Comments on: “What constitutes a comprehensive and efficient library service for the 21st Century?” https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html What's happening to your library? Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:07:25 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 By: Anonymous https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html#comment-190 Mon, 28 Nov 2011 09:07:25 +0000 http://83.170.89.36/~publicli/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html#comment-190 Make no mistake I’m on the side of having a good public libraries that are properly funded. I want the public library service to succeed.

But librarians need to be careful about the credibility of their arguments. It has been popular for the librarian lobby to react to the latest CIPFA data by saying there is a causal effect in 2010/11 between a 2-3% drop in total expenditure and a 2-3% drop in library usage. But in the previous 10 years didn’t expenditure on libraries rise every year (broadly it moved with RPI inflation) and didn’t library usage trend steadily downwards. Over the years there has been quite a drop in usage. The overall gain in efficiency over the last decade looks to have been nil. Reasonable questions I would have thought are – why is usage trending down and what are librarians doing about it?

The CMS Select Committee questions are indeed good ones – librarians need to get thinking!

]]> By: Ian Anstice https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html#comment-189 Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:50:38 +0000 http://83.170.89.36/~publicli/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html#comment-189 … and the usefulness of comments is it makes one think more. There’s inflation of 3.5% to add on to that cut – which brings it back to a bigger cut in real terms than the figure you originally questioned.

]]> By: Ian Anstice https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html#comment-188 Mon, 28 Nov 2011 06:11:05 +0000 http://83.170.89.36/~publicli/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html#comment-188 Hi Anonymous. Just checked and you are quite right about the figures. The -2.3% change in spending was was 2010/11 on previous year, with usage down slightly more. I will amend the article and stress the 6% cut in materials budget instead. Thanks very much for pointing this out. Better now than before a committee a hearing in January.

As for whingeing. Well, I’ve heard that one before. John McTernan used the phrase in October – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/8838633/Liberal-whingers-are-wrong-we-should-shut-our-libraries.html. I would address you to the 295 comments below that piece, mostly rabidly unfavourable to it, in a Conservative heartland newspaper.

Also, I guess it’s a case of tomato and tom-ah-to. One man’s whinging is another man’s defending self-evident truths. It depends what side one is on. If one leaves the argument only to those who say cutting is whinging then – and, this is important – one has lost. Is anyone else who’s job doesn’t depend on them parroting the line, really saying “it’s a fair cop, guv, cut me now?”. Really?

No. We need to stand up for what we see and believe is right. Make the arguments for defending spending we believe in. Otherwise we, and libraries, are going to lose. And by “lose” I mean of course “close”.

]]> By: Anonymous https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html#comment-187 Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:34:12 +0000 http://83.170.89.36/~publicli/2011/11/what-constitutes-a-comprehensive-and-efficient-library-service-for-the-21st-century.html#comment-187 A couple of points:
(1)Doesn’t your spending and usage analysis confuse the years. Don’t the CIPFA UK numbers indicate:
Total expenditure fell by 2.3% in 2010/11 cf. to the previous year. Issues were 3.3% down and visits were 2.9% down in 2010/11 vs the previous year.

Total expenditure is forecast to reduce by 5.1% in 2011/12 cf. to the previous year.

(2)As a response to the question “What constitutes a comprehensive and efficient library service for the 21st century?” I would question whether an answer based around librarians’ whingeing about their budgets will be particularly well received.

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