Comments on: Sauna yet so far? Lessons from Finnish libraries

By: librariesmatter

librariesmatter — Wed, 13 Sep 2017 08:10:45 +0000

So although the Libraries Taskforce has an action to “identify and showcase good practice and support innovation” this doesn’t apparently include considering good practice from outside England.

To summarise the English public libraries scene:
– There’s nobody in charge
– There are no standards
– Usage is declining relentlessly. The sector appears to underperform other countries
– Sector performance is hidden from the principal stakeholder – the public
– Funding is declining with no direct involvement of the only funder – the taxpayer
– There is no concrete plan for turnaround.

It is difficult to see this ending well. The public deserve better than this.

By: Ian Anstice

Ian Anstice — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 17:19:11 +0000

In reply to librariesmatter. No, I'm fairly sure no-one is. Or any other country. Because we all know why it does but no-one is allowed to say, at least not officially.

By: librariesmatter

librariesmatter — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 20:50:03 +0000

Re Finland – So 5.5 miilion Finns borrow almost 68 million books a year i.e. over 12 books per head of population.

Isn’t annual UK borrowing from public libraries less than 3.5 books per head of population?

That’s a big difference.

Is anybody in the libraries establishment looking into why lending from UK public libraries compares so unfavourably to Finland?

By: Martyn

Martyn — Sun, 10 Sep 2017 10:28:54 +0000

The “lack of any library standards in England” is something which should be taken up by library campaigners and by the various professional bodies. Not by asking the government to set standards, but by setting them out ourselves and giving them widespread publicity. With the lack of any state produced statistics, they will de facto become the yardstick by which local authority provision can be assessed.