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November 16, 2008
What should Andy Burnham's review of public libraries say?
I've now been asked by a few places, newspapers, organisations what I think Andy Burnham's review of public libraries should say and I'm scratching around to prepare a proper answer.
But as this is one of the widely read notice boards I wondered what other people thought. You are always welcome to make anonymous comments, if you need to. When you press the 'comments' button below, you are asked to enter a name and an email address. It is perfectly easy to make them up. I even know someone who puts perkins for their name and perkins@yoohoo.com for their email address and the entry goes through.
Posted by Perkins at November 16, 2008 12:36 PM
Comments
I can hardly believe that the "Aim" of the Review is actually to provide a "... public library service that prioritises the needs of USERS ..."!
The profession will no longer have to try in vain to drag the Great Unread off the streets by doing anything but stock the shelves properly, just to please well-meaning councillors.
At last libraries can be operated for that oppressed minority: readers who simply expect a reasonably comprehensive collection of books.
Posted by: No Brain at November 17, 2008 12:33 AM
I am reminded of an article (submitted for but not published by Update) I wrote quoting the experience of an ex-headmaster trying to start up a teacher training college in the bitter winter of 1947. He had prepared a long list of rules & regs, but when he saw the line of ex-serviceman standing straight and tall despite the biting wind, he was humbled. These were men, he later recalled, who had fought at El Alamein, across Europe to Berlin and through the jungles of Burma. He stood up before them, threw his prepared speech away and addressed them as equals. "There will only be one rule," he said. "Anyone who rolls in drunk at night rolls out the next morning and stays out! Apart from that, just get in there and get on with it!"
This may sound like something out of a war film starring John Mills, but it is a true story and it seems we have stopped expecting people to behave like adults and instead hamstrung them with the very rules and regs that wise man threw away, plus ridiculous jargon, morale-sapping initiatives and endless reviews, reviews, reviews...
Why not just get good staff, put them in a properly-stocked library and let them get on with it?
I've referred to my former article from memory, but if anyone is interested I can reproduce the exact words used that winter day. It's about time we listened to the clear words of our fathers and stopped acting like such wimps!
Incidentally, I'm not blogging anonymously. James Christie is my real name. I am a Chartered Librarian and I'm sick of the way our profession has been run into the ground by representatives of the Judean People's Front (AKA CILIP). They'll still be debating resolutions and seeking discussions when the last library closes!
Posted by: James Christie at November 18, 2008 12:00 PM