The Good Library Blog

And once again you make a sweeping generalization!

If you choose to think that I have my head in the sand then so be it, I am not sure how that equates to my entire profession doing so.

Flattering though it sounds, I have never been "nobly defending my profession" I am simply, like all good librarians, trying to ensure that people are presented with the correct information.

I am well aware of Mr Ezara's position and what has happened in Hampshire and I've always made it pretty clear that I don't agree with what has happened. The wholesale sacking of professional staff there is an appalling blow to the service (as it will be in other places we apparently cannot discuss) and that alone will have an adverse effect on future the book-stock.

I can't comment on their current stock as I haven't visited any Hampshire libraries but I am perfectly willing to take your word for it that the shelves have been emptied.

The fact remains however that Yinnon Ezra is one man. His opinions only hold weight because councillors in Hampshire chose to allow him free reign and the fact that professional staff were so quickly culled is probably an indication that LIBRARIANS in Hampshire did not agree with him.

The MLA only has power if we are willing to follow their guidelines. It is NOT comprised of librarians, it does not even have libraries as it's sole priority. If they were to come up with a scheme to do away with fiction in public libraries then I (and hopefully many others in my position) will oppose it.

Until that happens (and frankly I doubt that it will come to that) it all boils down to an unfortunate, and ill-informed comment made by one person.

My objection is not, and never has been, that you are simply "making a fuss" it is that you are misrepresenting the truth. If you want to use Mr Ezra's words as part of an argument questioning his position then that is fair enough but, unless you can prove it, do not claim that this is the policy of all public libraries.

I can't claim to speak for my profession as a whole. I can, however, state quite firmly that every public library professional I have met or spoken to at length seems perfectly well aware of the value of lending fiction.

Well, indeed on Mr Ezra. I don't think Miriam is suggesting no-one discuss in public his words; simply that to take him as representative of libraries or librarians as a whole is wrong, regardless of his roles.
The MLA is a government body, and does not represent librarians. I wish it were more forthright myself but there you are.
In many libraries you will find people committed to fiction, as well as other published works. To take the part for the whole is an elementary failure of logic; or a desire to equate the worst example with all examples.

OK then I shall put it more plainly

Yinnon Ezra is wrong-- wrong to say that people don't need libraries for fiction, wrong to say that use of books in libraries is declining and wrong to allow the stock of books in those libraries for which he is responsible decline in the way that he has

Councillors in Hampshire have been wrong to allow him to say these things and wrong to allow him to conduct the library service in the way that they have

The MLA is wrong in failing to condemn Mr Ezra's words and actions and wrong to have appointed him to their board

The Minister and the DCMS are similarly wrong in not condemning Hampshire County Council for their words and actions

CILIP are wrong for not making the case for more books in libraries-- and if their collective head is not in the sand, it is definitely under the pillow.

And Miriam - you are noble-- please keep it up

I don't know if you guys watch the West Wing but there is an episode in Season 2 where President Bartlet is obsessed with an obscure school board election in New Hampshire. The reason is because he beat one of the candidates (who is polling rather strongly) years ago at the same election, the man he beat was a particularly ignorant and bigoted individual. The West Wing staff could not understand why the President was concerned, after all its only a school election. As Bartlet said for people like this its only a step from a school board to local authority to central government and there they are influencing and politicking (sp). It's only one man you say but we might just as well be putting our heads if we don't recognise what a goon he is for library policy.

That seems fair enough Tim. ALthough you were plain enough to begin with, just a little too aggrandizing of Mr Ezra. He is no more 'the library profession' than Mr Cheetham is 'the publishing profession'
CILIP should indeed stand up more, and unambiguously so.

Pete

You still don't seem to be getting the point. Nobody who runs libraries cares tuppence what "the profession" or CILIP think. The people who run libraries, in each local council, are the directors of those departments in which libraries stand. That is what Yinnon Ezra does and he is well respected. He is not just on the board of the MLA- he is on many local government committees.

From the public's point of view-- it doesn't matter what you or Miriam or Bob Mckee think or do-- but it matters a great deal what Yinnon Ezra thinks and does.

If we want to keep books in libraries then Mr Ezra has to be made to account to the public for his actions and that, again, is why we keep trying to draw the attention of the national press to all this.

He must be stopped-- he is not 'just one person whose views are not shared by the profession'-- he is the person in charge of a large section of our libraries

Tim - I have no problem with anything you have stated in that comment. As Pete has indicated, my concern is more that the rest of us are associated with his statement when so many people across the country work very hard to improve and promote our fiction collections.

Katie - I am not disagreeing with Tim's opinion of Mr Ezra, if I haven't already made that clear then I will do so now. Mr Ezra and the people who support him should be asked to justify themselves. My concern is that people may mistakenly think that these ideas are held by librarians and library staff everywhere. Anyone who has worked in a public library can tell you that fiction borrowing is, and always will be, important.

Pete - I'll give CILIP a bit of leeway here, they seem to have been a lot more vocal of late. Perhaps the days of fence-sitting are coming to an end?

Tim
it's more that you missed my point.
Where we agree- Ezra and his views should be more discussed. Councillors should be more vigilant. Fiction is important. Books are important, and demeaning fiction can lead to demeaning books in general.

What I took exception to,quite clearly, is you equating him and his views with 'the profession'.

And Katie- as Miriam said, plenty of people disagree with Ezra and have made that clear. Much good that it did them, it would seem in the case of Hants.

And if it doesn't matter what the profession or CILIP thinks, why berate CILIP and the profession for having their head in the sand?

As citizens we should all speak up for what we believe in I guess.

I personally doubt a lot of people have heard of Mr Ezra or his views- any more than mine or yours. Perhaps that is part of your point.

I think we all need to be aware that what happens in one county today may well happen in other counties tomorrow. I'm one of the 1.3 million people in Hampshire suffering because of Mr Ezra's views on libraries - so 'one man' is affecting an enormous number of people. Sadly, I'm also one of the people who lives in Gosport, home to the 'pathfinder' Discovery Centre, where the bookstock is even more (deliberately) depleted than in other Hampshire libraries. I would be delighted if librarians who read this website, and post comments on it, would actually start lobbying nationallly when they see these warning signs from other counties. At the moment, it seems there's a tendency to say: 'yes, well OUR library is fine, so we're not bothered because we personally are not affected.'

Actually Tim, from "the public" point of view (the proportion of "the public" which use the service I work at anyway) what I (and my colleagues) say and do are extremely important.

We are the people they deal with when they walk through the doors and as far as they are concerned we represent the library service.

Mr Ezra can say whatever he likes but as long as my colleagues and I have control over buying and maintaining books here we will continue to aim toward maintaining a balanced variety of stock, providing titles people may want/need, keeping our books in good condition, replacing worn stock, buying popular or well publicised titles, storing suitable out of print materials etc*. I am not claiming that our library is perfect but we aim toward providing a good service and when/ if we make mistakes along the way we learn from them.

If or when we are sacked for doing all of this then who will actually provide the public with the library service they want and need?

I am not saying that Mr Ezra is right or even that he should necessarily be tolerated but if you want people to oppose his opinion then encourage them to contact the MLA or councillors and MPs in Hampshire. If you portray his opinions as “the policy of public libraries” then, by and large, the only people who will be asked to answer for him are those of us who don’t agree with him in the first place.

* As well as reader development projects, lifelong learning support, outreach and development work and answering queries about the service or generally providing information to the public. I’m not moaning, in the main I enjoy my job, I’m just trying to represent its many facets as accurately as possible!

Pete

The reason I berate CILIP is this. All through the several years (about 7 now) that I have tried to point out the decline in quality of book stock and the expenditure on it in public libraries, CILIP have scorned and derided my effort. In the same way all through that time I have tried to show how a great deal of expenditure on systems and processes within public libraries is not needed. CILIP have shown no lead in solving these problems but have instead ignored and denied them. I have had to work out how to draw public and political attention to these really important matters- and suggest how things could be improved. They were in a position to bring influence and experience - and not only have they done nothing, but they, particularly through the Society of Chief librarians, have talked endlessly about the other things libraries should do apart from offer books and pursue the efficient operation to which the public is entitled. They have done nothing to fight for the essence of the service.

When I say that no one listens to them-- it is because they have thrown away the opportunity and authority that they had. Where local authorities should have been able to turn to CILIP for responsible guidance, instead they now find a body which is either moribund and silent or behaves like little more than an indignant management trades union, which simply seeks to protect the jobs and salaries of its members. CILIP continues to hold conferences for the enjoyment of its cronies, not for the pursuit of improvement in the service but for the indulgence of its garden shed hobbies. They have shown pitifully little interest in the decline of use and service to the public over 2 decades and even now their only response is to seek others to blame in the DCMS or MLA. In their recent letters to the Minister grumbling about the state of the service, they say nothing about the responsibilites that they have and that nearly all the chief librarians in the country are their members and carry their accreditation

I have done my best to help the residents of Hampshire make their councillors, their local press and MP's aware of the sorry state of the Hampshire libraries. There are many people who have written and attended public meetings and I am proud to be among them. But when in that long fight have CILIP done anything? They did nothing until in the end UNISON have had to fight the corner of the professional librarians whose jobs are threatened.

Those of you who are in the profession should have done something to call your executive to task-- you still should. It is no good you saying 'CILIP should do more' -- it is your organisation, they represent you. If they fail, it is your responsibility. That is my call to members of CILIP. Of course there is a huge role they could play-- but only if you members take some action to tell them they must.

It is time you got rid of Bob McKee and the cabal who form the public library committees. The Society of Chief Librarians should be publicily exposed as a bad influence on the library service. They have let you down. They have let all of us down. Miriam Palfrey should be chief executive and president.

I've done my bit-- now you must do yours

I'm sorry to hear that Pete is suffering from Hampshire Library Services policy... Pete, please can you say how you are suffering. Don't just say there are fewer books. Lets have some tangible examples of something you can no longer do in Gosport's Discovery Centre that you could do before.

Gary

Do you have some connection with the Gosport Discovery Centre? What more tangible example could there be of the failure of a public library than it has fewer books-- and therefore less chance of a useful book on the subjects which interest you? tim

Tim, no I don't have anything to do with Gosport Discovery Centre. I am just asking sensible questions to really understand your criticisms, neither am I trying offer any defence on their behalf, however your generalisations and those of some of the bloggers here cannot go unchallenged. I can only support an argument where precise evidence is provided. Fewer books does not necessarily mean a less effective service. I'd repeat my question. Pete has said Hampshire users are suffering. I use Hampshire's libraries, not the one in Gosport, and I haven't had problem. So let's have some real examples of a diminshed service rather than the vague statement that 'fewer books' means '...less chance of a useful book on the subjects which interest you'.

Gary

When I was responsible for Waterstone's one of the techniques we used to measure the quality of our shops and those of our competitors was to test very specific subjects (or authors) on a visit. So the last time I was in Gosport Discovery centre, for example (this is true), I checked books on bicycle riding, on fishing and on small sailing boats. There were no books on any of those subjects. Therefore any person of any age seeking authored published works on those subjects would have found none either. If you think 'fewer books means less chance of a useful book' is vague- it isn't intended to be : it is an exact and specific experienced criticism of what a collection of books is supposed to be. Go and try the same check on your own list yourself. And if you like go and test some other libraries or book stores with the same list and see how you get on.

Sorry Tim but that argument doesn't hold water. No provincial town library will have books on 'everything' any more than a bookshop. In both cases it is the speed and ease by which the required book can be obtained that counts. Other sources via the internet can also provide for any missing subject areas. Perhaps you should provide a list of all titles which a library should hold in order to be a 'good library'.

Taking the argument back to Miriam's original remarks - it is true that not all Librarian's hold the same opinion's as Mr Ezra, but it would also be wrong to think that the problem is confined to Hampshire. Many Public Library Services are again closing down smaller, more remote libraries in order to focus resources on a few larger, centralised libraries - Ormsgill and Coniston Libraries in South Cumbria are the latest to "face the axe". Ezra just proposes less books and no fiction. Some people now face, no books, no fiction and no library - although as a sop to public opinion they migh be offered a "library link" mini library!

Tim, On one hand you berate Hampshire County Council for the 'amateur and incompetent nature of market research', yet your assessment is based on not finding certain types of books on the shelf on the day you visited. Perhaps the books were not there because someone had taken them out to read, or when you were a bookseller checking on you poor managers that they hadn't just sold the missing titles. The Gosport Library failed your unscientific test because it didn't have 'books on bicycle riding, on fishing and on small sailing boats', so I am assuming that in your view these three topics must be represented in any good public library.

Gary

The two methods are not incompatible. My observations about the County's lack of proper market research go right back to the origin of their proposal for Discovery centres. It was at that time that I was working in the County preparing my report which became called 'Who's in Charge?' As part of that work I asked 'what problems do you identify in the library service? - what are the reasons that membership and use is falling?, what are the needs for the service that are not being satisfied?: in short what are you trying to achieve in your mondernisation programme and by opening a Discovery centre?'

They were questions the answers to which I thought should have formed part of the investment proposal to the county (who were being asked to earmark twenty million pounds for the development and I would have expected them to have been answered, in part, with evidence from comprehensive market research. At that stage it should have been research which did not propose the answer-- ie it should not have said 'we propose to open a new style library- what do you think of our proposals?' There was no such research. It was only when I criticised the absence of it that the county then embarked on some consultation of the second kind, which is not the same thing. That, in its turn was full of leading questions of a most unprofessional kind.

I thought the matter was important because such research has been carried out in other parts of the country and the conclusions that one draws from it lead to actions which are quite different to those which Hampshire proposed. Their plan seemed to be based on a theory of what people would want, which was not borne out by the evidence obtained anywhere else. And I could not see any specific reason Hampshire is particularly different to other parts of the country. In other words the proposed actions were never likely to work-- that was my, if you like, professional view, at the time.

On the question of lists: most retailers of all kinds-- and others who exist by giving service to the customer-- have lists of what they could call core stock. A hardware store, a shoe shop, a supermarket, a bookstore-- and most others-- maintain something like a list of things upon which they know that 'having the item in stock when someone visits' is an essential part of their reputation. There is nothing 'unscientific' about my list of fishing, cycling and small boats. They come from such lists and yes, I would expect a decent collection of books about them to be in stock on any day. I would not accept an excuse that 'they had been sold or taken out the day before' - that simply indicates that we are not holding enough in stock.

Libraries, in my view, should long ago have realised that the expectation of the public nowadays is - in most but not all cases- that goods should be available and not have to be waited for. It is a reason why libraries should have increased their stockholdings, not deliberately decreased them as Hampshire have done in the past 5 years.

The method is an 'acid test' in other words whatever systems and routines are in place, it enables a manager to see the library/shop through the eyes of a customer with a genuine need- and it helps to show where improvement is needed, quickly. In my experience it is very reliable. People always argue about the specific titles, but that is not the point-- if the library or shop is basically low on stock, this test shows it up. Further work is undoubtedly needed- but you can be certain there is a problem.

Other readers may not know that Gosport Discovery Centre is a very large building, for the town, and Gosport is a sailing town in the rural south of England. There is no excuse for the library not carrying these categories of book.

I think we have to call an end to this stream now-- it is running off the end of the page and I think there are only 2 or 3 of us reading it. tim