« February 2008 | Main | April 2008 »
March 30, 2008
How much of 193 million pounds should be spent on books ?
Birmingham is to spend a large fortune on the most expensive architects in the world to replace the library that they built not long ago.
Two questions at this stage:
-how much will be the architect's fee?
-how much will be spent on the book collections?
The third and fourth questions will come later: such an enormous capital expenditure has to be paid for through the council's capital charge for libraries. How much will the capital charge be ? and how much will the book fund be in the years that follow the contruction?.. I have never seen a council that has thought of the answers to these 2 questions before they begin the project.
Every single large library project in the past decade had failed to support the capital programme with adequate book funds. Like a new restaurant with no food for supper.
Posted by Perkins at 9:23 PM | Comments (5)
March 28, 2008
No place for a small black cat
A multitude of flyers and posters have been pouring through the cat flap about the Library and Information Show
I see that Roy Clare and his crew are all alive and well, and Miss Bo Peep.. and they have all been joined by Team Hillingdon..
I hope they all enjoy themselves-- it would be fun to be a mouse in the skirting, just to hear what is said. Perkins was not asked but she probably would have thought it was not a suitable outing, not for a small black cat.
Posted by Perkins at 11:46 AM | Comments (7)
March 27, 2008
Publishers in Hampshire should come off the fence
Publishing News supports a call for publishers in Hampshire to tell the County Council what they think of the policy on public libraries:
Posted by Perkins at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)
Poor impoverished local government officers
Commenters here sometimes tell us how hard it is to work in so called public service. The salaries, they say, are low and the other benefits negligible
My friends down in Hampshire have just received their council tax bills for the year - with the accompanying leaflet which tells them of the all the glorious work that is done for them by the unfortunates employed by the county council
They discover that there are 483 people working in the council who receive a salary of more than 50,000 pounds each year--- and that the council spent 131,000 pounds on bottled water for ... well, it's hard to know what for.
The council staff in Hampshire are not so hard up after all. That's a surprise.
Posted by Perkins at 11:40 AM | Comments (3)
March 22, 2008
The 1964 Libraries Act no longer applies
A commenter below tells us that the 1964 Public Libraries Act has been superceded by the 2007 Local Government Act
This, he explains, is why we no longer have Public Library Service Standards, and that those have been replaced by one catch- all measure about the number of people who use library buildings.
'The 1964 Act is history' we are told
Well in that case local councils no longer need to provide public libraries. The public library service is no longer a statutory obligation of local councils and the Secretary of State no longer has any power or obligation to superintend the service
Councils may profitably sell their public library buildings and use the money for other activities.
End of story.
Posted by Perkins at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
March 21, 2008
A Bankrupt Public Library Service
In a discussion this afternoon a local councillor cabinet member with portfolio responsibility for public libraries, for which she is paid, told me she was afraid to tackle the fundamental issues of her library service in case that provoked a strike.
This is not an uncommon view of councillors.
On the other hand the officers in charge of public library services tell me they are afraid to face the issues of public libraries because they anticipate that their councillors will not wish to handle the questions that will arise, especially if the public get to hear about them.
So the two groups of people who could solve the problems of the public library service don't want to because they are afraid of and unable to manage the staff issues that are involved.
In the case of improving libraries the main problems to tackle to run a better library service within the same budget are
1. to spend more money on books and prroperty maintenance
2. to spend less money on staff
3. to redeploy remaining staff time so that library opening hours are longer
In other words the matters that officer and councillors are terrified to face are about staff. The library service treats employment of people, even if they are not employed in the way good service requires, as a higher priority than providing the best service for the public.
That is a totally normal problem that any management operation faces-- the difference is that a non public funded body that failed to address it would just go bankrupt. The decline in public interest would lead fall in income, so that costs of employing people would exceed funds available to pay. Without public or any other subsidy, the operation would close. The public library service is a state subsidised totally bankrupt enterprise and a huge drain on the public purse; whenever it needs more money, it just takes it from taxpayers. And none of the people employed to face that and solve its problems has the courage to do so. It is just easier to keep taking the public's money
Does anyone seriously think we will have a public library service in 15 years time? Has no one in public service got the guts to do the job we elected and we pay them to do. Or is public service just about collecting large salaries, pensions, expenses and, no doubt, brown envelopes.
Shame on you all.
Posted by Perkins at 8:19 PM | Comments (4)
March 19, 2008
Very good results from Hillingdon
The Bookseller reports this morning on the figures from Hillingdon
Since this campaign for public libraries started in 1998, the message has been simple. Public libraries will be very successful if they are well stocked with books.
This wasn't said out of any piety for literacy or desire to reverse the passage of time, it was a simple statement of truth borne out of experience.
In the early 1980's when I worked there, WH Smith discovered, in a huge replanning exercise that if they made generous displays and improved the range of books, their customers bought them in huge numbers. Store by store we went round and changed the allocation of space and found there was an enormous uncomplicated demand for books, the subject matter they covered and the stories they told. This led directly to the growth of large groups of book stores, Dillons, Sherratt and Hughes, Hatchards and eventually Waterstone's. The experience was exactly the same. Large ranges of well published books feed an enormous national demand. It's not about elitism or do- gooding-- in fact it's not far from a great desire to know about things and read about them.
All that has ever needed to be said is - put books in large quantity and quality in libraries and people will want them.
It is hard to believe how long it has taken how fierce the resistance has been to actually try this out and show that it is true. Henry Higgins in Hillingdon (and his friend John Whelan) are the first two people in the whole country who had the guts and the sense to say-- well it's not rocket science-- let's try it.. And obviously it works.. we knew it would the whole time
Let's do it everywhere. It's nothing to do with Government or politics or any of that tosh-- it's just common sense.
Posted by Perkins at 11:45 AM | Comments (2)
March 18, 2008
Easter Music
Music is not narrative - but occasionally the words that a composer has given to describe the piece affect one greatly
Oliver Messaien wrote the Quartet for the End of Time in a prison camp in the second world war. It has long and momentous movements for clarinet, violin, piano and cello as these were the instruments available to his professional musician co- prisoners
One movement is titled (in French)- 'The song of the angel who comes to announce the end of time'. That has a profound effect on what one hears.
You can hear it in the Church of St John the Baptist, Croydon on Easter Saturday
Posted by Perkins at 12:30 PM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2008
The worst writing you have ever read
DCMS (The Ministry of Silly Ideas) published a document today in the name of The Minister and some other noddle head. It is about Culture and Sport and is called ' A passion for Excellence'
It means absolutely nothing from beginning to end. . But it has been posted here as an example of how not to write English
The persistent reader will find that among all the rest of it, that all the many attempts at measuring and setting standards for public library service devised and revised in the past 10 years have all herein been scrapped. All the wondrous Best Value Indicators, Public Library Service Standards, Impact Measures and all the rest have been replaced by just one measure.. That is '' Ask People if they went to a public library in the last year... or not'
The only good thing about the whole expensive garbage is that the MLA appears to have been closed down. It doesn't actually say that, but then, it doesn't actually say anything. It is the absence of mention, that leads one to believe that the mighty Delay, The Department of Libraries and Archives-- has finally kicked the bucket. Hurrah.
Posted by Perkins at 9:22 PM | Comments (4)
March 16, 2008
Efficiency
When Mrs Hodge spoke to chief librarians about innovative methods in public libraries, she said that the money for them should come from improved efficiency between councils.
Chief librarians tend to believe that 'efficiency' means staff cuts and is something that is imposed upon them by their council. So when Mrs Hodge said what she did, she was not suggesting that the Chief Librarians should do something to seek efficiency-- what she meant was that 'someone else, some other undefined officer, in the council' should seek cuts of some kind. For a chief librarian that means 'take cover'
So efficiency is not a management action, it is a well practiced game of hide and seek. The council wins a few skirmishes, but by and large most of the library service will survive. The book fund may suffer, a few libraries may close, opening hours may be cut, some library assistants will lose their jobs, but mostly, the 'professional' jobs will stay. Whenever the losses are tangeable, the cry will go up ' Save librarians' -- public libraries are in jeapardy because the profession is not respected.
The truth is, however, that efficiency means the exact opposite-- it means improving the front line and the core service while reducing the cost. And in order for that to happen, chief librarians have to participate actively and professionally in the pursuit of it. They must-- it is part of their professional role, the most important part.
While chief librarians believe that the active seeking of improved efficiency is something that somebody else does, the only outcome will be reduced efficiency.. Reduced efficiency will lead to poorer quality public libraries. Poorer quality libraries will lead to lack of use. Lack of use will lead to closure of the public library service. Closure of the public library service will lead to the end of a need for professional public librarians.
Is there one chief librarian in London who hear Mrs Hodge's speech and came away thinking 'she meant that I should do something about this' ? No, of course not. They all thought 'She didn't offer any money-- this is all someone else's problem'
About 30-40% of the money that funds public libraries is spent inefficiently-- it is a waste. The only people who can really tackle that without damaging the service are chief librarians. We all wish they would.
Posted by Perkins at 1:02 PM | Comments (2)
March 15, 2008
130 Library closures... at least
There was a document circulating the MLA saying how wonderful CIPFA figures are-- but I don't believe there is anyone in the MLA who has ever studied them very closely.. They are certainly incomprehensible, tardy and only as accurate and complete as the data provided by councils, which is in fact quite often plain wrong.. They are also not freely available to the public and they when you do see them you find that they are truly mystifying and certainly carry no helpful comparative data about previous years etc.
The Times recently quoted a figure of over 130 public libraries being closed. This in its turn provoked another document to circulate around the MLA called 'how to counter bad news put out by horrible national journalists' (or something like that) who don't know what they are talking about and only want to rubbish public libraries
If those hopeless and brainless press officers of MLA (and DCMS) are reading this then this blog can reveal that the figure of 130 comes not from CIPFA but from the MLA sponsored LISU 'estimates' report of last autumn. The LISU report is also incomprehensible, confused, inconsistent and error bound-- but that's what it says and therefore the figure goes under the general heading of 'government data'
I paraphrase but the LISU report says 'among the limited number of English councils from which we have obtained data, those councils are planning to operate 130 less libraries in 2008 than they operated in 2006. The actual number of closures in all councils may therefore be more'
This information ties in with reports received from local newspapers.. It is not hard to see from those how the total number of closures, by 2009, from January 2006, could be over 200.
Incidentally - for the benefit of officers of the MLA and DCMS-- the 1964 Act requires the Minister who superintends the service (Mrs Mansion Polish) to obtain the data from councils in order to enable her to do that.. Isn't it time that work was done? At present the Minister has no such data, but by goodness she needs it. We know the data here, but we are the only people in the country who do.
Posted by Perkins at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)
'Westerns'
I noticed a good and smart new library which listed in an advertisement the sections of fiction it has on offer
"Crime, romance, science fiction etc .... and westerns"
Westerns? What? 1950's stock?
Posted by Perkins at 11:30 AM | Comments (2)
March 10, 2008
One Library Card for London
Long bearded devotees of this blog will remember the time when we called for 'one library card for London' (put it in the search box).. I see that Mrs Mansion Polish pinched the jolly good idea for her ministerial speech in Brighton this week
Her cheerful but ignorant aides and speech writers obviously forgot to tell her that at the last attempt:
The society of chief librarians
The London branch of the MLA
The MLA itself
The DCMS
Mr Lammy etc
The LLDA
The chief librarians of London
all failed miserably to achieve any progress in their last spluttering attempt to make this happen
The libraries of London are run in the same way as a tube in which the track size was different in each borough. The service goes nowhere
Posted by Perkins at 6:54 PM | Comments (1)
March 8, 2008
The mouse's tale
Charles Moore's article this morning would be a terrible tale if were made up - but the sad truth is, as this blog is witness, it is true.
Lewis Carroll said you could fill a page with nonsense -- he called it The Mouse's Tale. Watch out for it....
Posted by Perkins at 5:04 PM | Comments (0)
Google "Margaret Hodge"
It is quite fun to google people these days. You can try 'Perkins the library cat' and see what you get
However when Margaret Hodge was appointed minister of culture (it's true! that she what she is called!) this blog googled her and learned so many dismal things it was truly depressing. Neverthless since they weren't yet about public libraries we didn't think they were fair game for our purpose
However the Daily Telegraph have done exactly that and written about her this morning.
Posted by Perkins at 11:14 AM | Comments (1)
March 7, 2008
The Department of Silly Ideas
The Times has an article about Mrs Mansion Polish banging her tin.
There is a comment
And it also carries this Leading Article in which it describes Mrs Mansion Polish as the Minister for Silly Ideas:
The funny thing about all this is that DLA - Delay- The Depatment of Libraries and Archives-- were circulating a long document last week about 'how to avoid bad press for public libraries' . Nowhere in the whole thing was the phrase "make them better' -- which you would have thought was what they were paid to do. Basically their idea was to tell everyone that journalists don't understand the subject.. !! oh yes - you have to laugh
When she made her comments about Hillingdon libraries last year in which she derisively said the effort to restore the service was reminiscent of the old fashioned smell of mansion polish, Maragret Hodge was trying to make a clever remark at the expense of those who were genuinely trying to make libraries work for the population in which they stand. It was a hurtful, destructive, snobbish and patronising thing to say. It did really upset the people who had gone through some difficulty to make the project work. She has done exactly the same about the proms and those who have worked so hard and professionally to make then successful. No person should do that to anyone else-- and ministers are not appointed to sneer at people who work hard for the public.. She should be sacked now.
Posted by Perkins at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
March 6, 2008
The Battle of the Alamo
Here is Mrs Mansion Polish's speech today to London Chief Librarians.
CULTURE MINISTER MARGARET HODGE SPEECH TO ASSOCIATION OF LONDON CHIEF
LIBRARIANS, 6 MARCH 2008
Introduction
I'm very pleased to be here to talk to you today.
* Not simply because London's libraries have been a part of my life
since childhood,
* And not simply because it's always good to visit Brighton, however
briefly.
* But mostly because today we are celebrating World Book Day. And
that's an important day for anyone - anyone like you and me - that loves
the written word and believes - as I do - that the English language and
its literature are, quite simply, one of the greatest contributions that
this country makes to the world.
But I wonder how many of you also knew that 6 March is the anniversary
of the Battle of the Alamo? Hopefully, running your library service in
a London borough week by week doesn't feel too much like the Battle of
the Alamo. But if it does, at least you John Waynes and Linda Cristals
have been able to escape the siege to come to the seaside for a couple
of days.
Your theme is to position libraries centre stage in the community of
the future. I'm all in favour of that. But I'm also keen to see
libraries centre stage in the community of the present.
And what do I mean by this? Well, for me, being centre stage means
being a central, essential and permanent feature of the places where we
live. The place where people, things and importantly books, information
and literature are the focus of interest, a place of influence, a place
which is at the heart of the local community being.
Now for my part, I'm a great believer in the value of public
libraries. I know how they allow anyone, of any background, and of any age, to
have free access to the vast store of information and inspiration they
contain. And I know how this can enrich people's minds and spirits,
raise educational standards and generally encourage their creativity. In
fact I'd be surprised if anyone with experience of local government, as
an MP and as a Minister would believe anything else.
So our challenge is to reach the sceptics:
* To get that value more widely understood.
* To health check the public library service and make sure it remains
relevant to 21st century communities, and
* To bring them centre stage again.
And I say 'again' for a reason. Because there's no rule of public life
that says that all institutions should slip into genteel decline once
they reach a certain peak of public attention. And there's no given
right for institutions to prosper in the present if they cease to be
relevant and popular.
Equally there is absolutely no reason, I believe, why public libraries
should not be as widely-used today as they were in their peak year of
1980. But the truth is that the figures do make for some gloomy
reading. The latest CIPFA stats tell us that although overall spend is up by
17% over the last 10 years, the number of books borrowed is down by 34%
in the same period. I know you'll plead resources, but I don't think
that's the real reason for the decline. In my view the offer from
libraries needs to be different. More of that later.
Today, as I mentioned, we celebrate the eleventh World Book Day here
in Britain. This is a tremendous initiative. It promotes books and
reading, and it works because publishers, booksellers, teachers and, yes,
librarians like you put the time and trouble in to make it fly.
Thousands of schools up and down the country are involved, and many
are running special activities for their children. This is all to the
good, and I congratulate all concerned.
World Book Day is an international event, and there will be comparable
events in other countries as the month wears on. And one thing it
reminds us of is how fortunate we are in this country to have free access
to books and learning in every community. Because what we too often take
for granted is still a far off aspiration for some people in less
stable parts of the world.
In January, for example, I had the great privilege of hearing Doris
Lessing speaking when she received the Nobel Prize in London and I have
read her contribution to mark the occassion. She paints a graphic
picture of life in Zimbabwe, and of the desperate need and thirst for books
in schools and communities.
In contrast, she describes this country as "a treasure-house of
literature, a legacy of languages, poems and histories, and a bequest of
stories".
I think she's right, and I think we owe it to our communities to share
this wealth through our library collections as widely as we can.
Now if we agree that England is a treasure-house of literature;
lending books and promoting a love of reading has to remain the core business
for libraries. That's a no-brainer.
Because in doing so, you give an enormous boost to our nation's
literacy. You help enrich and transform people's lives through the written
word.
And all of that helps build a bridge to many other ambitions too:
- crossing digital divides,
- crossing cultural divides, and
- crossing learning divides.
Your libraries are valuable community spaces where much can happen.
But the written word is - to borrow a phrase used by someone in this
very city some eight years ago - the irreducible core of the service.
Challenges of London
But let's put those bracing seaside memories to one side for a moment
and go back to London. I've been MP for Barking since 1994, and before
that a councillor in Islington for many years. I'm also a London
resident. So I have a keen personal interest in seeing a library service that
provides London people with what they want and need.
Serving communities in London brings many challenges. The capital is -
joyously - so complex.
It seems like there's more of everything in London - more people, more
buildings, greater diversity, greater social inequality, more ways to
earn and spend your money, and a lot more traffic!
It's a city of contrasts - great prosperity but also great poverty.
Seventeen of the 33 London boroughs are among the 20 most deprived areas
in the country, and London has the lowest employment rate in the
country. I sometimes smile when I hear the anguished howls of regional
commentators who seem to really think that all our streets are paved with
gold.
You, though, are more realistic. You are responding to the opportunity
that lies within that challenge. Indeed, I am pleased to say that
London's libraries are often leading the way, undertaking innovative
projects that break new ground and which others can copy.
Government Support
The Government is playing its part too.
Last month we announced a really important and really exciting new
contribution which we called 'Finding Your Talent'- that every young
person should enjoy five hours of culture a week both within and outside
school hours. It's part of our drive to broaden the experience and unlock
the creative talent of all young people. Participating in cultural
activities, of course including libraries, can have a huge impact on
children and young people, in terms of developing their skills and
appreciation, and helping them to learn. So we want every child to have the
chance to develop their artistic and creative skills. We've invited bids for
pilots in ten areas around the country and I really want our libraries
to play their part in fulfilling the offer..
2008 is, of course, the National Year of Reading. We want children,
adults and family learners to understand that reading - for pleasure and
for purpose - can change their lives for the better, now and for the
future.
The National Year of Reading presents a fantastic opportunity for
libraries to show what they can do. I am pleased that this has been
recognised from the outset and I know you are all raring to go. I very much
hope the Year will bring significant benefits for you too in terms of
recognition and usage. And it's entirely fitting that the Year kicks off
in April with a national campaign to drive up library membership.
To help the Year, we have forged new programmes with the Department
for Children Schools and Families to help libraries build their
partnerships with schools and nurseries.
Book Ahead and Boys into Books represent notable investment in
libraries by government and they will help to put libraries on both national
and local agendas.
They help shine the spotlight on libraries and help others realise the
valuable part libraries can play.
Challenges of the Future
But what about the challenges of the future? How can we ensure
libraries remain relevant and important and centre stage? How can we reverse
the gradual decline of recent years? How can we ensure libraries are
properly used and enjoyed?
And these are tough challenges. I reflect on this when I go to, or
past my local bookshops. The shop is always brimming with people. Mums and
dads with their children during the day, chatting together and reading
books and adults in the evening, browsing through the books and papers
while sipping a decent cup of coffee and reflecting on the 'three for
two' offers tempting them.
Now the class warriors amongst us will say that it's just the
well-off, middle class people who can afford to go to Borders. Well that's
patronising rubbish, for a start.
And even if it weren't, where does it say that our libraries can't
engage people in the same way? And for heaven's sake libraries are FREE!
It's not just 'three for two', it's 'seven - or sometimes more - for
one'.- and the 'one' doesn't cost a bean!
I'm pushing this point for simplistic effect, of course. I entirely
accept that libraries face strong competition. Over recent years, books
have become cheaper to buy and people do have more disposable income.
But ladies and gentlemen, this is not a bad thing.
And people have greater demands on their time and less time for
reading.
And increasing numbers of people have their own computers, so they
don't need to go to the library to use the People's Network as often as
they did in the early days.
Again, ladies and gentlemen, this is not a bad thing.
The point is, our shared commitment and passion to promote reading,
literacy and learning in people of all ages remains as strong as ever.
The goalposts may move from time to time as priorities adapt to new
situations, but the object of the game remains the same: using the written
word to empower, educate and delight ordinary people.
And the Government's top priorities impact directly on Libraries. Not
only are we determined to unlock the potential in every child through
giving each child an equal opportunity in education. But we also want to
tackle the historic problem of 4.5 million people of working age who
need to improve their basic skills in literacy and numeracy if they are
to contribute effectively both at work and with their families.
How can libraries respond to these big challenges?
That's the 64 million dollar question which I'm sure you will be
debating over the next couple of days. May I share with you a few thoughts
to help your debate? I think you need to:
- Modernise your library buildings and make your services more
enticing and more customer-focused, especially for children and young people.
We've got to get more people who both have the confidence to come into
a library and then choose to spend time in libraries and borrowing
books from libraries. And you should involve local people in designing and
deciding what service to provide; and
- Work more closely with people in your communities - getting out of
the library into community halls, children's centres or church halls -
to get the message about literacy and learning more widely heard and
understood;
- Market libraries' benefits - so that your trump cards of free
access, great free resources and helpful staff become better known,
especially for those who have got out of the library-going 'habit'.
Now I know that much is being done already. But I also know that the
national picture suggests there is still more to do.
And yet another thing I know is that keeping centre stage with an
increasingly discerning and demanding population might require some
innovative customer measures.
So which of you is going to be first to provide:
* 24/7 opening? Not necessarily literally, but open in the evenings
and all week-end when people have time to get to the library.
* a web-based lending service with home delivery?
* libraries in shopping centres or at railway stations, where
thousands of people pass every day? Certainly centre-stage and
customer-focused.
* Combining with other customer-focused public services so that people
take that first important step and come through your front door.
* A deal with a Starbucks or a Costa to give places in libraries where
people can sit, relax and meet their friends with a coffee and a book?
* having other forms of reading in London libraries to attract young
males - comics, manga, film scripts or music lyrics?
* a single London library card - and not just one that simply allows
multi-membership of all London library services, but goes further:
allowing you to borrow in Bromley and return in Barnet, for example?
* a Loyalty Card that gives users a one-day travelcard or a pair of
cinema tickets for every ten visits?
* or even a tie-in with Amazon: You've borrowed the book - now send a
brand-new copy to a friend.
The People's Network computers were a tremendous step-change for
libraries, but in lots of ways they were just a beginning.
How should the sector respond to new technology and keep relevant to
the Google Generation?
But - as Clint Eastwood said in Dirty Harry (forgive me, I am Films
Minister too) - "I know what you're thinking." How do we afford this when
budgets are under such pressure? It's all very well Margaret Hodge
having new ideas, but where's the money, coming from?
Well, it seems to me that with 33 boroughs working in such close
proximity there ought to be scope for efficiencies through greater
collaboration.
Indeed I would put it to you, if you don't innovate you will decline.
So you've got to prioritise investment in new services if you want to
secure a long-term future.
And it ought to be possible to share services and support functions
such as inter-library lending, IT systems and delivery systems and
thereby spend more effectively.
Conclusion
So where do we go from here? How do we get from here to there? Well,
your challenge is to build on what you're doing at the moment, speed up
the pace of innovation, involving your communities and giving people
flexible and high quality services.
My challenge is to take the best of what you do and give it a national
platform.
And our collective challenge is to prove library services deliver
against national agendas and deserve a place centre stage in the community
of the future.
I believe we can pull this off. We can ensure that the capital's
libraries are a vital and vibrant part of London's future, that they play a
leading role in the cast, with a prominent position on stage and that
they receive due accolade in local authority plans and priorities.
And if all this feels like a bit of a battle at times, just remember
the Alamo.
END
Posted by Perkins at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)
March 4, 2008
Brighton Central Library
Councils which spend large amounts of money on capital library projects rarely think through the consequences for the operation of the rest of the library service. Many problems arise from the effect on the revenue budget- the ordinary money for paying the service every year. This is true in all cases-- as in Brighton where it was done with a 'Private Finance Intiative" or by whichever means the capital is raised
Here is a report on the current arguments which surround the Brighton Central Library, from Christopher Hawtree
"With the building of a new Brighton library (and its loss of books) and the long battle to save Hove’s Carnegie Library - now celebrating its centenary year - Councillors in this unitary authority are acutely aware of the importance which the diverse population accords reading.
When the new Brighton library opened, however, Councillors were taken aback by the uproar at its being closed two afternoons a week. Some rapid rejigging of the PFI agreement with Norwich Union / Mill Group was necessary to increase the opening hours.
Meanwhile, the authority’s opening hours remain below the recommended minimum, and for some while this has led readers to ask why Brighton library is not open in a Sunday if it really is such a “cool” city.
Shortly before last year’s local Election, Councillor Sue John announced at a meeting that if Labour got back in, the Library would indeed be opened on Sunday. There and then, off the cuff, Conservative councillor Carol Theobald announced that they would do likewise if put in charge.
Councillor John duly lost her seat, and the Conservatives formed a minority administration. Residents promptly held them to Councillor Theobald’s promise. This has rumbled on since May, with Questions asked at various meetings, and this Thursday’s Budget meeting will confirm the Sunday opening (at an earlier meeting the Conservatives, Greens and Labour each claimed to be the prime mover in this, which shows how popular a subject it is).
Curiously, funding of the Sunday opening is separate from the PFI agreement. The PFI covers the building (some £12 million), its operating costs - and the supply of books for all of Brighton and Hove’s libraries. Councillors are not exactly sure how this operates, and there is worry that the authority’s low level of book acquistion is a result of paying for the Brighton building during the next twenty-plus years. Happily, Chairman of the Culture Committee, David Smith immediately agreed to a recent public request for a report about the PFI set-up, and this will be available in April. More later. Naturally, Sunday opening should bring a demand for more books - and more shelves - in Brighton.
If readers everywhere make their cause known, Councillors begin to stir, fear for their seats, and things happen.
Posted by Perkins at 2:22 PM | Comments (0)
March 3, 2008
Hillingdon
A message today reveals that we are about to hear excellent news from Hillingdon where the performance of the library relaunched in October continues to outshine all other libraries in the country.. all those who kept saying nasty things about the project and those who worked on it had better hide behind the sand dunes
Posted by Perkins at 5:25 PM | Comments (0)
March 1, 2008
What should we do?
If you set aside all the flap and flannel about Strategies and Visions and Purposes of Public Libraries and the Public Library Service, the sensible question, as one commenter on this blog pointed out this week, is: "What should we (a local council) do?"
The answer is : Take one of your libraries; Wash it and clean it thoroughly; Put one person in charge of it like the landlord of a pub; allow that person to choose (with guidance from others) and buy 50,000 pounds worth of new copies of front list and backlist book stock (and other materials, computers etc); display them smartly; arrange the rota so the library is open from 9am to 9pm and see what happens.
You will find that use of the library explodes to double its current level; membership will widen to embrace a far wider cross section of the local community and it will be very popular.
Having done one you will then understand exactly what to do with the rest. It's easy. The benefits will be such that you will wish to do others as quickly as you can- and soon the library service will be useful again.
(Perkins had a protracted visit to the Vet this week. Thank you to all the wonderful medical staff involved and to all who have sent good wishes and done kind things)
Posted by Perkins at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)