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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 Perkins at August 18, 2007 9:03 PM
Comments
No, you are not alone in this. I don't think some aspect of central purchasing is a bad thing, so long as it is balanced bylocal choice.
As I've said elsewhere, my local library has full shelves, a good balance of old and new, local history materials and materials for the various communities. And I am sure this is replicated elsehwere. There's no need to wait for an invite to Rotherham; just come and have a look. Not all is rosy, but neither is it the apocalyptic hellhole people might expect from some sources.
Posted by: Pete at August 20, 2007 11:10 AM
Tim, In fact the situation is far worse than you imply because so many libraries have already abdicated responsibility for book selection by allowing Library suppliers to determine which books the Libraries can select from. The situation is compounded by computerised stock management systems which give the boot to items which fail to achieve a minimum number of issues each year - something which might sound reasonable in theory but which in fact ignores the different demand cycles for different books,
Posted by: Martyn at August 20, 2007 9:00 PM