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February 23, 2007
Meeting
There was an air of gloom and greyness at the MLA meeting today to discuss their latest policy document. It's true that those who had written it came in for some pretty hostile criticism and suggestions not just from me, but from others around the table, that they should withdraw the document and start again. But nevertheless there was some very constructive debate about how to work with local councils and how to be more professional in obtaining the public view and many other topics besides.
I enjoyed it-- but I don't think the authors of the report did. What is hard to understand is the connection- or apparent lack of it- of this new attempt to define library policy and the new set of library measures which are about to be published any moment and which are supposed to do the same thing. It is as if they are going to try to work out what they are supposed to be doing, at some length, having just finished doing it: rather like drawing the plans for a new building after you have built it and realised it has no doors and windows.
It's our money, so they aren't really too bothered, I suppose. Nevertheless for the first time, I thought that the public pressure to take some pracitical steps to improve libraries is beginning to tell on those responsible. Someone said the movement is as slow as a glacier- -but glaciers these days move more quickly than they used to.
Posted by Tim Coates at February 23, 2007 9:55 PM