“Firstly, the focus should be on service not buildings. This point has been recognised by many within the profession but unfortunately not widely enacted (Brent being the possible exception). Sue Charteris noted that the term comprehensiveness did not have to mean a library on every corner and that cover depended on assessment matched against resources available. In addition library buildings needed to be evaluated to see if they were fit for purpose and in the right place to serve the needs of the community.

The sad fact is many smaller libraries are underused, badly located, in poor condition, and expensive to maintain in comparison to usage. Despite this, many campaigns focus on saving the building rather than taking a rounded view of the overall service. This is where the role of the professional librarian is essential, to take a wider, more strategic view.

Contraction of the library network and reducing the costs of the physical estate is not necessarily a bad thing if it ensures the overall quality of provision and delivery is improved and resources available to develop other areas of the service.

Service managers need to make difficult, and sometimes unpopular decisions in order to deliver the most efficient service with the resources available, which is why we need to move the focus away from library buildings and argue for a quality led approach and improved methods of delivery.”

This is still very much the issue today.