« SYRUP sponge | Main | The Department of Culture, Media and Support »
September 26, 2009
London Libraries Change Programme
I am so appalled by the way this programme is being conducted, I offer, here, the method that should be being used.
There are two points from which to start. Firstly, we have to say what improvements and changes the public will find to be helpful. Secondly, there are only certain ways to make changes happen and we have to understand and use those.
Change in councils only happens if the Cabinet of the council wants it to. Therefore the first step in the change programme is to bring together councillors who have responsibility for the service and discuss with them the issues. The discussion should be about what the public wants to see change (and not what librarians think they ought to do.) If there is no consensus - then there has to be market research. From that group of councillors we should seek out some pathfinding councils who prepared to give priority to improvement and help them to do it. Councillors have got to learn that their officers, the chief librarians need direction and sometimes need to be told firmly what to do. Officers often say that things can't be done, or that they are too expensive, when this is not the case. Until councillors really grasp this, in public libraries, we will not make progress.
The project should not be about reports from consultants at all, or committees of librarians-- but should be about high level sensible, well informed discussion among those councillors whom the public pay to provide the service and actions to make those changes. That is what the Minister, or the Mayor, should have been encouraging and facilitating. It needed either one or both of them to get involved, instead of riding bicycles and sanctioning masses of money for what amount to tea parties.
For this programme to work, someone had to be in charge of it. At present there is no one.
Too many times this blog has called foul on a project or an initiative and all those involved have moaned miserably about Perkins behaviour, yet one year later that project has failed and disappeared: Better Stock Better Libraries; the LLDA; Love Libraries; The 24 hour library; Framework; Regional offices of the MLA; Blueprint-- to name but a few .. LLCP is heading exactly the same way as all these. In fact it may well already have arrived there. It is probably in the over- filled dustbin of Government stupidity already.
Prove me wrong. Communicate progress. If you can.
Posted by Perkins at September 26, 2009 9:39 AM