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An online bookclub from Axiell

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International news

  • Australia – ‘You ignorant Indian b******!’: Woman caught hurling vile racist abuse at visitors to public library including attacking a seven-year-old African boy – Daily Mail. “shocked library user in Brisbane has released footage of a woman yelling racial abuse at a seven-year-old African boy, telling him, ‘You’re not from here, get out of the country.’ The middle-aged woman is seen spewing racial hatred at multiple people at the council library in Mt Gravatt at midday on Thursday. She continues ranting even after police and security arrive, and has now been banned from all council libraries for 12 months.”
  • Canada – Canadian Libraries to use Intelligent Bookshelves – Design Raid. “This month multiple Canadian libraries were equipped with intelligent shelves. The shelves detect and identify all books that are placed on the bookstands using radio frequency-identification (RFID). Installing RFID solutions within the libraries creates a better flow for visitors and make it easier to return books. The shelves, designed by the Dutch based company Nedap, are a significant transformation in design and technology for libraries” [This isn’t new technology: see this article from 2014. Also, I understand they’re working well in New Zealand, e.g. at Tauranga – Ed.].
  • Singapore – Moving libraries to where the crowds are – Singapore Times. “Public libraries are set to become more easily accessible as they move to locations such as shopping malls and town hubs, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday. The Bukit Merah Public Library will be moving to VivoCity next year as part of efforts to co-locate its libraries with other community facilities or malls near major transport nodes, the National Library Board said.”. Two others also to relocate to Malls. “The children’s zone features a multimedia storytelling room that uses images and light and sound effects to create interactive storytelling sessions, while the adult and teen zones house discussion areas and a reading lounge.”

Local news by authority

  • Aberdeen – Tendering go-ahead approved for multi-million pound Aberdeen hub project – Evening Express. “The hub will bring together a range of services currently provided in the area, including council services for housing tenants, community support and priority families outreach. It is to include a new library, cafe, creche and activity hall.”
  • Bristol – A mayor for the many, not the few’ – Bristol 247. “Lib Dem group leader Gary Hopkins argued that Labour needs to move away from blaming everybody else and said austerity is not to blame for what he called an “incompetent consultation” on the future of the city’s libraries, saying it is down to “bad management.”
  • Coventry – Youngsters design logo for first ‘community-led library’ in Coventry – Coventry Observer. “In an era of government cuts to local authorities, council-run libraries are under threat. Although nearly all in Coventry have escaped the axe, there is a push for more shared services in communities under on building. Cheylesmore Library will be closed for about two weeks at the end of August, to enable building works to take place to ‘open up’ the library into the Cheylesmore Community Centre.”
  • Devon – Libraries across North Devon prepare for the big Summer Reading Challenge – North Devon Gazette. “To celebrate, Libraries Unlimited, the charity responsible for running Devon Libraries, is kicking off the summer activities with a special launch event at Barnstaple Library. On the day in Library Square and on Castle Green from 10am-3pm, children will have the opportunity to meet animals from Exmoor Zoo, Exmoor Pony Centre, Really Wild Learning and Safe Haven Exotics.”
  • Lancashire – £900,000 spent on Harris Museum – 2BR. “The programme’s been developed through a combination of the Harris vision and feedback from consultations, as well as a clear look at the role a 21st century museum, art gallery and library should play.” … “this shows again the effectiveness of partners working together who are committed to securing a long-term future for the library service.”
  • Sheffield – My Speech to Locality – Louise Haigh MP (Labour). “Take libraries in Sheffield, one of the few cities in the country which has managed to keep every library open. When the Council undertook its initial consultation amidst eye-watering cuts from central government, there was an enormous campaign against any potential closure or downgrading of the services – ironically led by the local Lib Dems while they were in coalition with the Tories. There is no doubt the loss of 8,000 librarians nationwide has meant a crushing decline in expertise and experience from dedicated, valued public servants. Five years on from then, I have five libraries in my constituency – one council-run, three community-run and one in the process of being rebuilt and co-located with the local GP and pharmacy.  All of them provide fantastic services, delivering a wide range of provisions to the local community, and I run my surgeries in each of them.  Obviously, however, there is insufficient funding, which means the local authority can’t provide the support it wants and needs.  So this doesn’t mean I’m letting the Tories off the hook for their seven years of ideologically-driven austerity – by no means.  What they have done to public services and welfare over the last seven years has been criminal, and for some it will be irretrievable. But I will hold my hands up and say that at times the Labour Party in Government at all levels has been too controlling and centrist, and that we should have and should be taking more of the opportunities not only to protect our public assets but deliver them in new, engaging, exciting and sustainable ways.”

“Hi there, this wasn’t the point I was making at all. It was re gvt working better w communities and community orgs.Of c librarians shd b paid”

— Louise Haigh MP (Labour – @LouHaigh) July 1, 2017

  • Shropshire – Born Free star Virginia McKenna opens Ellesmere library – Shropshire Star. “The Born Free star took time away from her charity work to begin the new chapter of Ellesmere Library after it moved from its home in Fullwood House to become part of a new community facility in the nearby Meres Day Centre. The new facility will managed by the Shrewsbury-based social care charity Bethphage, which is taking over the operation of the day centre and the library from Shropshire Council.”
  • Surrey – Woking Makerday – Libraries Taskforce. “We used our Geek Week to build our mailing list and to start recruiting a body of volunteers. More importantly, it brought us fresh relationships, including Keith Robson, the Director of the 5G innovation Centre at the University of Surrey who became a staunch supporter, our local County Councillor: Mark Brett Warburton, who found us some small pots of money, and Marieme Jamme, founder of IamtheCODE, a programme which supports girls and women to become tech entrepreneurs. Marieme now donates the kit and expertise for us to run IamtheCODE clubs for children and women at Guildford library, based on Kano computers, programming and Littlebits electronics.” .  “. We had around 7 staff who spent the whole day there, and then a number of other staff and volunteers who came and spent a couple of hours.” … over 500 attended.
  • Wakefield – Tribute to ‘generous’ librarian – Wakefield Express. “A librarian who ran activities for children in Pontefract and Castleford has died at the age of 84. Sylvia Alderton, who worked at libraries in both towns, and supported children’s charities across the country, passed away on June 6.”
  • Walsall – Outrage as nine Walsall libraries close their doors for good: Video – Express and Star. “Beechdale, Blakenall, New Invention, Pelsall, Pleck, Pheasey, Rushall, South Walsall and Walsall Wood libraries all closed yesterday as cash-strapped Walsall Council says it does not have the money available to keep them open. They closed the day after the council announced a £4 million revamp for its Lichfield Street central library. The council, which has kept Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Darlaston, Streetly (which will be community run), Willenhall and the central library open, needs to save £86 million by 2020.” … “The closure of Pelsall is the one that has baffled many, with the library only opening five years ago as part of the multi-million pound village centre. The council owns the building and will still have to pay its utility bills with other services, including a number of GPs, still housed there. “
  • Wigan – Leigh Library and services centre to be put under same roof in cost-cutting plans – Leigh Journal. “A library is set to welcome a services centre into its building as part of plans to save £1.4 million for Leigh. Leigh Library will be the new home for Leigh Life Centre, which is moving from its current base on Market Street from July 10 after a recent public consultation approved the decision to save money for the town’s customer services budget. The Turnpike Centre library will be closed on Monday and Friday next week to facilitate the move.”