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July 19, 2009
Swindon
Among the many sensible suggestions made by the 2005 Kaufman Culture Select Committee on public libraries was one which said that there ought to be a simple charter to define what library service people are entitled to
In the case of Swindon, it seemed to me, such a charter would have provided, at the outset of the long argument, a straightforward answer. The questions were totally simple. viz, for example
1. Is Old Town a community of sufficient size to need a public library? Answer - Yes-- as plain as day to anyone who went there, or looked up the size of the resident population
2. Do the council allocate sufficient of their funds to provide a library in a community of this size? Answer - Yes . they allocate much more than the national average. Money was never a problem
3. Supplementary -- if the current library isn't used as much as an average library would be is there an obvious reason ? Answer -- Yes , the library is in a fabulous position right in the heart of the town, but it is terribly small and is hardly ever open.. Solution - make it bigger and open it longer: those factors make a difference.
The people of the town are entitled to answers of that nature. What they shouldn't have to endure are reports, from the council or its advisers, written in incomprehensible language explaining in the most supercilious and pompous manner the complicated structure of local government management - which in the end just appear like an excuse for not doing the job properly.
The realities of the public library service are terribly simple-- and it is time that politicians and highly paid government officers pulled their fingers out of the plug hole next to which they appear to stand all the time, and gave the public the service and the value for which they pay and to which they are entitled -- all of them.
Posted by Perkins at July 19, 2009 8:50 PM
Comments
May I just make this comment about public libraries and the difficulties they face. I am County Librarian in Galway and we are facing many difficulties during this recession, including the challenge of keeping open some of our smaller libraries.
I wish to quote Edna O'Brien the famous Irish author who gave us "August is a Wicked Month" and other great novels.
Speaking on Saturday 22nd September 2007 Edna O'Brien said:
"I was walking down Baggot Street not too long ago and there's a big poster on a hoarding for a big car, a posh car, costing thousands. What does the caption say: enjoy the begrudgery. It is the notion now, not only the notion, but the absolute belief that fame, money, and total indulgence is what people should be given. And that's everywhere.
"That is why I think, and I will continue to think it, that literature, great literature and real literature, is one of the most thought-provoking, helpful and, in some form, spiritual thing that's there. And it is on the decline, it is being marginalised...day-in and day-out.
"Reading a book, or a poem, or seeing a great piece of drama, is a private transaction between two people - the creator and the receiver....well that's gone out the window now, people think you can fling down language on a page, write dirt, or whatever, and it does sell. If you look at the best-seller list, it is either celebrity or whatever.
"Mediocrity is everywhere.
"It is hard enough to write. It is purgatoria and inferno to write a book, and to keep writing." end of quote.
Yes, "literature, great literature and real literature, is one of the most thought-provoking, helpful and, in some form, spiritual thing that's there." And that is why every village should have a library. Every village should have a community space to house the most thought-provoking and spiritual things that's there, and of course, rather than just have the books on the shelves, there should be local programmes to discuss and encouarge usage.
Pat McMahon,
County Librarian,
Galway,
Ireland
Posted by: Pat McMahon at July 20, 2009 4:39 PM