are other services. As a protest, perhaps someone should buy a copy of the CIPFA stats and then make them publicly and freely available on the web for all to see and use. It might be infringing CIPFA's copyright but it might also raise the issue up the political agenda.
Posted by: David Bloy at January 16, 2007 11:09 AM