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August 31, 2007
Amazing concert
If you are in London on 19, 20 and 21 September make a date at the Purcell Room on the South Bank in the evening of any or all of these three nights
As part of the London Design Festival a stunning programme called WMD-- for Words, Music and Design-- includes three performances of 'Kottos' by Iannis Xenakis, played by Oliver Coates
At the first performance in 1978 the Financial Times correspondent wrote '...the cellist disappeared behind three music stands which held the enormous score of Xenakis' solo KOTTOS to give its first London performance. It begins with a hackle-raising roar and then bursts into pyrotechnical glissandi and hoarse urgent shouts; there is a long section of steadily permutated phrases in stamping rhythyms and a tiny coda of eerie, weightless whistling from the stratosphere. Xenakis has supplied the framework for a striking tour de force which counts on the cellist to find the thread of musical sense in it: Rohan de Saram did that with fierce conviction and astonishing technical address..'
And if you aren't in London, make plans
Posted by Tim Coates at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2007
The Hillingdon Times
The local paper in Hillingdon has reported favourably on the council proposals for libraries.
Posted by Tim Coates at 11:07 PM | Comments (12)
August 29, 2007
Lending books
This is a technical question.
How many times can a book be loaned from a public library before it is too dirty, torn or grubby to be acceptable? Paperbacks? Hardbacks? Children's books?
Posted by Tim Coates at 9:45 PM | Comments (11)
The Guardian blasts Hampshire County Council, Yinnon Ezra and Margaret Hodge
Here is the piece in today's Guardian.
Yesterday Hampshire County Council press office circulated Rachel Cooke's article from the Observer to the whole council. Today they will need to circulate this.
Here are the names of the Councillors in Hampshire who form 'the cabinet' and are responsible for all this
Posted by Tim Coates at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2007
The Hero of the Hour is Councillor Henry Higgins
And the villains are Ezra, Hodge and Purnell. Here is Rachel Cooke in the Observer. Thank goodness for journalists.
And here is Richard Charkin's blog today.
I think other papers will follow.
Posted by Tim Coates at 9:23 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2007
Bribery in the Governance of the Library Service
The MLA scheme called 'Better Stock Better Libraries' is proving controversial among councils, to say the least. It proposes that a whole government department, with commercial partners, should be created to buy library books for all UK public libraries and thence reduce costs in local communities. But everybody knows that those costs can be reduced without this extra layer of government jobs. There are a load of reasons why it is a bad proposal which I have frequently listed on here (Search under Price waterhouse Cooper), of which the most important is that it will create confusion about who is in charge of an individual community library. Most of councils can see it is a waste of money - and some have been prepared to say that quite openly.
Neverthless in their campaign to create this new body the MLA have been claiming that they have a nucleus of councils in the North West around Manchester who are keen to proceed - and that, they say, is evidence that their arguments about the scheme are persuasive.
I was told on Friday that the methods of persuasion have not been words and detailed analysis, but money. These councils may have been given three hundred thousand pounds of tax payers' money to say they have signed up voluntarily to the scheme. One of the chief librarians, it was said, has been placed on high government committees in return for her cooperation. With such a role one would be very enthusiastic about the MLA scheme!
What would the money be for? Millions have already been spent on consultants; there is no equipment to buy; all there is is discussion and training. No, the payment could be seen as a bribe by one department of government to another so that the first can say that the second is a willing partner.
Who approved this expenditure, if it is happening? Has it been made public? Has the MLA board approved these payments? What did the councils promise in exchange? Who received the money? What was it spent on? I can't find answers to those questions
The more one learns about the MLA and DCMS and the various bodies who are supposed to run our public libraries, the more disgusted one becomes.
This is not an accusation at all- but if these things are being said, it would be better for the public to know what happens to their money, of course.
Posted by Tim Coates at 6:03 PM | Comments (1)
What Good are Culture Select Committees?
The Bookseller in the piece below observes that the Minister for the Arts, the DCMS and the MLA have no effective influence over the public library service - and therefore are a waste of taxpayers money.
I would like to add to that list the Culture Select Committee of the House of Commons.
At the end of 2004 they listened to masses of evidence and in March 2005 produced a really excellent report with important recommendations.
The DCMS and the MLA were scornful of it at the time and have proved their disdain by doing little and taking almost none of the recommendations seriously.Likewise recommendations made for professional bodies and officers of local government have been ignored. I twice heard senior officers of the MLA describe the committee as being out of touch with the modern idea of a public library- and was duly astonished
So what was the point? Will we all have to go through the same pantomime again at the end of next year-- just so that the officers and civil servants can play the same game of hide uinder the desk? Spare us the misery.
The members of that committee have done nothing whatsoever to follow up the matter-- so do we assume they never really cared about it in the first place?
Writing reports is not the way to manage public services. On their own they don't achieve anything.
The Select committee can huff and puff all it likes but they haven't put one extra book on the library shelves (but I have- quite a lot now)
John Whittingdale is now the chair-- but he has shown no interest at all in following up the words of his predecessor. I hope he plans the next hearing to be more effective.
Posted by Tim Coates at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)
August 24, 2007
Shocking
The Bookseller in it leading editorial this evening has described Yinnon Ezra's conduct of the Hampshire County Council public library service as 'Shocking'
David Lammy once asked a conference of librarians scornfully 'Who reads the Bookseller?' and was embarrassed to find that most of his audience did. It is also true that most journalists who are also authors (and a lot of them are) also tend to read The Bookseller.
Good for them. I wonder what the 'Observer' will say on Sunday.
The Bookseller leader is here
Libraries need a line in the sand 24.08.07
Libraries were the subject of this week's Leader column in The Bookseller. Here it is:
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The library sector is good at developing readers, reaching out to minorities, and embracing digital change—but at a more fundamental level, flexibility is scarce. Advisory bodies wheel out tired answers to unsolved problems, and heads of library authorities seem reluctant to break with the status quo.
So it was quite a coup when professional body CILIP broke ranks and pronounced that all this talk of re-invention and redeploying resources was just another name for cuts. The politicians are guilty of "spin doctoring", cried CILIP chairman Bob McKee.
But if the politicians are to be believed, they have little real power to do anything about cuts. Library funding is a discretionary spend in local government, and the book fund is discretionary within that. The only legislative tool available—the 1964 act that permits the government to seize control of failing library authorities—has been reduced to an all but theoretical threat. Margaret Hodge, the new culture minister, recently told The Bookseller that she could act only as an advocate. Hodge has a pedigree in dealing with local government pressures and seems to understand the nature of the challenge. But if her powers really are that redundant, the perennial question raised by library firebrand Tim Coates comes to mind: if not Hodge, who's in charge?
The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) says it's not them either. It employs more than 90 people at a cost of over £50m a year to provide advocacy and advice for the sector—but it can only conjure up new plans and hope councils buy into them. Disturbingly, the MLA's board members include Yinnon Ezra of Hampshire, who has outraged residents with his "revamp" of the service, overseen a decline in book issues, and—shockingly—raised doubt over whether libraries should bother to stock fiction at all.
This lack of a clear national mandate for libraries makes it impossible for local authorities to defend branch budgets against "core" services like schools and hospitals. Rather than constant strategy reports and "visions", libraries need a line in the sand on resourcing and priorities. As Coates points out—and now proves with his impressive restructuring scheme for London's Hillingdon—overall funding is only part of the problem. Bold steps are needed to simplify structure and accountability, rebuild book stocks and help the frontline staff who are working so hard to engage with communities.
Posted by Tim Coates at 8:08 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2007
The library profession with its head in the sand
A frequent commenter on this site-- who nobly defends the profession-- has written this comment in response to Anthony Cheetham on the Bookseller site
'the words of one man (with no background in libraries) in one authority does not equate to a general proposal that public libraries should cease to purchase fiction. I would be extremely surprised if you found any librarian workin anywhere in the country agreeing with Mr Ezra's statement'
Miriam-- the reasons why Mr Cheetham and I and many others make such a fuss are firstly that Yinnon Ezra is directly responsible for the third largest library authority in the country and he has already removed a large section of the books from his libraries; and secondly that he was only recently appointed to the main board of the Museums, Libraries and Archives council. When asked if they disagreed with what he said- the MLA refused to do so.
He has a lot of power and influence and he believes he is doing the right thing. This needed to be brought out into the public arena--- public libraries and their conduct are not a private matter that is dealt with by the library profession. The public pays.
Posted by Tim Coates at 7:15 PM | Comments (19)
Library closures in Scotland
Moray council seem to keep changing their minds about whether or not to close these libraries. Their argument seems to be if they are only open a few hours a week it is a waste of money to keep the buildings.
Does it not occur to them to open the libraries longer?
SCILIP seems to thrive and hand out prizes and awards-- for what - closed libraries?
Posted by Tim Coates at 3:40 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2007
A reader writes
What has happened to Mr. Grimsdyke? Oh, the library cat, Perkins, has a double. Oh yes, he lives on one of the shelves in a quaint second hand bookshop in Castel-nau-Magnoc.
Thank you Peg: I am looking on the map.
Posted by Tim Coates at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)
Anthony Cheetham
Anthony Cheetham is a good guy with an extremely honourable and successful track record as a publisher and an advocate of History Books. I have always wished I could persuade him to publish one of mine!
He has written a sensible and friendly column in the Bookseller - for which I am able to be publicly very grateful
Posted by Tim Coates at 3:05 PM | Comments (0)
'The only libraries that are truly dying are the ones that don't believe in books'
From an article in the Guardian this morning
Posted by Tim Coates at 11:35 AM | Comments (8)
August 18, 2007
It's the books, stupid
I have been saying for such a long time that in order to improve our libraries we have to restore the collections of books visitors find and that those books have to be right for the local community in which a library stands- and chosen therefore, by knowledgeable people who work there and read a lot, that I have almost forgotten what I mean and how important it is.
I was working yesterday in one of those extraordinary areas of London which is famous worldwide for the astonishing variety of cultures and nationalities which have, since the second world war established roots and communities. Every few hundred yards in each street the shops change language and character. It is incredibly rich and private and then fearfully rough, inebriated and hostile all at the same time. There is no person in the world, I am certain, who would not raise envy and fascination if they said they live here. The artistic community and market is second to no city. What a place.
I was working in the large public library. I guess it was built in 1910 from the huge Edwardian light windows. The local council have adapted and changed it over the years to meet some council architect's theory of the mood of the moment, but by and large it is still a proud and handsome building: clean, recently painted with light fittings that are new and work brightly.
Even with its municipal nature you could sense the expectation of the role it plays. The library is a centre of the community. A pivot, a wall which reflects the lights and shades, which returns the bounce of creativity, which stands for the needy.
And I sat for an hour and thought 'what on earth is so wrong with this room?' It was grim and dull to the point of hurtfulness. Why? Because it had next to no books
The book cases are miserable IKEA copies, half empty and totally unrepresentative of any part of the exciting street world outside. No one had thought about the markets, or the languages, or the history, or the nationalities. There was no cultural interest of any kind, not English, not London, nothing. A place that should have been of the great and various haunts of men, was just an empty sad clean council misery. It's the books stupid; the books
This is testimony to 20 years of removal of books from public libraries in this country and explains why less people find them useful or relevant. It also shows the shear scale of the work that needs to be done, which is made harder by the Chief Librarians who still argue that books are not the central issue. They are so wrong.
And the idea, which is being actively pursued by the Government, that one could have 'central buying' to meet the needs of libraries like these (or any library) is so stupid as to be terrifying. This arrangement would mean that a selector in Norwich or Tamworth or Scarborough will be trying to understand these wonderful communities and their authors and publishers, when people two streets away find that impossible to do. It is as if we have found the patient seriously ill, so we will poison him quickly and chop off his head.
Am I alone in saying these things? Does nobody understand? (except Christopher and Margaret and Philip who is in heaven!)
Posted by Tim Coates at 9:03 PM | Comments (2)
August 16, 2007
Syrup stirred
Here is an article in Publishing News about how Bob Mckee and his chums at CILIP, awakened after 20 years asleep and found the office pen.
Culture Secretary warned over library cuts
THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE of Library and Information Professionals has warned Culture Secretary, James Purnell, about the implications of neglecting local council cuts to library budgets and staff. The letter comes after CILIP wrote to six councils in Cumbria, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent and Northumberland, asking for more information about planned cuts to the service.
The letter says that many local communities are being ill-served by what amounts to a “postcode lottery” where council commitment to the service varies widely across the country. Commenting on the letter, Bob McKee, CILIP Chief Executive, said: “A number of public libraries are planning drastic reductions in the number of professional staff they employ, and some are even planning to hand over control of library services to community groups without any professional expertise at all. We hear talk about improved customer service and greater community management, but this is just spin-doctoring to cover up the reality of budget cuts and job losses. The truth is that, without adequate professional expertise, the quality of service will be reduced and the future of the service put at risk.”
Cuts already outlined this year include Hampshire's reduction of professional staff by a quarter and reduction of the book fund by £250,000, Kent's plans to replace over 40 professional staff with volunteers and Gloucestershire's plans to merge libraries with other services. However, a number of authorities beyond the ones CILIP has written to are also planning cuts.
Culture Ministers, including the current incumbent, Margaret Hodge, have often played down their power to intervene in failing authorities, but CILIP is urging Purnell and Hodge to use that power if required. McKee said: “We'll certainly be referring any Public Library Authority which we believe to be in breach of its statutory responsibilities to the Secretary of State for investigation.”
Guy Daines, CILIP's Director of Policy and Advocacy, added: “It is a statutory responsibility of the Government under the terms of the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act to superintend the service and ensure that a comprehensive and efficient standard is maintained. We have a new set of Ministers, so we need to debate and make these points again.”
Daines told PN that a decision had not yet been reached on whether to refer a library authority to the Government: “We are obtaining more information, asking some very critical questions and, if we decide it is unacceptable, we will act.” He emphasised that their concern is more than an attempt to protect CILIP members: “It's about the quality of the service being provided. But it is true that a professional librarian brings to the job a knowledge of the library's resources and how these resources fit the needs of the local community, as well as training and teaching skills for both staff and users.”
CILIP is also asking the Audit Commission to take the availability of professional expertise into account when reviewing the library service as part of its Comprehensive Performance Assessment of local councils.
Ian Snowley, CILIP President, added to the concern, blaming a culture in some councils of “make the cuts but don't make them show” for causing staff cuts. “Local people care about their library but all too often politicians pay lip service while cutting back on library provision. It's time to campaign vigorously for the value of libraries in society and for the importance of ensuring that local people in every community get the professional standard of library service which they deserve and to which they're entitled.”
Posted by Tim Coates at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2007
Hampshire outbreak of ' Foot in Mouth '
Letter in Portsmouth News today from Ms J Webster of Waterlooville who describes herself as an ex-bookseller and library assistant, responding to Richard Ward's comments on the petition of 12,000 residents objecting to the conduct of the county public library service. Key quotes:
- "I was appalled by the arrogance of the comment by Richard Ward....he said that he doubted that people knew what they were signing"
- when patronising the public, Mr Ward should remember who pays his salary. If he is short of money I would be willing to contribute the 30 pieces of silver which he deserves"
One wonders how long the county councillors in Hampshire dare to put up with this persistent bad press
Posted by Tim Coates at 8:24 PM | Comments (3)
James Purnell and the magic broomstick
The new minister for culture James Purnell (the old one was Tessa Jowell!) has been boasting that some people borrowed copies of the new Harry Potter book from public libraries. I suppose someone in the DCMS thinks that is newsworthy enough to be the ministers first pronouncement on public libraries
What no one will have told him is that there are quite a lot of library authorities who still take their childrens books 'on approval' before they buy them. And therefore there were probably some who took a copy of the Harry Potter book for the investigation of their librarians on the day of publication, before committing any council money to purchasing one in the following few weeks
and just as Mr Purnell ommitted in his press release to say just which libraries opened at midnight for publication- so I shall omit to say which didn't have any copies at all in order to avoid their embarassment
Posted by Tim Coates at 7:24 PM | Comments (0)
Syrup sponge
Below is the latest spoonful of custard from John Dolan at the MLA.
I don't suppose he will be in his job much longer, but before he (and Andrew Stevens) depart someone should explain to both of them that if the MLA can't do anything to solve the desperately awful state of our public libraries, then there is no point in its existence or their jobs.
Library chiefs reject intervention calls
15.08.07 Katherine Rushton
The government organisations in charge of libraries have backed away from calls by the professional body for librarians to intervene with failing library services. A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: "The DCMS has powers to ensure that public libraries provide a comprehensive and efficient service to local people. But we do not set budgets nor would we want to micro-manage the work of individual local library authorities. The
best way to achieve a good service is through consensus and cooperation—that is what we, and the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) seek to do."
Under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act, the DCMS is licensed to seize control of any public library service that is not "comprehensive and efficient". Bob McKee, chief executive of the Chartered Institute for Librarians and Information Professionals, is writing to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport James Purnell to ask him to step in and intervene with any council that "falls below standard". He has also hit out at local and national politicians for "spin doctoring" over plans to cut staff.
John Dolan, head of library policy at the MLA, also moved to defend its work. "It's crucial to recognise the [national Government] drive towards local engagement and ownership of public and community services in general," he said. "MLA promotes the value of national collaboration with local engagement. It is our job to work with library authorities and help this succeed. MLA has always resisted arbitrary change simply to save money or increase income. We encourage better practice, greater efficiency and increasing use through service innovation, good marketing and the engagement of the widest communities of need and interest in making services relevant and exciting."
Dolan listed the "Better Stock, Better Libraries" review of the library supply chain and the Love Libraries awards for "innovative practice" as examples of its involvement. Last month Kent and Dorset County Councils revealed plans to cut around 45 full time roles each, and recruit volunteer staff in their stead. Hampshire said in April it will axe 27 library jobs and downgrade a further 17 in a bid to manage budget cuts.
Meanwhile an increasing number of councils are following the example set by Buckinghamshire and turning rural branches over to local residents entirely, in a bid to sidestep closures. The model has been hailed by many communities as an innovative way to stretch resources and open up new funding avenues, but Martin Molloy, former CILIP President and head of cultural services for Derbyshire, warned: "There is a real danger that handing over delivery of the service to local community groups will lead to the break up of the national network which is one of the major assets of the service."
You can comment on this at Katherine Rushton's blog
Posted by Tim Coates at 7:19 PM | Comments (0)
Fifteen million pounds each year to re-catalogue books that have already been catalogued
Within most of the 200 public library authorities in the UK there is a cataloguing operation which makes sure that the catalogue data sent with books conforms to the cataloguing procedures of that authority. They cost on average 50 -100 thousand pounds per annum per council
There is no need to do this work.. If every council merely used the standard catalogue information provided by Neilsen Bookdata and or Bibliographic Data Services, the information on their own systems and that provided to the public would be perfectly adequate. Only major special local collections have valid reason for applying their own criteria and their own cataloguing
That is fifteen million pounds which is a waste of money which is quite over and above the large wastage of money which MLA are trying to address in their programme Better Stock Better Libraries.
Is it rude to point this out? Of course to stop individual council librarians doing this work really will be like taking the toys from the children. I see that CILIP are organising conferences to teach public librarians how to do cataloguing at a rate of 400 pounds per admission for 3 days in London. Why?
Posted by Tim Coates at 11:56 AM | Comments (2)
August 14, 2007
Save Woodrow library
This is Worcesteshire County council closing a library
Posted by Tim Coates at 9:12 AM | Comments (1)
August 11, 2007
Invitation
Richard Charkin as always has his eye on the heart of the matter and has written about the proposed work in the libraries of the London Borough Hillingdon on his blog.
He says he would welcome comments on there - and by seeking these he is saying that it would be good at last to find common purpose between publishers and public librarians (and authors and readers)
Richard and I share a respect for the 14th century monk William of Ockham. Roughly speaking the Reverend Ockham said "If you don't know where you are going, you won't get there"
Posted by Tim Coates at 9:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2007
Grateful
My thanks to Councillor Henry Higgins, of the London Borough of Hillingdon and Councillor John Whelan, the leader of the Conservative opposition in Lambeth and also to senior officers in Hillingdon, for their help in the progress we have made in their programme described in the Bookseller below-- There is still, of course, a great deal to do to make sure it all works - read on.
Tim Coates to save Hillingdon £260,000
09.08.07 Katherine Rushton
Library campaigner Tim Coates has designed a major overhaul of Hillingdon libraries that is projected to increase opening hours and book stocks, and save £260,000.
The plans have been approved by the borough council and are expected to be implemented from September. They will see all 17 libraries in the borough entirely refurbished, Starbucks coffee made available in every branch, opening hours extended and the supply chain simplified.
The plans are a stark contrast to the branch closures and cuts to staff, book stocks and opening hours being used to meet budget cuts in many other councils. Councillor Henry Higgins said he hoped they would act as a blueprint for other councils to follow. "If the figures work, then this is the way that other councils should push forward, no argument."
Under the Hillingdon plans, all the library refurbishments will be undertaken by retail refit specialist MacKenzie Wheeler. "Attractive" furniture has been sourced at a cost 30% lower than from traditional library furniture suppliers and Starbucks has agreed to install cafés or fresh coffee-vending machines in every branch. £80,000 will be diverted from installing new radio frequency indentification tagging facilities to fund the refurbishments.
The cosmetic changes will be underpinned by a supply chain overhaul. Book stocks will be sent direct from library suppliers to individual branches (instead of via Uxbridge central library), making them quicker and cheaper to source. Negotiations between suppliers and Wellstock—the book buying consortium of which Hillingdon is part—are expected to save the borough enough funds to buy an additional 13,000 books (an 11.6% increase) without increasing its bookspend.
Outreach work will be scaled back so that resources can be redirected to library branches and opening hours extended. The council hopes to keep all branches open through lunchtimes, and more branches open on Sundays.
"Hillingdon has approached this in exactly the right manner, by being very thorough," Coates said. The former m.d. of Waterstone’s has become a source of controversy in the libraries sector because of his strong criticisms of the senior officials in charge. He also criticised the 2006 Love Libraries makeover programme, saying it had not addressed the operational problems of staffing and stock procurement
Posted by Tim Coates at 11:24 AM | Comments (7)
August 9, 2007
An angry library assistant writes
"Yinnon Ezra says "People these days want
longer hours and want to do their own research on the internet. You don't need librarians to help people with that." Er, yes you do actually. I have worked as a library assistant for years and a LOT of people need help with the computers. as well as the hardware side of things, dealing with the inevitable breakdowns etc, some people don't speak English and need a website translated for them, older people are not very confident and need help even accessing the library catalogue, children need supervision, people wanting help with their CVs and jobsearching, dealing with the booking system, printouts...need I go on? This man is evidently VERY badly informed and ignorant and has never set foot in a library, and has no idea what his staff's jobs entail. People will always need librarians to help them find the information they need, whether the information is in a book or online."
Posted by Tim Coates at 8:48 PM | Comments (7)
August 4, 2007
Margaret Hodge
Below is the Bookseller interview with Mrs Hodge about public libraries from last week.
You can see that the men in suits have already got to her with their stories of the "decline of professionalism" and need for protecting the funding etc. She does say she has been told there are problems, but isn't specific about what they are. She doesn't say that she understands that the increase in purchasing power from improved book discounts is well short of the fall caused by decline in book spend. I wish someone would do the sums for her more lucidly
Claiming the qualification that she was leader of Islington Council is about as reassuring as saying you were captain of the English World Cup Cricket Team-- more impressive in the title than the achievements.
Islington was never the best public library service - despite spending oodles of taxpayers money (as the District Auditor correctly tried to point out); that was where the expression "learning centre" came to mean a public library with access to the internet but no books. Mercifully people are beginning to realise that was a load of nonsense. So I'm afraid the jury has to remain in their room for longer. I do wish she would enthuse about books and reading. That doesn't come over at all. It is one of the things a minister can do. Few things would please the press and the public more; it's a wonder that politicians don't understand that- they talk of reading a book as if it were a visit to the old fashioned dentist. As if what is written in books couldn't possibly be enough to interest people, especially young people. Excuse me?
But Mr Brown has been good so far- so maybe a bit of that will rub off in due course. Let's hope.
Even a donkey knows that libraries need books
Local hero?
03.08.07 Katherine Rushton
New culture minister Margaret Hodge has backed away from her right to seize control of failing libraries, saying that any use of her powers under the 1964 Public Libraries & Museums Act would be “short-sighted”.
Speaking to The Bookseller, Hodge indicated she would be unlikely to use the draconian powers and emphasised her support for local government control. “I think [to seize control] is short-sighted, I really do. If those powers had been used by the Thatcher government in the 1980s, they’d have forced me as a local governor to close my libraries. I would not want government to determine where there should be libraries. They’ve got to be locally accountable.”
Hodge knows the struggle between local management and national expectations first-hand. Unusually for an MP, she started her political career in local government, eventually becoming council leader for the London Borough of Islington for 10 years from 1982. One of the big issues then—as now—was protecting libraries from having their funding slashed in the face of wider budgetary cuts. “They were really under threat then because funding was extremely low,” she recalls. “I actually remember the district order coming in and telling us we were spending too much on libraries during rate-capping. Every time you look for cuts, because it’s a discretionary spend, it comes up as a potential cut.”
Hodge and a group of pro-library colleagues always resisted, partly because the potential savings were so small “in the grand total of local authority spending”. But she identifies the protection of library funding as one of the key challenges of her new role: “We are in a very tight fiscal environment and we’ve got to make sure that this jewel in our community offer is preserved. That’s danger one.”
The second danger is “ensuring that libraries maintain their relevance as people change”. Like her predecessor, David Lammy, Hodge sees libraries as a powerful tool for social inclusion and insists that they must be a “books-plus” facility to help draw as wide a crowd as possible. “You’ve got to start from what draws people to a library,” she says. “[It might be] hunting for a job, so you’ve got to have a terminal which gives them access to Jobcentre Plus. Bring somebody into a library and it will open their eyes to the other opportunities the library presents, but if you see yourself as being solely a traditional institution, I think you will be losing that opportunity to extend your reach. I do think books have to be at the heart of [libraries], but I also think that libraries have to encompass a much, much wider agenda.”
Is there a worry that by embracing other functions—from cafés to creches to t’ai chi—libraries will alienate traditional users? “No. Absolutely not,” Hodge says. “I think it’s more important that we ensure continuing relevance in people’s lives, and I think all of us here understand that.”
Hodge makes no bones about the fact that “there are huge issues which we need to address”, but claims to have been surprised by the buoyant state in which she has found the service. “My impression before I got to the statistics was that there were many more closures than there have been. That’s not to say that there hasn’t been the de-professionalisation of library staff and that purchasing budgets haven’t declined, but nonetheless it’s not that many. We’ve lost only about 30 or 40 libraries [net] over time.”
She is also relatively optimistic about the state of spending on books, which, according to the latest set of Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy figures, has fallen from 14.4% to 8.8% (£66m) of the total library budget in the past 10 years. “Yes, book stock is down,” she says, but “the purchasing [the number of books bought] is now going up again [by 4% in 2006 compared with 2005].” She is not about to make any moves to ringfence book spending, preferring instead to leave all funding and management decisions to the local councils in charge. “What I can do is just act as an advocate,” she says.
Posted by Tim Coates at 6:45 PM | Comments (3)
No need to spend £7m on the MLA initiative "Better Stock Better Libraries"
-The MLA should be stopped from proceeding with their search for a strategic partner, which is proposed to start in the next month
- Councils should not sign up to the programme called "Better Stock Better Libraries" which will cost £7m at the outset and several millions per annum thereafter
- There is no need for this extra layer of bureaucracy and cost
- The continuing, 4 year long, multi million pound, saga of the MLA meandering around the subject of the library supply chain is preventing councils focussing on the problems and solving them
- All the benefits which MLA claims they might achieve in the programme, but have no authority to ensure they do, can already be achieved by councils working on their own or in partnership with others.
- Councillors, who do have the authority and responsibility, have not been properly briefed on this whole subject. There are no portfolio holding councillors on any of the boards of management of the MLA and no attempt has been made to seek concensus or direction from them.
- Current suppliers and council officers, who can see that this is a waste of money are frghtened to say so because of the power of the MLA to give contracts and to influence government and lottery grants.
- The public should be made aware of this waste of money (and continuing large expenditure on consultants Price waterhouse Cooper).
Posted by Tim Coates at 7:39 AM | Comments (0)
August 2, 2007
CBC don't get the best discounts
A commenter (A Reed) confirms that
"you're probably right that the CBC (The "Central Buying Consortium", the largest buyer of books for English libraries) don't currently get the best terms in library supply. This however is not surprising considering that the CBC was one of the first consortia to benefit from the increased terms that were being bandied around by library suppliers a few years ago when the discounts began to rise. Now we're a few years on, the discounts have continued to rise, with the contracted terms remaining fixed. Expect CBC discounts to go up when the new contract is negotiated soon (As you all know it's not far away now)
I agree with Ken that once again, as with most posts on this blog, the claims of possesions of figures and stats that would be damaging remain useless as they are never released.
We all know what terms are out there, 40%+ in some cases, and no, without major restructuring of procurement, or indeed the loss of a number of library suppliers, or library authorities going direct to pulishers, they won't get higher"
The method is obviously wrong. Why are CBC waiting to renegotiate terms when they clearly know there are better terms available? Why worry about losing suppliers- or going direct to publishers?-- the job of CBC is to get the best value for taxpayers, not to have tea parties. If the market is changing quickly- and it is- you can't have 3 year fixed discounts and you can't have negotiations that go one for 6 months and more. Who is in charge of CBC and to whom do they account.? Get some professional buyers.
Obviously my figures are right (I can't be explicit and breach confidence)- so stop whingeing. The important thing is that this nonsense has come out into the open.
We can't have officers advising councillors that "We belong to CBC-- therefore we get the best terms" -- it's tosh
It shouldn't be me asking these questions and calling to see the actual invoiced discounts - it should be the councillors who are responsible-- or even the Minister and her useless civil servants asleep at their desks in Trafagar Square. Wake Up boys- the public are being ripped off again. - i'm trying to save the odd million pounds
Posted by Tim Coates at 4:59 PM | Comments (0)
LLDA
My guess is that the LLDA (the "London Libraries Development Agency", funded by 32 London booughs at about £4,000 each per annum) won't survive in its current form (or possibly any form at all) for another 12 months.
What happened to the common membership card for London- which was one of its major undertakings? If I hadn't been barged out of the way, we could have done it by now.
Posted by Tim Coates at 2:25 PM | Comments (3)
Libraries saved in Fife
The threat to close these libraries was made earlier in the year and evoked memories of the coal pit strikes of thirty years ago-- the ladies were not going to tolerate such nonsense. They have prevailed
Posted by Tim Coates at 2:21 PM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2007
DCMS dreaming
At the Select Committee hearings in November and December 2004, the DCMS, MLA, CILIP, ACL,SCL, LLDA etc all gave evidence that despite the dozens of schemes that they had invented in the past 5 years that hadn't worked, they now were preparing the definitive answer.
The great white hopes for public libraries were "Impact measures" and "CPA assessments".
Whatever happened to those? And how much have Price Waterhouse Cooper received in fees for work on public libraries since 2000?
DCMS - the Department of Culture, Elgar Atkins used to call them the department of common sense
MLA-- Museums Libraries and Archives Council-- sometimes called "Delay- The Department of Libraries and Archives
CILIP-- the chartered institute of library and information professionals-- or SYRUP
ACL- The Advisory Council on Libraries-- or Association for Closing Libraries
SCL- The Society of Chief Librarians-- or the Society for closing libraries, because it is more or less the same people as the ACL
LLDA-- The la di da's
Posted by Tim Coates at 11:01 PM | Comments (12)