There are, nowadays, only a handful suppliers, most of them are owned by the two national wholesalers. The value of the supply contracts is £90m per annum

You don't have to be too experienced to know that such a level of discount narrows the field of books that can be selected by wholesalers and suppliers to a very few new publications and a wide range of remainder stock. It is not hard to see what might be happening to make these contracts profitable. It is not possible to work comprehensively or appropriately at such a level of discount, as any small publisher will confirm,

If this is true then it represents a major breach of public trust and a total failure of professional conduct. It needs to be investigated, urgently and whatever malpractice is in hand should be stopped immediately

This is really serious.

Councils and suppliers always claim that these deals are subject to what they call 'commercial confidentiality' -- they should not be-- they should be open to proper public scrutiny otherwise situations of this nature will occur.

The shame is that the possibly virtuous idea of 'supplier selection' for public libraries has been completely misunderstood and distorted into this nonsense.

The problem with the libraries in Hertfordshire is that they open at such difficult times. They need to adapt and move into the 21st century

In this specific instance what leadership means is

- a professional appraisal of the issues and the costs
- a discussion with those responsible for both the service and its budgets (ie local councillors that hold the public libraries in their portfolio)
- a clear and evaluated proposal from those in a position to make one
- A concensus among a group of councils with agreement as to what to do, with a timetable. Someone takes responsibility answering to the public for the expenditure of their money.
- A firm hand on progress to ensure each of the appropriate parties does what they have agreed and that the results are what was foreseen
- Completion.
- Public and professional clarity throughout

Where is 'Delay'- the department of libraries and archives? They now have a huge and expensive interplanetary structure of regional engagement officers with cars, secretaries, employees. mobile phones, ibooks and all the things you need to get engaged with. They are claiming vast success rates at persuading local councils to behave and be good-- but I don't see it. Do you? They have missed all these. The library service is falling apart, gently like sand through the fingertips. They appear to be having no effect-- and they are stopping anyone else from doing the same job. Should we shut them down? Now? They are too frightened to answer emails-- Mrs Thatcher had the word "Frit" - she said

Syrup says "SYRUP believe DCMS should commission a formal visioning exercise to determine the mission of the public library service in a modern context."

And 'Delay' - the department of Libraries and Archives says 'There needs to be a greater understanding of people's attitudes to libraries and library usage gearing towards better marketing and tailoring of the service. 'Delay' recommends that funders undertake a survey of users and non-users before deciding to implement new customer strategies.'

So what have the past two years been about then? Why hasn't this work been done during that time? It's not a new idea-- absolutely every normal human mortal told them at the beginning that this was what they needed to do.

Have they been stubbornly refusing to listen?!

Why do they both write in such awful English ... what are 'visioning?' and 'gearing?' - where do these people come from? !!!

Someone, whom I respect, said that libraries fail to sort out their problems, because there is no incentive for them to do so. That's true, in modern parlance, but in old fashioned speak, public service was an honour and a privilege; there was no more need for incentive than the pride and the responsibility it carried. What happened to those?

Roy's statement and the response I have posted on Alan Gibbons' blog are below.

My own view is that not one more penny or minute should be spent on the LLCP until after the council elections in May and a new set of portfolio holding councillors have been appointed. Hopefully by then a new Government will have closed the MLA and appointed a new Libraries Development Agency

I'm afraid that, in the same way as the MLA wasted a million pounds on 'Better Stock, Better Libraries' they have now already wasted £300,000 on the LLCP and yet again we need to know why this happened and stop any more expenditure.

I haven't read it carefully yet, but what I shall look for are the route to

- More, better book stock
- Longer opening hours
- Smarter buildings
- Knowledgeable staff at the counters

However sincere congratulations and best wishes must go to Shirley Burnham. Shirley has fought relentlessly, honestly, intelligently, kindly, firmly, enthusiastically and extremely hard to keep not only her own local library in Old Town, Swindon, but all the libraries of that town. In doing so she has earned respect of journalists across the country, those of us who campaign for the same things, politicians from Swindon Town Hall to 10 Downning Street, and above all the admiration of her neighbours and friends in Swindon. She is a complete star and a very nice person.

Her contribution to the national campaign and debate is second to none. She is well informed, balanced, articulate and persistently right, much to the chagrin of those who should be responsible.

Shirley has announced that she will stand as a candidate for the council in Swindon this year as a liberal democrat. They are jolly lucky to get her-- she is as well informed on library matters as any councillor in the party- and they should use her as an authority and an advocate.

Good luck Shirley!!

The new strategy appears to be not to communicate anything at all. Probably until after the election, so as to avoid any embarrasment to local councillors.

That's wrong! (do I have to explain?) Democracy is about elections at which politicians say beforehand what they will do if they are elected. One of the dafter slogans of the past decade has been about how public libraries contribute to local democracy. Yes, sure, we can see what that means in the library services in London- "Hide everything and shut the door, so we can decide what to do, without the public having a clue."

"What also needs to be recognised is (and never seems to be) in any of the reviews/proposals of government bodies etc. is the pressure on the people providing these services.

Firstly, the library service needs to use less casual staff and temporary contracts (I recognise that some are and always will be needed, but we have about a third to a half of the workforce in our Authority on temporary contracts and in some libraries ALL of the staff are temps/casuals). This is an inherently unstable staffing situation leading to lack of trainig, experience and low pay.

Secondly, the staff need to be trained properly - I know this may sound astoundingly simplistic but believe me in a lot of cases it doesn't happen. (This also comes to the sticky question of losing those staff who have a wealth of experience in libraries and books because they don't want to do computer courses or storytimes - not because they want to be awkward but perhaps because they don't have the confidence in their own abilities).

Finally, and this is the crunch one at this time of 'economic meltdown'- staff need to be paid properly. Forget all the spin about public sector workers getting paid more than the private sector and all those lovely gold plated pensions. After working for 6 years and fulfilling training requirements I get paid £8.72 an hour, (about a pound an hour more than the guy who cleans the library), I work 17.5 hours a week (I will not get a large pension, gold plated or otherwise - tin plated perhaps?). I'm one of the lucky one's because I've got a permanent contract. My point is - I am happy to do anything to make my library a success (and the rest of my colleagues are as dedicated) - but the levels of remuneration for the roles we already carry out are pitiful - looking to the future with self service, digital plinths and staff reductions through "natural wastage" we will be expected to do more with even less.

I hope this doesn't sound too pompous and I know that many other people will be in the same position in their jobs, but I do feel that sometimes the Great Library Debate needs to be turned on its head. Before adding to the list of extra things we need to do let's stop destroying the valuable assets we have in the staff (just as we have done with book stock and buildings).

Thanks for your time."

Even though I have read books all my life, most of which I could not recall if you tried to force me, I know that there is a vast number of authors about whom I know absolutely nothing and that there is a fair chance that I will find someone new, whose books I have never read, whose work I will enjoy and want to read more (or everything) that they have done.

Sometimes I read prize winning stuff. I have read all of Orhan Pamuk's books except the most recent one. You might be surprised (but I'm not) that you can always talk about Pamuk in the Kebab shops round here. Turkish people are more familiar with their own history and literature than people who run fish and chip shops. They know what happened in 1453, where most of us don't. Sometimes (often) I just read the story books that would probably not win prizes. I am reading all Peter Robinson's books at the moment, because they are good stories and they are set in the area where I was a child. I read any of Margaret Yorke's books I can find- because they, too are good stories and I met her and liked her. In December I had a good dose of Katherine Mansfield and of George Orwell. And I have read Hilary Mantel - all from the library.

I also borrow and read non fiction. The title catches your eye and suggests a subject about which I want to know more.

I buy books, too. Sometimes because I just can't resist them. Sometimes because I need them for work and often to give as presents. I have a pile of books I was given for Christmas and am enjoying each slowly.

But without the library, both the local small library and the central library which is open more often, I would be very deprived, and not at all so happy. Someone said the library is a place people seek their communities. I don't- I just look for things to read.

Having been absent from the capital for such a long time, MLA London have announced what many suspected, that they have moved their office to Mars. The spaceship with all their laptops and filing cabinets has not yet landed, so they are 'hors de realite' for a little while longer.

They have, however, taken with them all the available information about Capital Ambition - Mayor Boris's private scheme for doing something to public libraries, no one knows what. They have also taken, as one might have anticipated, a large carrier bag full of the nation's money, of which there is now not much left.

It is a long path of darkness and expense, probably ending in silence and red faces. That is what happens on Mars

The five are 'North, South, East, West and Central'. Presumably they are desperately hiding this plan until after the general election.

It's not a bad idea but, being parochial, will be a long time, if ever, it makes improvements to public libraries. Nevertheless I'm sure it will be immense fun for all those officials, politicians and the press who occupy themselves with these things. The questions will be whether it actually saves more money than it costs to do and whether it makes life in London better or worse-- and I guess we will never ever know the truth about those things.

So Miranda McKearney (who is extremely good and sane) is quite right when she says:

The analysis of libraries’ current position sometimes implies that the public are no longer interested in what libraries offer readers.

Miranda McKearney