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February 22, 2009
Richmond slashes its Book Fund
Word reaches Perkins tonight that the London Borough of Richmond is to cut its book fund by £100k from March
This is a terrible shame as under the previous regime in Richmond, and two fine chief librarians, the library service had gradually transformed itself into one of the best in London.
If this uneccessary cut is allowed to take place it will set back several years of progress. Of course a cursory glance at the figures reveals that there are plenty of other parts of the budget which could be cut without having any visible effect on the service to the public.
Posted by Perkins at 8:25 PM | Comments (2)
February 20, 2009
Hampshire libraries conference next Wednesday
Another thank you to Hampshire County Council for the thought and work that is going to the conference about public libraries next Wednesday in the ancient capital of England-- Winchester.
I am told that the BBC might be there to cover it, but ingeniously the council have set up a Twitter site for the day.
Twittering is not a welcome idea to a small cat asleep on the sofa-- I shall have to wake up and look out of the window (like the chief executive of SYRUP)
Posted by Perkins at 9:19 AM | Comments (1)
Joan Bakewell
Joan Bakewell has written a very good and comprehending piece in The Times today.
Posted by Perkins at 8:36 AM | Comments (1)
February 15, 2009
Dewey
There is a long article in the magazine section of Mail on Sunday today about Dewey the American library cat in Spencer, Iowa, about whom a book has been written and a film is to be made.
Good for library cats everywhere.. We are important, even if a little sleepy sometimes
Posted by Perkins at 7:06 PM | Comments (3)
February 11, 2009
Ah Lambeth!
(Apologies to Mr No Brain -- I accidentally cut your comment, please could you send it again? -- but here is one for a chuckle, although I am sure you have seen it already. By the way Sunday March 8, 7.30 in the Wigmore Hall - Beethoven, Rachmaninov and Britten, on the cello...)
Ah Lambeth: in the Evening Standard tonight
Readers of the blog will recall that for their Audit Commission inspection Lambeth council, which we frequently report as having the worst public library service in England, opened a number of phantom libraries so that on the day the inspector asked how many there were, they could report more than they normally have.
Today Katherine Barney reports:
'Council Used Own Staff To Boost Library Numbers'
A council tried to boost its position in government rankings by getting its own workers to sign up for its library service, it was claimed today.
Officers at Lambeth allegedly concocted a plan to encourage staff to join libraries so that the Audit Commission would give a glowing comprehensive performance assessment of the borough.
Most emails obtained under the Freedom of Information Act referred to the plan as a "CPA quick win" , but Julian Ellerby, director of campaigns and communications said "I would like to sell this to staff as 'we care about you therefore we want to do this for you'- my nervousness is that with the inspection coming up, it might look a little bit like a last minute effort."
Opposition Liberal Democrat councillor Jeremy Clyne said: "It's incredible the amount of effort that went into getting a few more readers so as to improve the council's rating, when staff should have been spending their time improving the actual service."
Posted by Perkins at 7:10 PM | Comments (1)
February 10, 2009
Wirral council and democracy
There is a coven of librarians who claim that somehow public libraries play an important role in 'democracy'. This is Blair speak which means government paid officials don't have to take any notice of what ordinary people think and want as long as they can proclaim their attachment to some nonsensical government agenda.
However there is a connection between public libraries and democracy and it is this. The clunk heads who put themselves up for election in the Wirral as councillors and who have subsequently appointed themselves as the ruling cabinet, and have just agreed with themselves to close 11 public libraries, should never never ever be elected again.
If there is any doubt about whom we are talking. Here are their names and their photographs
Posted by Perkins at 1:36 PM | Comments (1)
February 6, 2009
Animateurs
Apologies for a lack of entries in the past few days. The blog now receives correspondence from many countries and I am grateful to Pat Macmahon for this entry which is a letter to his colleagues which he has very kindly shared. I so wish councillors everywhere could read this. He explains his role at the end....
"On Wednesday of last week, as part of a seminar on public libraries, I found myself in the public library in Rath Cairn in County Meath. I really liked this small library project, and some important messages emerged from the visit.
I am very fond of a quotation which I came across a few years ago which says: "even in the smallest town the public library is the institution which is building a sense of local community as we enter this new century."
I saw clear evidence of the truth of this statement during the visit to the Rath Cairn library last Wednesday night.
One could sense immediately that this is a library which is alive and welcoming, and in Treasa Ui Mhairtín the Rath Cairn library has a wonderful Branch Librarian. One could see that under her skilful direction that the library is giving a real service.
The Rath Cairn library functions as a place of education and information, and as a cultural and community centre for Rath Cairn.
A librarian wrote in 1876 that we should “receive readers with something of the cordiality displayed by an old-time inn-keeper.”
On Wednesday night the Rath Cairn Branch Librarian, Treasa Ui Mhairtín, stood in her library and welcomed us with warmth, honesty, poise, affection, a sense of scholarship, and knowledge. As I stood and watched her, I could tell that she was clearly conveying something. And as the evening went on, and as she introduced members of the local community and the musicians in An Bradán Feasa, I understood that what she was conveying was a sense of civics and of citizenship and of community.
And, mercifully, there was an absence of the vocabulary of business in everything she uttered. There was no corporate speak, no advertising speak
Up to a few years ago those who ran libraries defined them in their own terms, and defended them by being knowledgeable about books and reading and literacy and learning and local studies. Now the words and concepts of corporate management have swept in. Even people who read and study in libraries are becoming known as clients or customers.
Public education institutions such as a library are created to provide enlightenment, assistance, and care. When they take on the same management and accounting terminology as private companies, then there is a disconnect.
Local government and library seminars these days are awash with terms such as customer care, good practice, strategies, performance indicators, delivery of output etc. etc. etc.
In such seminars one rarely hears word such as “liberate” or “humanity.”
It was refreshing, even energizing, to meet and listen to Ms. Ui Mhairtín last Wednesday night. It was very clear to me that Rath Cairn library is a place where people are valued, welcomed and encouraged.
Her role reminds me of the term “Animateur” as used in an old Council of Europe Report which I have to hand. The work of a good animateur affects the totality of life in the community, from town-hall to corner shop, from pub to factory floor. A good community animateur, or an animateur in a library, will enable people to develop resources within themselves - powers of expression, creativity and communication – independent of market and commercial processes.
We need more Animateurs - derived from the Latin word “anima” meaning spirit, breath, life or soul - in our libraries, and less of the sterile language of the corporate world.
It was great to see first hand the work of Treasa Ui Mhairtín, Ciarán Mangan and the Meath County Library Service who have clearly put the Rath Cairn Library at the heart of the community.
Thanks,
Pat McMahon,
County Librarian,
Galway County Library."
Posted by Perkins at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)
February 1, 2009
Library closures in Argyll and Bute
Thank you to the astute commentator who has spotted this threatened closure of a number of libraries in Western Scotland mentioned in the Helensburgh Advertiser
Help and support are on offer if anyone can contact the residents or MSP's etc.
Posted by Perkins at 1:32 PM | Comments (0)
CIPFA alert caution!!
This is a message to all those who look out for CIPFA figures and use the data, as I do.
Last year there was a change in accounting convention which meant that 'Capital Charges' were removed from the total of net expenditure in the calculation of 'Net Council Expenditure'
That made it look as if the cost of the service had gone down, but it was misleading to think that.
As soon as the figures come out (hopefully this week) I shall produce charts which remove the capital charge from previous years, so there is a valid, like for like, comparison.
Posted by Perkins at 12:37 PM | Comments (4)