Comments on: My vision for public libraries https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/09/my-vision-for-public-libraries.html What's happening to your library? Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:14:16 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 By: jean campbell https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/09/my-vision-for-public-libraries.html#comment-4797 Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:14:16 +0000 http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/?p=2284#comment-4797 Libraries offer places to study, computer courses, meeting rooms for the community, help and advice to people who don’t have access to CAB facilities, books and talking books to housebound library users, DVD’s and talking books for people who have difficulty reading. They also provide user-friendly equipment for those with sight problems and printing facilities for those people who need to print off travel documents and boarding passes to enable them to travel (maybe to find employment).
The local bus companies have stopped printing bus timetable books so now libraries provide printed copies of timetables downloaded from the internet to enable people to travel to hospital appointments, job centres, CAB offices and work.
They also provide access to government policies, Hansard, legal information on concerning buildings, employment regulations, shares information, historical documents and so on. They provide music and drama libraries and a wealth of historical literature. Libraries contain important local history information for personal and professional use with well-trained and experienced staff who have an understanding and knowledge far beyond what can be found in a book or website.
Libraries can be and are a lifeline for all members of the community and not a luxury that can be dispensed with for the sake of a few pence on somebody’s tax bill.

]]> By: Jane Higgs https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/09/my-vision-for-public-libraries.html#comment-4365 Fri, 21 Sep 2012 08:50:58 +0000 http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/?p=2284#comment-4365 Brilliant post, Ian! Another couple of things we also provide: the computer courses to enable people to gain the skills to put together a printed CV inthe first place; the support to the illiterate mother who needs someone to suggest books for her children to give them better skills and lives than she has had. These are both things that have happened in our library recently. Maybe people who think that libraries should do more and more different things don’t actually appreciate how many of those things we already do!

]]> By: Nicola Franklin https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/09/my-vision-for-public-libraries.html#comment-3872 Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:09:50 +0000 http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/?p=2284#comment-3872 I think in a way both viewpoints are valid.

Books (physical or electronic) are, of course, a vital part of library service provision; and if that is what user surveys say users want and expect from the service then of course the library should provide them. However, Ian is also spot on in that a library is so much more than just a ‘book warehouse’. If it were ‘only about the books’ then you could just as well provide a room full of books with a security guard on the door and leave the public to their own devices inside.

People need guidance, both beforehand as it were with stock selection and on the spot with literacy help, help choosing & finding the right books, and also with all the other services to help people find information in all the varied formats and places where it exists today. Unlike 20 years ago or more, books are NOT the only places to find either reading material or reference material.

Perhaps Tim does state his position in a rather dogmatic and very commercially-focused way, but he is ‘right’ in that books are still important and book stock selection and helping people find the books they want (and displaying them in an useful way in attractive surroundings) is the core function and value of a library. Ian is also ‘right’ in that libraries core mission is to help people find and use the information they need – and that today information is increasingly digital and online. It is no good burying our heads in the sand and pretending this isn’t happening, or that libraries should stick to just books and let someone else worry about the digital stuff – else libraries will end up as museum pieces.

]]> By: Trevor Craig https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/09/my-vision-for-public-libraries.html#comment-3642 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 18:27:26 +0000 http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/?p=2284#comment-3642 I couldn’t agree more with Ian and the comments above. I can only comment with any knowledge on my own local library obviously but we do a lot of what Ian describes. It is more than just books, it’s really outreach for the elderly, infirm and vulnerable to give them access to things like the internet, books and to interact with other people and get advice and be signposted to other services like CAB etc. A lot of elderly library users want to remain independent and use the library as part of their daily routine to keep them out and about, busy and fit. I’m sure the library has helped keep a lot of people out of care homes and hospitals because they provide this vital link to the community. The library also does lots of activities like mindfulness courses and chair exercise in conjunction with the local NHS. These are done when the library isn’t open so it’s making extra use of what otherwise would be a closed building. It is inevitable that over time the e-book will start to eat into the usage figures for libraries (not in my opinion in the next 5-10 years though) and libraries are going to have to more than about just books. This is what the SCL and CILIP are failing to promote and sell libraries as to politicians in my opinion, worth so much more to their communities than just a place to get free (not actually free since we pay!) books. They are especially important in the isolated rural areas where services are thin on the ground anyway. All this extra stuff we do has nothing to do with the “librarians” in head office, I have no idea what they do all day, this is all the work our brilliant library manager, assistant and volunteers and it will be cut when we have to run the library ourselves.

]]> By: Diana Edmonds https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/09/my-vision-for-public-libraries.html#comment-3387 Wed, 19 Sep 2012 05:47:09 +0000 http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/?p=2284#comment-3387 A beautiful vision for libraries, Ian. Please keep banging the drum!

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