A place for the vulnerable … but, sadly, they don’t seem to be a priority right now

Changes

• Essex – Self-service for two days per week (via parish council) full service three days per week (via county council),
• Herefordshire – Opening hours cut throughout county (Ross on Wye by 17%). Temporary staff no longer taken on.

Ideas

• IT suite at front of supermarket – Colorado (USA).
• Tango in the library to promote tango themed book – Philadelphia (USA).

News

“A ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service represents the balance to be struck by each local authority in meeting local needs within the context of available resources in a way which is appropriate to the Identified needs of the communities they serve. Each local authority has an intimate knowledge of local conditions and needs and has direct democratic accountability to the local population.” Ed Vaizey in Parliament 18th July, They Work For You

• A library is not just about books: it’s also a place for the vulnerable – Guardian / Comment is free. Infrequent prosperous user of the library realises their importance when she suffered from a condition that meant she could not read normal books. 405 comments.

“My own fragility revealed that a library is not just a reference service: it is also a place for the vulnerable. From the elderly gentleman whose only remaining human interaction is with library staff, to the isolated young mother who relishes the support and friendship that grows from a Baby Rhyme Time session, to a slow moving 30-something woman collecting her CDs, libraries are a haven in a world where community services are being ground down to nothing. I’ve always known libraries are vital, but now I understand that their worth cannot be measured in books alone.”

• A modest proposal for libraries from being a burden and to make them beneficial to the public – Page 49 (USA).  A rather brilliant riposte to the proposals to close a large number of public libraries in Miami-Dade in order to keep council tax flat. After listing all the “annoying” services that libraries provide (for children, students, jobseekers, homeless …) The line that sticks out is “I want you to have even less property taxes levied against your house—the extra $8 per month can definitely be put to something much more useful, like, say… a #9 from McDonalds with an upgraded drink.”
• Arts Council England’s annual review: what’s your verdict? – Guardian. “We’ve published tales of great triumph and loss on the Culture Professionals Network, from engagement and opportunity to closures and cutbacks – let us know below the line how you would review the performance of ACE in 2012/13.”
• British Library hush is broken by a row over reading room rules – Guardian. Some people unhappy with the noise, and poor habits, of fellow users.
• Challenges facing public libraries in the Big Society: focusing on the role of volunteers, and the issues that surround their use – Biddy Casselden / Cilip Umbrella.  Slideshow of presentation to Cilip Umbrella Conference showing progress of doctoral thesis so far.
• Colorado Library Opens Outpost Inside Kmart – Library Journal (USA). Library opens at front of supermarket – all public access computers, no books.
• How to reinvent librarians: five top tips from around the world – Guardian / Public Leaders Network.  “The Global Librarian is a joint publication from two New York-based library organisations, the Association of College and Research Libraries(Greater New York Metropolitan Area Chapter) and the Metropolitan New York Library Council. It aims to highlight librarians around the globe who have taken active steps to reinvent themselves while reinvigorating their profession. We’ve picked five practical tips:” … join forces, answer needs of your community, be creative, don’t be chained behind a desk, share ideas.

“A library is such a potent symbol of a town’s values: each one closed down might as well be six thousand stickers plastered over every available surface, reading “We chose to become more stupid and dull” Caitlin Moran

• Library Patrons Get Surprise Treat From Members Of Dance Philadelphia Argentine Tango – Philadelphia CBS Local. “he whole event is organized around a reading and presentation of the book Tango Nuevoby Caroline Merrit,” explains Meredith Klein, director of the Philadelphia Argentine Tango School.”
• Literacy starts in the library – Age (Australia). Nearly half of Australians are library members. “Although outside the formal education sector, libraries provide keys to building literacy. As trusted public institutions which are open to all, libraries offer welcoming environments in which people can find the information they need, engage with knowledge and ideas, and develop the literacy skills essential to actively participate in today’s society.”.  Describes several initiatives.
• Love your library – Coventry Primary English. “Libraries are brilliant. There is a wonderfully nostalgic comfort in knowing they are there. More importantly, however, they are vital to our communities. They provide something that cannot be recreated elsewhere. This is my Top Ten of Stuff We Need to Remember about Libraries”: free, helpful, quiet, broaden the mind, feel-good factors, Summer holidays are long, brilliant children’s books about libraries, use them or lose them …

“If governments are serious about coming up with smart solutions, with smart economies – if they want to convince their citizens that their purpose is to do things for them, not to do things to them . . . then until it comes up with some wondrous institution that does more and does it better, it needs to leave our bloody libraries alone.” Uncharted territory – Talk about random. Oisin McGann puts up an impassioned plea for public libraries.

• Why I banned a book – Huffington Post (USA). University librarian bans a book and announces it on Facebook in order to raise awareness of censorship.

Local News

• Darlington – Cockerton Library at risk of closure again, council leader admits – Darlington and Stockton Times. “One of only two public libraries in Darlington, the Cockerton branch is well used by residents, but has long been considered under threat from budget cuts. The facility was earmarked for closure last year, but Darlington Borough Council made a u-turn on the decision in the face of public opposition and a petition that gathered more than 3,000 signatures.”
• Dorset – New Dorchester Library opens its doors – Blackmore Vale Magazine. “The new library, located in the new West Dorset District Council offices along Charles Street cost £1.2 million to compete.” … “The centre is spread across three floors and includes a 20 per cent increase in books, along with public access computers and free wifi.”
• Essex – Buckhurst Hill Library to open two extra days each week – Guardian series. Self-service for two days per week (via parish council) full service three days per week (via county council)
• Herefordshire – Library hours cut in mid consultation – Dragonfly. “reductions are being made at libraries and customer service centres across the rest of the county, and will come into effect just over two months after it was announced that spending on the county’s libraries could be cut by as much as 77 per cent, in a drive to cover a shortfall in Herefordshire Council’s budget. The council needs to make additional savings of £8.4 million this year, following an accounting error that was revealed in April.”.  Cuts in mid consultation and just before the busy Summer period have angered users.

“The current reduction in hours has been necessary to accommodate holiday time, staff leaving and the decision to stop taking on temporary staff.”

• Lincolnshire – Villages could lose mobile libraries – Rutland Times. “In some areas the amount of time a mobile library spends there will actually increase. Tier three locations will be visited by library vans for between six and eight hours every four weeks. This would be split either into four hours on a weekday or three hours on a Saturday every fortnight.”
• Lincolnshire – ‘You have the power to save your library’ – Guardian series. “Spalding Guardian readers have been expressing their concern about the public consultations, especially as none are being held in locations where closure is threatened.”. Meetings also at times when many people are working. Councillor says it is up to locals to work unpaid in library if they want to keep it open.

Extra copies of Cuckoo Calling by (we now discover) JK Rowling being unstocked in Suffolk. The popularity of the book since the news leaked has led to 150 people reserving the book with Suffolk Libraries.