« December 2008 | Main | February 2009 »
January 30, 2009
Brighton Blooming
Kolly Kibber writes from the West Pier
"The ever-vigilant readers in Brighton and Hove have won another victory.
A recent meeting of the authority’s Full Council seethed with talk of books. On behalf of keen readers two councillors submitted a petition each, from separate wards, each requesting that the Council open Hove’s celebrated Carnegie Library on a Monday.
Two hours later, the Council agreed to this. This is the effect that readers have gained since saving Hove’s Carnegie Library and got Brighton’s Jubilee Library open on Sundays.
Meanwhile there had also been handed in by different councillors another six petitions, from all parts of the city. These made it clear that readers want the branch libraries not to be sidelined but to have more stock and longer opening hours. Many are open only three days a week (and, even then, close at lunchtime). One Councillor quoted the late John Updike's view of libraries. There is also great concern that in Brighton the Jubilee Library’s scant shelving is a waste of precious space, especially as there are 256 electric sockets in the floor which are unused but designed for lights to illuminate from above many rows of as-yet non-existent shelves. There was general disappointment that a Question about this was brushed aside without an answer by the Council.
The eight petitions, however, coincided with the Council’s debating a delayed three-year Library Plan. Although the Plan is obliged to go through a box-ticking exercise so that the authority is seen to be making the right noises about “hubs” and certain types of books, the delay - for fuller consultation - meant that the authority again became aware of the public clamour for more books and longer hours. Crucially, the Plan has been amended to make this its central thrust, and all the special interests are a natural part of that, as all subjects should be in a well-stocked library.
This provides hope that, before too long, the Jubilee Library will have proper shelving, the branch libraries more stock and hours - and Hove will also open on Monday mornings as well as the promised afternoons.
The great lesson from this is that readers should continually make their feelings known and use every means of keeping the subject uppermost. A civilised variant on waterboarding, one might say."
Posted by Perkins at 6:23 PM | Comments (1)
January 27, 2009
Eastham library on The Wirral
"The decision to close Eastham Library came as a complete shock as it had not originally been on the closure list. Apparently, it was chosen because the people of Eastham had not made any protest. Of course they hadn't protested - there was no apparent need to do so. In fact, many Eastham people supported Bromborough's petition.
The only facility provided for all the people of Eastham is the library - we do not have anything else. Whether the new hub is to be in Bromobourgh or Bebington - the people of Eastham will have to travel. Is it reasonable to expect the elderly and mothers with young children, without a car, to use public transport to obtain the same benefit as they have from the library at Eastham?"A Worswick
Posted by Perkins at 3:06 PM | Comments (2)
January 24, 2009
A letter from Irby on The Wirral
I have two children we live in Irby. If Irby library closes the children will be without a library. I think this is disgusting. I have no transport. It is also part of the village. It should not be allowed to happen.
L Ashcroft
Posted by Perkins at 9:49 AM | Comments (1)
Warming letter from Shirley Burnham
Shirley is not related to the Secretary of State for Culture, but she is an articulate voice for public libraries firmly focussed on saving the library in Old Town, Swindon.
She has a cheering letter in The Independent this morning
"As someone trying to save a much-loved branch library in Swindon's historic Old Town, I have discovered a great network of people working to keep libraries throughout the country. I am horrified that Wirral Council plans to close half its libraries. But it is heartening that many people are writing to Andy Burnham to call in that decision, thanks to the Libraries Act, which enables the Secretary of State to intervene when a local authority fails to provide a comprehensive and efficient service.
Shirley Burnham
Swindon, Wiltshire "
Posted by Perkins at 9:42 AM | Comments (5)
January 20, 2009
Please write to Andy Burnham, the Minister
It is unclear from the news reports whether 11 or 15 libraries will close in the Wirral out of the 24 that are currently open
Nevertheless it is clear that in closing even 11 the council is behaving wholly irresponsibly and that as a 'Library Authority' it is required by law to provide a comprehensive and efficient service to the 320,000 people who are residents of the area of their council and others who work, visit or study there.
The 1964 Libraries Act, still in force, explains these obligations and also determines that the Secretary of State responsible shall obtain such information as is needed to superintend the service and be assured that the authority complies. He or she has the power, if there is evidence or concern of non compliance, to intervene in an appropriate manner. This power was used once before in the case of Derbyshire where an independent judge was appointed and made recommendations with which the council was obliged to comply.
Ministers, normally unwilling to interfere with local council management, are more likely to act if they receive a substantial number of requests from the public to do so, particularly from people affected by the proposals. The more letters, the more likely is an improvement
Please therefore, if you believe that Wirral council appears not to be fulfilling its library duties, write to
Right Hon Andy Burnham MP
Secretary of State for Culture
Department of Culture, Media and Sports
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
and ask him to exercise his power to intervene in the management of the library service in The Wirral
Posted by Perkins at 12:12 PM | Comments (2)
Encouraging people to use libraries
This is on the librarians chat page this morning
'We no longer ask for any proof of address in Sunderland for anyone joining the library and we do not seem to have had any noticeable increase in the number of overdues we send out.'
Posted by Perkins at 9:28 AM | Comments (1)
January 17, 2009
Good Library News in Camden
Perkins has made no secret of her living in the London Borough of Camden and readers of the blog will know (by putting Camden in the search box to the right) of the hardships of library users and readers in what is one of the most expensive library authorities in the world
However this morning's post brings good news in the form of a letter addressed as follows
To Miss Perkins
Twin Towers,
Roof Tops, Camden etc
Dear Miss Perkins, Library Member
From 19 January all libraries in Camden will open for longer (sic). Last year we asked people who live in Camden how we could improve library services. People told us they wanted libraries to be open longer- especially in the evening.
For information about our extended hours at your local library visit our website at www.camden.gov.uk/libraries .
...
Yours sincerely
Michael Clarke, Head of libraries, Camden council
Fantastic news, well done Mr Clarke and Mrs Ray, the councillor responsible. Our library is now to be open from 10 in the morning until 6 pm in the evening. Wow, watch out Selfridges- was it 9-5 before? . It is still closed on 4 days per week, but I'm sure you are working on that, too . London in the 21st century and all that. Let's hope. And what do you spend £4.5m staff cost on, if it is not to open these libraries?
Posted by Perkins at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2009
Books in public libraries
By a regular correspondent.....
'The trouble is that books are treated as consumables and paid for from "revenue" budgets.
If they were regarded as "capital" items, perhaps they would be better-chosen and -valued by our librarians, and more space would be found for them.
The worship of the "new", expressed by Tessa Jowell's Public Library Service Standard 10 and its legacy, has meant that the shelves have become conveyor-belts.
No longer can you show your children the beautiful variety of past bindings designed to last 50 or 100 years.
Books represent our cultural capital and don’t need to be drain on our revenue!'
Posted by Perkins at 10:05 AM | Comments (1)
January 11, 2009
Clean the light fittings-- for goodness sake
I am in correspondence with a senior journalist preparing for their response to whatever the DCMS decides to say in their review.
The discussion moved into a mode in which I wrote that Borders is a model for a public library- if you added quite a lot of quiet space for private study (and put computers on the desks etc)
Compare and contrast, Borders and a public library-- and see if you don't end up saying- well, in Borders at least the light fittings have been washed and non working light bulbs replaced in lving memory, which you cannot say about most large public libraries. It makes SUCH a difference - and please don't blame your council. Get on and DO IT.
Posted by Perkins at 7:08 PM | Comments (4)
Alan Gibbon's Blog
Very good entry tonight on Alan's blog.
The shame is that there is no way when a council gets down this kind of path, to get them to listen to common sense. They clearly aren't very good at running public libraries and don't have the honest humility to ask what to do.
Unfortunately we are going to see a lot of this. One lesson has to be that just because you are elected doesn't mean you are good at managing public services. The councillors in the Wirral need help.
Posted by Perkins at 6:22 PM | Comments (0)
January 9, 2009
Space for books in libraries
This comment is from Naomi Parker this evening, in response to a comment by author Susan Hill a while ago
"You're so right to protest, Susan. I don't know who is to blame, but the space for books at my local library shrinks all the time. My particular bugbear is that they throw out books all the time, selling them for ridiculous prices. These are often great books in good condition which are often the sort one wants available but doesn't have shelf space to have at home. Libraries could also invite donations of books from customers, but instead have a very wasteful policy. On the plus side, they are pretty good at getting a book for you - even buying it - if you request one they haven't got. It might arrive in weeks - but has been known to take 9 months!"
Posted by Perkins at 9:41 PM | Comments (0)
January 6, 2009
Votes welcome
In the Bookseller poll !! (at the bottom of the page)
The poll closed on Friday afternoon and nobody knows what happened, I'm sure we will hear in the next few days. In the end it was a frenzy of votes between those supporting this campaign and those expressing sympathy for Bertrams wholesalers in the UK who are fighting for survival in a financial circumstance which is none of their own making. Many thanks indeed to all who voted-- from all over the world I am being told- whatever the result, the support for this campaign to put books back in public libraries has been fantastic and should send a clear message to all have responsbility to make this happen
And a big hello to Perkins' new friends in Ilford Central Library. Congratulations to Ros, Gareth, Nick and all there on your lovely library and many thanks for your welcome !
Posted by Perkins at 6:49 PM | Comments (0)
January 5, 2009
The Times Newspaper and books in libraries
There are a number of reasons why this blog has strong links with The Times Newspaper
Here is one of the reasons why-- well done to them
Posted by Perkins at 12:22 PM | Comments (3)
Essex libraries are a mess
From a library user in Essex
Essex Libraries are in a mess and nobody seems to care. My local library is selling off books as though they were competing with Woolworths' final day sale. I've picked up a few gems, but that does mean that there are fewer available for research. I cannot use my library, which is one of the largest in the county because the books it does retain are so out of date. I tend to nip over to Redbridge, which is on a bus route from where I live in Loughton. Ilford's research library is excellent but I shouldn't have to go out of county to find the books I need. I do use the Essex online services, but whenever I look for a particular book it is usually over at Chelmsford or Southend and it may as well be in Scotland for all the good that is to me. Interlibrary loan does not work terribly well and the local history section has also suffered the same fate as other books and many have been sold off or sent to Chelmsford. Why is everything at Chelmsford?
A word about the staff too - they are mostly helpful but they are not librarians and they do not have the research skills to help users undertaking serious research. I watched one trying to help a someone with a family history question and she had no idea where to start - other than recommend the woman to go to the Essex Record Office. The topic of the research was a Victorian author, but the library assistant had clearly never heard of her even though she was the JK Rowling of her day. Had the assistant known a little more about books, she would have suggested looking in a biographical dictionary.
Posted by Perkins at 10:03 AM | Comments (6)
January 4, 2009
Hampshire conference
Here is some positive publicity for the conference in February in Hampshire.
As I said over Christmas, I believe we know enough and have sufficient resources to make big improvements now in our library service. The people who hold the levers are leaders of local councils. That's what this conference is all about.
We should improve 700 libraries each year for the next 5 years. That's the aim. Each of them needs longer hours, better stock and a clean up and refit. We are looking for councils to join the movement. Any takers among councillors? Would CILIP or Unison like to join in? Or anyone else (700 means only 4 or 5 per council on average-- it's easy to do.)
Posted by Perkins at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
January 2, 2009
Four libraries are to be closed in Southwark
Southwark currently has 13 libraries including the sadly ruined one in Newington Causeway where the council needlessly closed the beautiful reading room and reference library last year. This action will reduce the number to nine.
The budget for libraries in Southwark was £7.5m in the last published figures. With that kind of money there is absolutely no need to close anything.
Does anyone know where these 4 are?
Here is the story on Saturday in the South London Press.
Posted by Perkins at 9:09 PM | Comments (2)
January 1, 2009
Are we about to see the reformation of CILIP?
I hope so. It has seemed to me, over the years that radical improvement was needed in the public library service, that the one body that stood as blocking doorkeeper was CILIP. They could have encouraged reform and change on so many occasions and each time they have fumbled the opportunity. They have until now been unable to give the leadership that they were in such a strong position to provide. As James Christie, who is one of their most experienced members, with characteristic lucidity, points out in a comment below "They should just start with 'a public statement that they like books and no question about it... and (make) a ban on the use of jargon'. James so often points out the profession appears obsessed with the pursuit of new and transient technologies instead of concentrating on the immediate needs of readers to have access to books and other available material.
The public should be assured that the trustees want CILIP to start acting like a body which genuinely exists as a charity in the pursuit improving the library service to its library clients. In the case of public libraries that means books, buildings and knowledgeable staff there to help the public if they ask for help. We want to hear that the newly reorganised CILIP council wants to play its role in improvement and to promote the value and use of public libraries and literacy in the population. We should encourage them to use their experience and knowledge as librarians to assist councils to make change, and not to prevent it or hide from what it means.
Quite right. Bring it on quickly.
Posted by Perkins at 4:19 PM | Comments (1)