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October 11, 2008
'Who is this Burnham Knucklehead?'
The Guardian has another big piece this morning and lots of comments to go with it already.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/11/britishidentity?commentpage=1
It's pretty clear what The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, the Camden New Journal and their readers all think, now of Mr Burnham and The Society of Chief Librarians etc. Burn'em is the imperative verb for the people, not the books.
Since 1997 we have had about 12 Ministers in the DCMS and not one of them has said ' Good collections of books and other reading and reference material and quiet, clean, safe space for dignified study are what is needed in Public Libraries, for people of all ages, circumstances and backgrounds. That is what makes them useful -and that is their contribution to the local community' We keep hoping. Until it happens it is left to a small, sleepy black cat to keep saying it for them.
Posted by Perkins at October 11, 2008 10:25 AM
Comments
I heard the media comments about Mr Burnham's speech the other day and felt like lynching him. I read Bob McKee's article where he mentioned the word twaddle, then I read the text of Mr Burnham's speech. In a word, I'd now prefer to lynch Mr McKee (and don't you dare talk about twaddle, Bob, I've heard more than enough of that in overwritten library articles in my time) and, although I rather liked some of Mr Burnham's comments, I feel his speech wandered off too far into MySpace, FaceBook et al.
I'm sick and tired of people trying to turn libraries into loud MacDonalds, bored to death with IT and wearied of looking for a middle ground (hush but not silence, books and reading central but not sole). I just wish a minister would indeed repeat Perkins' words (see above), and stand by them, but I don't think any single one of them has the guts. They are locked into a vicious circle of soft words, compromise and over-educated theories which lead nowhere.
I even heard the other day that a Scottish local authority is trying to combine libraries with council tax payment centres. All they really want to do is save money by screwing more work out of fewer employees.
I fear I'm turning into Mr Angry, but really, couldn't we just march on London, depose Bob McKee and hand petitions (preferably rather rude and maybe even written in our own blood) to Andy Burnham and Barbara Follett?
Posted by: James Christie at October 13, 2008 10:28 AM