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October 3, 2007
Hampshire County Library Service
News tonight that the Head of Library and Information service in Hampshire is to leave shortly means that it is time to rebuild the service. The decimation of the book collections can now stop and they can be reassembled. There is a need for a Marshall Plan- and no more talk of Discovery Centres. Let us pray.
Posted by Tim Coates at October 3, 2007 6:31 PM
Comments
As the head of the library service who has announced his retirement let me just say "Discovery Centres" - you ain't seen anything yet - just wait until Winchester DC opens on 27 November.
Posted by: Richard Ward at October 4, 2007 7:02 PM
Well done Richard, very good to hear from you. I hope you will be able to issue a general invitation on here to the opening party. If all else fails we can drink the toast of the council with their own Champagne.... Tim
Posted by: Tim at October 4, 2007 8:23 PM
I have to say I was surprised that local news papers bothered to report on the retirement of Richard Ward from Hampshire County Council. Hardly news? Mr Ward, having been responsible for decimating the library stocks in favour of computerised amusement arcades, can happily retire, no longer having to ignore the pleas of the voting populous who paid for, but did not vote for, Mr Ward's self-indulgent Hampshire exercise. With unqualified, uncited and uninformed cyber-opinion being given as the preferred option to academic material, I have avoided the Gosport Discovery Centre. I no longer need to visit Gosport to be disappointed in the book stock.
On many occasions, books that I used to read, in house or borrow to read at home, are no longer available or are only available from some distant library. Like the modern society of which I am a product, I demand instant satisfaction. If a book is not available for my studies there, I find somewhere to buy it. Yes, it's an additional cost to me, but I can be assured that I am assisting Mr ward's undoubtedly index linked pension, with the savings made on Discovery Centres.
Posted by: Keith Hall at October 8, 2007 3:02 PM