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December 27, 2008
A New Year Appeal
This call is an intent to make major steps forward.
To CILIP, the MLA, the LGA, BIC, to the Society of Chief Librarians and the ACL, to IdeA and the Audit Commission, to individual councils, to the Ministers and civil servants in the DCMS, if they wish, to Unison, if they want-- to MP's and to political parties, to Alan Gibbons and his friends, to authors anywhere, to their agents and to publishers and suppliers of all kinds, to librarians and to library staff, to councillors, cabinet members and council officers with a connection to libraries, to teachers, to schoolchildren and students and scholars of any age, to the Reading Agency, the National Literacy Trust; to readers, to LLL and all user groups and campaigns, to trade associations or library consortia, to those many journalists and their newspapers and those editors and proprietors who really care about this subject-- let us unite in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland- or anywhere else-, work together and make ourselves available to any council that asks for help.
If a council is struggling with its budgets, seriously has to consider closures or cutbacks, or cannot find sufficient money for its book fund- and asks for help, through councillors, through officers, through librarians or through local people, organised or not , then let us, together, help them. Perhaps if they know there is someone that will help them, they will ask and not be embarrassed to do so.
Who will join me? I am not asking for money - but for an agreement to share purpose and vision, to bury pride and to give commitment that will seek and make improvement.
Posted by Perkins at 7:24 PM | Comments (5)
December 24, 2008
Happy Christmas
To everyone who comes on this site.
My object is to make the public libraries in this country as good as they possibly can be: well stocked with really interesting and useful new and old books, journals, films, music, access to information and history and so on; open long hours every day into the evening; attractive comfortable welcoming buildings which are a pleasure to visit, to work and spend time in and librarians who enjoy what they do and are knowledgeable and helpful to everyone who needs their assistance.
In the past year and even more, in the past few months, it is possible to see how this can come about. Some walls which seemed impenetrable, have begun to crumble. Let us hope that next year, at last, brings some dramatic improvement. All the resources that we need are available, it is truly just a question of putting the right pieces of the jigsaw in the right places. Have a lovely holiday, from a small black cat asleep on the sofa.
Posted by Perkins at 6:46 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2008
Performance Indicator 9
Curious whether the results of Performance Indicator 9 would tell us anything we didn't already know, I compared the figures published for each English Council against the normal annual CIPFA measure of visits per thousand residents.. PI 9, remember, is the one measure central government now uses for public libraries and it tells us the percentage of residents who claim to call into a library during the past year.
If visits per resident were indeed the most appropriate or indeed any or even the best measure of a library service the worst 10 library English library authorities according to PI9 are
Barnsley
Blackpool
Leeds
North East Lincolnshire
North Lincolnshire
Plymouth
Stoke-on-Trent
Sunderland
Wakefield
Wigan
and the worst according to CIPFA would be
Barnsley
Bradford
Cambridgeshire
North Lincolnshire
Rochdale
Salford
Stoke-on-Trent
West Berkshire
Wigan
Wokingham
The best according to PI 9 would be
Barnet
Blackburn with Darwen
Brent
Coventry
Hackney
Harrow
Hounslow
Stockport
Tower Hamlets
Warwickshire
and according to CIPFA would be
Barnet
Blackburn with Darwen
Haringey
Harrow
Hounslow
Manchester
Newham
Richmond upon Thames
Tower Hamlets
Wandsworth
(I have excluded authorities like the Corporation of London where there are anomolous measurements)
In both of these pairs of lists five authorities appear both times. So PI9 really doesn't say that much more than CIPFA already tells us, as intuitively one would have expected. And with the CIPFA figures, many years of consistent measurements show the trends that are occurring: for example, Tower Hamlets is now in the top ten visited library authorities, but three years ago it wasn't.
But as readers of this blog know, visits to libraries are not an indicator of how useful or well used they are at all. In fact, for reading purposes, some of the most visited services are among the least useful. So one wonders about the value of this whole expensive exercise.
But of course, those who undertook it, knew all this before they took up the public money it needed.
If there is money available for research of the kind that is being used in every council to calculate PI9, it would be much better to use it for a smaller national sample to ask people why they use libraries, or why they don't; what they use them for; and why they think libraries are so potentially valuable that they are prepared to pay for them. Then we would have some idea whether libraries were doing the right thing and what they can do to make improvements that the public want to see. Used alongside existing CIPFA data to highlight local variations, that would be useful research.
Posted by Perkins at 2:47 PM | Comments (5)
December 19, 2008
Brighton Rocks
Our correspondent, the formidable Colley Cibber, sends a Christmas Message of great cheer:
For some time people may have had the impression that the library saga in Brighton rocks to and fro, a continual cliffhanger with much gang warfare - and the stock regularly carved up.
Something astonishing is now happening. It should be an encouragement to residents in such hard-pressed places as Swindon and the Wirrall. Readers in Brighton and Hove have continually urged stock and opening hours as the priority from which everything else follows. There have been many laments at the lack of classic works in stock. Staff are now going through lists of all classic English authors from the 16th century until now, and likewise with those from Europe and America. Two copies of missing works will be bought in good editions. And readers are invited to offer suggestions.
By their very nature these books meet a continual, steady demand - especially in these times - and they stay around after the latest “celebrity” or misery memoir has faded along with photo-heavy cookbooks and schlock novels.
No doubt this will widen, a step at a time, to include other works, and make libraries a natural port of call for books that cannot be readily found elsewhere. (Libraries kept Barbara Pym available when publishers shunned her, and this brought her eventual revival.) There is a huge appetite for good books of all kinds, and it remains a mystery why the MLA thinks otherwise. The rest of us realise that if libraries are full of good books, word spreads and readers arrive.
Posted by Perkins at 6:14 PM | Comments (0)
Andrew Motion calls on councils to support public libraries
Here is a report in The Bookseller of Andrew Motion's welcome statement.
This will help those who are advocating for improvements to their own service in the current budget round.
Posted by Perkins at 8:28 AM | Comments (1)
December 17, 2008
Libraries are for everybody- but what does 'everybody ' mean?
I was fortunate earlier in the week to be at the launch of Unison's report on Public Libraries , which is very good.
Both Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison and Minister Ed Balls made good speeches emphasing the importance of libraries from different perspectives and Steve Davies, the author of the report showed that he is well informed and has a good understanding and he underlined the essential role of books, which is so rarely heard.
I have been working in a library which has few members over the age of thirty five and almost none over the age of sixty. This, sadly, is a deliberate consequence of the active pursuit of young people, whether they want to read or not, in that area, which has been very successful. Thank goodness, the council has now realised that they have actually dirven a large part of their community away from using their libraries and they wish they hadn't done that. The pursuit of 'youth' was also the theme of Ed Balls talk - although it is hardly surprising as he is Minister for Young people and schools.
One hears nothing about the active pursuit of visits to libraries from people who generally stay at home, for whatever reason and don't go out to work or commute somewehere else (I refuse to call them old or out of work) . These are people who don't want the library to be full of commotion or community events, but want it to be a practical place for their own private purposes, normally the search for information or just reading. These people, however one characterises them, are actually rather excluded from the government agendas. They form a large part of our population and I don't understand why when we say 'libraries are for everybody' they are not part of what we mean.
LIbrary leaders have to realise that we must design libraries so that they are attractive and useful to both young audiences and old ones at the same time. It isn't that difficult to do, most poeple who sell to the public manage to do it- and it is an obligation for a public service. We can't have public libraries being a battle ground for an age war. Can we?
Posted by Perkins at 5:30 PM | Comments (0)
December 14, 2008
Swindon libraries and 'The Dorset Model'
Once again Old Town Library, Swindon, is earmarked for closure -- unless it is manned by volunteers, on the 'Dorset model'. I understand that, in spite of a decision that is supposed to be made in February, individual councillors are canvassing for volunteers already. Strange but true.
Please find out why we are mounting a second campaign and launching another petition, by following the links to Save Old Town Library Campaign on www.friendsofoldtownlibrary.co.uk (best viewed in Explorer).
I'd be glad of your comments about what you see there and whether you think the struggle is worth going through all over again.
Shirley Burnham
Posted by Perkins at 8:40 PM | Comments (5)
December 13, 2008
Closing Libraries on the Wirral
from Chris Mercer
"The libraries closing..have people gone mad.?..They are part of the community from the young to the old...used for meetings and also to browse and read and lend books...Students also study there and folk can use computers..most are a hive of activity...
These resources are valuable especially to those on low incomes...education , literature are things to be valued a library in a community is part of the infrastructure that holds it together even if that is not acknowledged,..
Each community needs its own library , with its own flavour...contributing to the community right across the board..."
The Campaign for the Book
December 20th, 2008
Huge library cuts in Wirral
If anyone believed the library cuts in Doncaster were an anomaly, the result of a rogue Mayor swinging the axe arbitrarily, look no further than Wirral. The Labour/ Lib Dem council running the Wirral peninsula, known on Merseyside as ‘over the water’, has announced the closure of thirteen libraries.
The cuts were approved at a Council meeting on 27th November. There is now a public consultation period of six weeks ending on January 15th. Though this may seem quite a long time, it includes Christmas and the New Year when people are busy with families and when council offices and services are closed or short staffed for at least part of that time.
Two of the thirteen libraries facing closure- at Beechwood and Seacombe- serve communities classed as among the most disadvantaged in the UK. Three leisure centres and two swimming pools are also to be closed and all community halls are to be handed over to unspecified community groups with no guarantee of funding.
Wirral libraries have one of the best records in the country for encouraging children to read during the national ‘summer reading scheme’ and all the libraries have strong links with local schools. Schemes such as Baby Bounce and Rhyme which encourage parents and babies to use the library together are flourishing.
The council has promised that there will be some new investment over the next four years but plans to centralise services into multi purpose complexes rather than maintain local branch libraries. Arguments that libraries need to be accessible to the most disadvantaged and least mobile sectors of the community have been ignored.
The leader of the council has added insult to injury by saying that libraries had to change because they are: “in competition with Waterstones.” Here are some points he might like to consider:
*Waterstones is a private, profit-making company. Libraries are run as a public service.
*Waterstones sells books. Libraries do not.
*People borrow books from libraries. You can’t legally borrow from Waterstones.
*Libraries have a range of services which they offer free of charge to the whole community. Waterstones sells books and other products to make a profit.
Birkenhead Central Library, a purpose built library dating back to the Thirties was recently renovated at considerable cost. It is a much-loved listed building and is among those to be closed. 140 jobs are under threat. Seventy of these are library posts.
There is widespread local opposition but the council, which lost millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money when the Icelandic banks crashed, is determined to push the cuts through. This is not a case of sensible renovation and renewal. It smacks rather of cost-driven vandalism. It must be opposed.
If anyone saw Culture Secretary Andy Burnham’s interview on Newsnight Review, they may have shared my concern at his statement that the arts: “will have to do their bit”, implying acceptance of widespread cutbacks.
You can send your protest to:
stevefoulkes@wirral.gov.uk (Leader of the Wirral Council)
johnhale@wirral.gov.uk (Chair of Culture, Leisure and Tourism Overview Scrutiny Committee
hesfords@parliament.uk (Stephen Hesford MP)
fieldf@parliament.uk (Frank Field MP)
eaglea@parliament.uk ( Angela Eagle MP)
chapmanb@parliament.uk (Ben Chapman MP)
Posted by Perkins at 9:25 AM | Comments (7)
December 10, 2008
RFID
From Mick Fortune
I was very interested to read your views on the efficacy of RFID and contrast these with your apparent enthusiasm for the entirely proprietary use of this technology by the London Library Consortium! As you will know, from Mr Edwards excellent reports, the whole RFID standards debate has only just begun which makes its current widespread adoption a tad more risky than you would appear to suggest.
Posted by Perkins at 7:54 AM | Comments (6)
December 9, 2008
The London Libraries Consortium
Terrific work going on in Havering and the rest of the London Libraries Consortium who are methodically tackling the back room and supply chain problems.
Here is word from some kittens in Hornchurch
Havering, and 9 other boroughs, are working towards the one library system - we have started by getting one computer system with one ticket. There is work being done on streamlining purchasing systems - thereby getting the books on the shelves quicker and cheaper. It would be great if there was some recognition for this.
Yay - Hornchurch (and Havering) are really beginning to kick butt when it comes to offering their readers what they want - and a whole lot more! Just check out their website to see just how much they do - on a very low settlement!
Wow Perkins! you are an inspiration to us all - I think I am owned by your cousin, Pickles! Unfortunately, his sister Popcorn, is not a book lover and receives many swipes from Pickles for her behaviour! Keep up all your good work - but make sure this is not to the detriment of your whelk stall visits!
Thanks to Ann Rennie who went over the whole project yesterday with me.
I have been shown the London Libraries improvement programme from MLA London and will reserve my views. But the London Libraries Constortia (there are two which overlap- one for stock and one for systems) definitely hold one of the ways forward The work they are doing (and have done) is very important indeed. So is the work from BIC and I was surprised there was no mention of them.
Posted by Perkins at 1:23 PM | Comments (1)
Respect for people who use libraries, people who campaign for their survival and improvement and normal people who believe they are important.
You don't have to be a library user to believe that libraries are important. I don't have to go to school to believe that schools and what is taught in them is a matter in which I should take an interest. One doesn't have to be a regular or an occasional book reader to know that public libraries are a key to the values of the world we live in.
Many people, all over the country, campaign or argue for the survival of the public libraries and for their improvement. There are user groups and campaign groups all over the place. Their access to information is limited to whatever the local council or national quangoes will let them see or find out, but they do find out what they can and they try to use it to persuade their local and national representatives to listen and to act to fight for what they understand to be the essence of the service. Sometimes they gather when they hear of threatened closures, sometimes when book funds are cut, sometimes to hear what plans are being made for new developments or changes. Sometimes they just write, somtimes they just gather statistics.
They aren't mad. On the contrary they are exceptionally sane, wise, articulate and informed. One wouldn't expect otherwise.
And they do criticise councils and government with full justification for what has happened to public libraries. There isn't a minister who in my memory hasn't conceded that the public library service needs improving.
So I object vehemently when the MLA puts out messages like this
- From Andrew Motion, chair of the MLA this week .... "We also have an Action Plan for public libraries and we are supporting the DCMS review. Libraries occasionally draw criticism from some ill-informed commentators, many of whom when asked, can’t remember when they last set foot in one. But every single day, fantastic work and developments are occurring in libraries right across the country."
and this from the MLA website at present: " The MLA will have a pivotal role in shaping the modernisation review of libraries announced this morning. The review will build upon our library action plan and will set out a 21st century roadmap for the public library service.
It gives us all the opportunity to build a public library service that meets the aspirations of current and future generations, with more flexible opening and services aimed at the user. Many libraries are already delivering exciting and engaging services, often unnoticed by London-centric commentators, and are at the hub of their local communities. However, more needs to be done and our message is that young people should find ‘library-space’ as welcoming, relevant and as engaging as ‘cyber-space’"
Those people who criticise are entitled to do so. It doesn't matter whether they write long articles or make brief comments in newspapers. They have a view to which government officers like Mr Motion and Mr Clare are paid to note. They pay their taxes. If Mr Motion and his colleagues took time to listen to what they said and understand why they say it, they would be the wiser and more useful for it.
It would help so much if these people at the MLA and in other responsible positions could show just a tiny bit more respect for those people who, unpaid, advocate with passion for public libraries. Theirs a is a strength that should be used, not derided.
This country is not yet run entirely for the benefit of people in government -- there is still an electorate and it is not so stupid and downtrodden that it will endure nonsense for ever.
Yesterday I was shown an immense document about the improvement of libraries in London. It is heartening to see time and effort put into such a worthwhile subject, but within it I could find no trace or attempt of anyone to talk to the network of library user groups in London to ask them for their views. It would have been such a sensible thing to do. Of course we wait to see if the DCMS makes a similar ommission in its current review. Let's hope not.
Posted by Perkins at 9:23 AM | Comments (1)
December 7, 2008
Public libraries are....
"Public libraries are an important national resource with a vital role to play in establishing, nurturing and nourishing people’s love of reading. Libraries also play an important part in life-long and informal learning providing access to books as well as other reading material whether on paper or, via the People’s Network, in digital form. Libraries, together with their staff, are a trusted civic amenity—highly valued, safe public spaces and storehouses of advice, information and knowledge—without which the citizens of Britain would be very much the poorer.
The public library system in Britain costs about £1 billion per year, the vast bulk of which is provided by local authorities who must deliver an efficient and comprehensive service in their areas. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, acting through the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council—and in partnership with many others—has responsibility for the oversight of the service and the promotion of its quality. After some casting about, the Department has now settled on a system whereby libraries are measured against ten national standards. However, we believe that this list represents rather limited ambitions which, even so, are not being fulfilled. The top ten standards do not refer to extended opening hours, book loans, access or material for people with disabilities, value for money from the service or free access to the internet (all of which we regard as important). In addition, crucially, the standards that are in place are not backed up with effective mechanisms for ensuring continuous improvement or even simple compliance.
Therefore, the snapshot of library services revealed by our evidence is unsurprising. There were pockets of excellence but, overall, there were equal proportions of satisfactory and less than adequate services across the country. The data submitted to us showed that overall spending was up but, within this total, spending on books was down; as were loans of books and overall visitor numbers. We regard a situation in which core performance indicators, and gross throughput, are falling—but overall costs are rising—as a signal of a service in distress. This must be reversed.
Our key recommendations are designed to focus attention on libraries’ fundamental role in promoting reading and we seek to distinguish clearly between core functions and desirable add-ons (prioritising resources in favour of the former). There need to be far stronger links between national library standards (which themselves need improving) and effective mechanisms to encourage and enable library services to meet, if not surpass, them. We also wish to see an action plan for the refurbishment of the nation’s library buildings; one that includes clear indications of where the necessary resources, estimated at somewhere between £240 million and £650 million, will come from."
March 2005-- The Culture Select Committee of the House of Commons.
Posted by Perkins at 9:21 AM | Comments (4)
December 5, 2008
Intervene in Lambeth
The Minister of State for the Arts who has reponsbility for public libraries (Barbara Follett) should, in my view, intervene and take over the operation of public libraries in Lambeth.
Both the MLA and the DCMS should recommend the same, but if they haven't got the detail, we have it here and so do the user groups in Lambeth.
In particular the straw that should have broken amy camel's back is the ludicrous behaviour of Lambeth council during a recent Audit Commission inspection.
There is much talk elsewhere about a law which seeks to prevent 'misconduct in public office' and it is about time somebody applied it to the officers around the country who are supposed to manage the public library service. Lambeth would be a good place to start.
Posted by Perkins at 8:58 AM | Comments (0)
December 3, 2008
No way forward
It is exactly 4 years ago this week that Andrew Lord Macintosh, then Minister for libraries, in response to 'Who's in Charge' a report in which were highlighted huge inefficiencies in the way that the library service works, called for an efficiency review. Consultants (PKF) were briefed in detail as to where to look and what to look for.
The diagnosis was that 20% of the problem lay in the practices of the suppliers, as called for by libraries, and 80% lay inside the operation of the public libraries themselves. It was to be found in both back room and front room operation.
As PKF began to analyse what this was all about and how it could be addressed, the Society of Chief Librarians drew themselves on to the tips of their toes and blew as hard as they collectively could to prevent any candle light being shone on the internal workings of libraries. They dismissed all effective work on the 80%. The remaining 20% was tackled in two parts-- the suppliers engaged in fearsome competition and removed the first 10%. The MLA undertook one of the most ludicrous investigations in history called 'Better Stock Better Libraries' and after several years and a million pounds of wasted fees on consultants (mostly Price Waterhouse Cooper) absolutely nothing was done on the other 10%. 90% of the waste was not addressed and most of it still remains. It is about £200m per annum in the whole public library service of the UK. The ten percent improvement can be seen in the improved discounts now available to public libraries which have increased the purchasing power of the book funds by about £20-25m .
That remaining £200m per annum could have been used to restore book collections and buildings. After 4 years the service would now be in something like decent shape.
This description of the work done is all true except for one small glimmer, one tiny ember, which was, during the programme, the engagement of BIC, the book industry communications body who have worked so effectively for the publishing world in the last two decades. BIC, used properly, could make huge inroads. Their project became called E4 libraries. That implied using standard electronic communication to prevent replicated management in 200 councils. It applies to every back room activity from placing orders, to lending, to cataloguing to the tags used in the new Radio Frequency identification chips (RFID). If there could be a recognised standard for the messages in all these and in other book servicing, then each of 200 councils would not have to invent and sustain their own. It is the way communication works in all other aspects of books and journals. It is those inventions of systems and processes which cause most of the wasted effort across the different councils. (Each council has a cataloguer ... etc)
BIC were invited to assess the situation which they have done in a number of excellent reports by Simon Edwards. However, like so many reports and initiatives before them such good work on its own is not sufficient to bring change. For any one council to achieve the savings and improvements that it can requires a detailed work programme to be worked out (probably with BIC to assist in writing it) and a commitment from senior council mangement to make the changes identified. In other words it is very important for BIC to be employed, either by the MLA or by a collective of councils to see their work through to fruition.
Without the continuation of this programme in place and working actively we are not making progress and the public deserve some after all this time.
Posted by Perkins at 9:29 AM | Comments (0)
December 2, 2008
Public Libraries and the Net Book Agreement
It is now more than ten years since the Net Book Agreement was ended in the UK. For years an argument had raged, which even now goes on in other European countries, that to allow free pricing of books would destroy independent book shops and have a serious effect on the quality of publishing.
In the event I now believe that the destruction of the British Public Library service has had a far greater effect on what is being published than ending the net book agreement.
Posted by Perkins at 8:42 PM | Comments (0)
A school library
Congratulations to David Campbell, publisher of the Everyman's Library for this excellent letter to Lynn Asquith, head teacher of the Meadows School in Chesterfield which is making its librarian redundant and closing its library.
(And thanks to Alan Gibbons for sending a copy)
Dear Ms Asquith,
I was surprised and shocked to read of the decision to close the school library in your school.
Great books are the DNA of our civilisation. Surely all children should have access to such books as they are growing up or when they are at school? I donated 250 books from Everyman’s Library to every state secondary school in the UK, including Meadows Community School, between 1998-2005. Authors ranged from Homer to Roald Dahl, Raymond Chandler and Garcia Marquez.
Clearly many pupils will ignore these books and not use them, but if one or two pupils, possibly from homes where there are no books on the shelves in every school in every year (and these books will last 50 or more years) have their lives and horizons enlarged this gift will have been worthwhile. The letters we received suggest that many more are benefiting. Many of us were
lucky to find a teacher or school librarian who pointed us to books well outside the curriculum. To deny this service to pupils seems madness.
If you persist in this extraordinary and deeply wrong decision please will you return the Everyman Millennium Library to Grantham Book Services, Alma Park Industrial Estate, Isaac Newton Way, Grantham, Lincs NG31 9SD, since it was a condition of this gift that you would display the books in your library. We are besieged by schools who were ineligible as well as by
schools in Africa who would like these books and they will be recycled.
Yours sincerely,
David Campbell
Copies to:
Philip Pullman
Ed Balls MP
Beverley Hughes MP
Jim Knight MP
Paul Holmes MP
Baroness Morgan of Drefelin
Sarah McCarthy-Fry MP
Posted by Perkins at 6:19 PM | Comments (3)