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August 12, 2008
Buckinghamshire
Long suffering members of the Buckinghamshire County Library Service have endured much torture as has been reported frequently on this blog. (put Buckinghamshire in the Search box on the right)
Earlier this year many people became cross because the county council stopped putting date labels in books and replaced them by till slips. As always, the council rubbished the public and told them to go back to their thatched boxes and be silent.
For us, the heart of the matter has always been to discover how the money for the service is spent. The official figures for Bucks County Council fail to explain the expenditure of several million pounds, at the same time that the county felt it right to close 12 libraries. Our suspicion, as in many other places, with reasonable foundation, is that too much is spent on the central administrative processes and too little on books, opening hours and buildings.
In the press coverage a few months ago, to my recollection, no one from the council said that they had spent huge sums on a new Library Management System. But they have.. as this entry on Lis Pub Libs from an officer of Bucks CC, this morning, sheepishly reveals.
"I've been interested in the debate surrounding fines/charges and one post re-ignited my interest in something close to Bucks libraries' heart. We recently moved LMSs from Concerto to Spydus and as such have started using receipt printers instead of date stamps.
Can I ask other authorities which have made a similar move what the reaction was like from the general public? I would guess that initial grumbles are due to people not liking change, but certain comments do ring truer than others. Do these grumbles go away with time? Have your customers grown to love the system? Obviously having a new LMS brings its own benefits.
Indeed do you as staff like or dislike using receipts instead of datestamps?
Links to any online information about this subject would also be much appreciated".
So what are 'the comments that ring truer than others?'
Posted by Perkins at August 12, 2008 11:15 AM
Comments
At the risk of sounding argumentative, where abouts *exactly* does it 'sheepishly' or otherwise say 'huge sums' of money were spent, or is this inferred? Might an equal assumption be that money was saved by switching suppliers? I ask only out of interest...
Posted by: PW at August 12, 2008 6:49 PM
Sorry- I cut the nervous preliminaries to the quote-- but tell us how much does it cost to change to a new Library Management System?
Posted by: perkins at August 12, 2008 9:40 PM
Thanks for publicising my question.
As noted above, nowhere did I refer to what the switch cost, or the implication of such a thing.
I was simply asking for opinions from those who have recently started using receipts instead of date stamps to compare with my own thoughts.
I'm beginning to wonder how useful your blog is when you seem quite opinionated without reason...
Posted by: Paul at August 12, 2008 10:24 PM
You are welcome, Paul. It would be very interesting for people everywhere and certainly for those in Buckinghamshire to know how much it costs (capital and revenue-- in licensing, management and depreciation) to run a library management system for one council, each year, and how much it costs, then to change from one system to another. If you gave us the information, it might inform our opinions.
Posted by: perkins at August 13, 2008 6:41 AM
If I had the information I would gladly give it to you, but I don't.
Anyway the cost of running the system doesn't interest me in the slightest, I am far more interested in the actual service to the public, hence my original question (which you seem to have completely ignored, sadly).
I suggest contacting Bucks CC for figures if they matter to you - no idea if that information is available though.
Posted by: Paul at August 13, 2008 6:52 AM
A real public servant then! -The cost of running the system might not interest you 'in the slightest' - but it is, I'm sure you can see, part of the whole. How council tax is spent is of great importance to people- and I can tell you- if you don't know- that the annual cost of running a library management system in a council like Buckinghamshire is tens, if not hundreds, of thousand of pounds. It is a significant amount. The cost of changing from one to another, also, is very large amount of money-- not the council's money, but the public's money.
This comment stream is not directed at you but at Bucks County Council, who are notorious for not being clear about how the money on the library service is spent and in the dismissive response to requests for information. I am afraid your comment on Lis Pub Libs , as it were, raised the council above the battlements. There are people in Buckinghamshire who follow this blog-- and the whole matter is both of concern and interest.
Posted by: perkins at August 13, 2008 10:42 AM
To answer your question, I have never been involved in a large scale IT project. Because you asked, I have found that Spydus is provided by Civica, and Concerto by BiblioMondo, but as information on costs is not available I assume its considered 'commercially sensitive'.
Posted by: PW at August 13, 2008 12:27 PM
Thanks for trying-- but you can see what I mean
Posted by: perkins at August 13, 2008 12:36 PM
I can, but I hope you can see what I'm saying also.
Posted by: PW at August 13, 2008 12:57 PM
and I can tell you- if you don't know- that the annual cost of running a library management system in a council like Buckinghamshire is tens, if not hundreds, of thousand of pounds. It is a significant amount.
With all due respect, it doesn't sound like you know either. Perhaps you should find out?
As you say, it is of personal interest to you, just like my original question is of personal interest to me - so I asked around for an answer, and got one. Maybe you should do the same?
I'd have thought someone with a library background would prefer facts over speculation.
Posted by: Paul at August 13, 2008 1:34 PM
I don't know for Buckinghamshire, that's why I asked, but I know several authorities. I guess one hundred thousand pounds each year, in capital and revenue.
Posted by: perkins at August 13, 2008 4:18 PM