Archive for June, 2014

Editorial

More details of the consultation on library changes in Staffordshire have emerged, with 24 out of 43 branches being listed as possible for being run by volunteers.  The county joins a list of others (Lincolnshire – 32 out of 45, Leicestershire – 36 out of 52) going down this route.  It’ll be interesting if the changes go by without significant popular protest (as they have done apparently in Leicestershire) or reap the wrath of the whirlwind (as they’re currently doing in Lincolnshire).  Why some areas protest and others do not is a bit of a mystery: as is so often the case in public libraries, the research simply has not been done.

The people of Rhydyfelin in the Rhondda were definitely of the not taking it lying down category when the council decided at the last moment to close their library instead of another.  They won the right to take the council to judicial review over the absence of a public consultation, at which point the council reversed its decision.  You have to do those consultations, people.

Finally Wales continues its national approach to public libraries by announcing that it is introducing automatic provision of public library cards to all primary school children.  This follows on from their national reference and e-book websites and from their continued use of public library standards.  Makes me proud to come from West of Chepstow.

Changes

• Rhondda Cynon Taff – Rhydydelin Library saved from closure after legal challenge.
• Staffordshire – Up to 24 libraries out of 43 may become volunteer- run.
• Wales – Automatic library membership for all primary school children.

Ideas

• Yoga storytimes – Yoga stretches and movement will be woven into the story for a fun, interactive experience blending early literacy and health.

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Editorial

The minister in charge of libraries Ed Vaizey spoke to the Society of Chief Librarians today as well as other 120 other Great and Good.  This was for a seminar called “Reimagining the Public Library”. At the moment one can only go on tweets from the meeting but they are tantalising:

• “@edvaizey being asked if like the rest of the UK, England should have library standards? Ed responds ‘never say never’. #librariestransform“
• #sclseminar Ed says he wouldn’t replace Pub Lib Act, but statutory duty must remain.
• I find it utterly bizarre to walk into a library today & not find wireless Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for Culture, Communications #SCLSeminar
• I would like to see more library authorities working together @Vaizeyculture
• My dream is still to have a libraries development agency. @Vaizeyculture
• “Openings and refurbs don’t get the headlines.” (@Vaizeyculture) Let’s change that! #librariestransform

“Will there be funding to action Seighart recs? Yes. #librariestransform“

• Tony Durcan’ s brilliant offer to DELIVER PN2 -The Vaizey network? Love it #sclseminar @UKSCL @solusuk
• More libraries working together @UKSCL @solusuk #sclseminar ed vaizey -dreams of a libraries Dev Agency pic.twitter.com/SRDHnPI22P
• California libraries are feeding low income children breakfasts during the summer. #thinkbig #simplethings #librariestransform @california
• Lord Bichard tells us @UKSCL “Libraries can do so much around dementia and loneliness #librariestransform #SCLSeminar”
• Lord Bichard – Q. do you really know enough about your customers’, age, language, location, needs, wants? What’s USP for them? #sclseminar
• Libraries have to become the digital hub for their communities, says Lord Bichard #sclseminar

All of this looks very interesting.  Certainly an updated People’s Network is long long overdue, as is a libraries development agency.  Some of the ideas being reported on have been featured in Public Libraries News for months or years because they’re working well abroad (with special props to the USA in this regard) and it is great to see them having an airing here.  On the other hand, the suspicion on Twitter amongst those who noticed the event going on but were not invited to it was that election year is coming and the Government needs to be at least promising something on a subject that may well gain or lose votes.  In this vein, my colleagues at Voices for the Library have put together a post that is worth reading even if bitter experience makes it naturally more suspicious than welcoming.

Regardless of views, one can say well done to SCL for organising the event and getting the minister involved and so many people, clearly decision-makers, together to look at the future.  On the other hand, I (albeit from the biased position of one keen to report news) would have liked some more publicity and information about what was going on.  The technology now exists for there to be live streams of the event but there does not appear to have been any and, indeed, at time of writing  the home page of the SCL website makes no mention of the event  at all other than in its twitter feed.

On a finishing but unrelated note that would doubtless annoy Ed Vaizey immensely, I was phoned up by Radio Four to fact check some things for their “Point of View” segment going out on their network tonight (if you’re reading this on Friday).  So I know that the writer A L Kennedy will be talking about cuts to libraries and the importance of books at 8.50pm..

Ideas

• Dementia Awareness.
• Education by stealth – encouraging new users in via music/arts events and then retaining their membership.

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Editorial

Another couple of thoughts from the revelation of a book found in a public library that had not been out since 1997 is the change in stock management brought about by the introduction of self-service machines.  Back in the old days, weeding shelves were a simple matter for the librarian – one simply sat down and opened every book in turn, counting the number and frequency of date stamps on the date label. There were a load of other factors of course but the key one of how much the book was used was really easy to work out.  However, self-service changes that because, quite simply, there’s no date stamps any more.  The alternative is instead to use printouts based on whatever criteria one wishes (e.g. books that have not been out in six months in the thrillers).  This sounds simple but there’s two problems: the first is that it is surprisingly time consuming looking individually for every book and the second is that these printouts use proprietary technology that the library management system companies charge a hefty sum for.  So, if one does not pay or cannot afford to pay, one may have to use other ways (the state of the book, local knowledge, the Force) to weed instead.  Not ideal.

Another related matter to this is from a letter listed in this post about issuing films in a self-service library.  Now, ideally, the whole process should be done by the public (hence the term “self-service”) but in reality in many areas, this is not (literally) the case … and the reason is, simply, box security is not sufficient.  It’s easy to vandalise a DVD or game case and steal the item from it.  So, libraries have to go back to putting high value titles in locked drawers again, meaning that the member of the public has to both go to the machine and a member of staff. Oh dear, that’ll make the process twice as long then.  If they’re really unlucky, some self-service machines will then (completely unnecessarily in my view and that several authorities I know about it) demand their library card number and PIN number when they return it. This is not to say that I am against self-service: I’m not and I think that, realistically, there’s going to be a whole lot more of it as budgets decline. But we should not pretend that it does not come with its own problems because if we ignore them, they simply will not go away. After all, when technology makes things worse, it’s probably because we’re doing it wrong and the first step to correcting it is to admit there’s a problem in the first place.

For more on self service, see this page.

Please send any comments or news to me at ianlibrarian@live.co.uk or via the comments option.  Thank you for reading.

Changes

• Lancashire – Consultation.  Cost-neutral changes in opening hours proposed e.g. less evening opening, more daylight opening.

Ideas

• Fun runs to raise funds for libraries.
• STEAM events – same as STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths) but also includes Arts.

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