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May 14, 2009
Head in the clouds
Last week I was invited to one of Lyn Brown's seminars for her review of public libraries. The talk was about the effectiveness of different government departments involved with public libraries. I was honoured to be invited and enjoyed the discussion, which was interesting and could have gone on for a long time. On Saturday she made a good speech about advocating libraries in the corridors of power. As we all know, the DCMS is similarly engaged in a review which, apparently, has been going on since last July. Unison published a review in January. In the Wirral the lady appointed to have a look at the council's decision to close a lot of libraries will doubtless publish a report quite soon. This will make 30 substantial national reviews in 10 years.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon in a very friendly and progressive council discussing the issues that face them: how to get books on time when a film comes out, how to communicate properly with with each other when they are working shifts, how to get the council IT support department to look after the library computers that break down, how to make sure that the entrance of the libraries are clean and smart at all times, who should look after which displays... and so on. We were talking about the basic operational details that anyone who serves the public needs to get right. It was a really good, purposeful, positive and useful discussion. Who gives a fig about national reviews? No one has, so far.
Posted by Perkins at May 14, 2009 8:14 AM
Comments
Sorry, but just WHY were they having to discuss issues that, as you quite clearly state (and which they should know) are "basic operational details"???
Shouldn't they already KNOW "how to communicate properly with with each other when they are working shifts"? Most librarians I know are reasonably intelligent people - so why are things like this having to be discussed?
Posted by: Exit, pursued by a Bear at May 15, 2009 2:44 PM
How interesting-- this was a group of the most senior library staff working in one of the best library services in the country, freely discussing among themselves the issues that they want to improve. Better communication between themselves and their colleagues was most definitely one of the items they put near the top of their priorities. That's not bad-- it's good, in my view. This is how service to the public improves.
Good service means good teamwork. I recently, unfortunately, has to spend some time in an NHS hospital in fairly dire straits. Not only were the doctors and medical staff incredibly competent at their work, but it was remarkable how accurately all the people in the wards communicated information to each other. My situation was very serious and I was in poor condition, but I was always told exactly what was happening, what would happen next, when certain things were being done. I never got a different story from one person to another, from one shift to another. It was deeply reassuring both for me and my family, and incredibly well managed (thanks to The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead! and I'm fine now).
It surprises me that it surprises you.
Posted by: perkins at May 15, 2009 8:18 PM