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March 30, 2007
Good sense
Pete Smith has come on the site and entered this comment to an item posted some time ago. It is such good sense, I thought I should put it here
"Late here, but still. Prompted by Tim's comments on the relocation of libraries to DCLG.
There is nothing intrinsic in any system to make it better, be it state or private. All have flaws. What is important is how you balance those flaws. A streamlined service, run by the people in it, accountable through clear lines to those who use it, is what is needed for a good publicly funded system to work.
"The State" is just people. So is "The Private Sector"
Posted by Tim Coates at March 30, 2007 1:01 PM
Comments
Thanks for that Tim. I guess I *also* think libraries need to be libraries, not bookshops manquee- or any kind of shop for that matter... And I'd prefer a well run public library system to a well run private one, if only because accountability seems somewhat easier in the former. I do recognise that there is a difference between subscription libraries and a fully fledged private system.
Posted by: Pete Smith at March 30, 2007 1:41 PM
I agree with this.
In another comment you made, Pete, you said that "Government wants libraries to be community centres... etc" - but in your comment above you said the service should be accountable to those who use (or would use) it"
I think one of the confusions is whether we are providing the service to meet the needs of residents of the council, or trying to provide "what the Government wants".
One would have thought that the way to align the two was for the Government to work out what people want before making its prescriptions, but I don't think they always do.
Posted by: Tim at March 30, 2007 4:49 PM
Indeed Tim. Some sort of consultation is needed to work out what people want from all kinds of services.
What is often assumed is that what people are getting is what they want, in private sector work as much as public.
With respect to professional librarians, for example, it may well be that people want *more* of them- not a situation in which all staff are librarians and we get what we're given.
We need to respect all staff, yes, and provide progression routes. But maybe- maybe- people want a sense that there are people who have worked at qualifications and are working on developing systems etc. Not all professional librarians are younguns just out if university patronising the old hands ;)
Posted by: Pete Smith at April 2, 2007 8:42 AM