Archive for December, 2018
Cuts to CILIP and Surrey: Scotland and Libraries Connected gain
Dec 16th
Editorial
CILIP are going through a major change, with 11 out of 54 posts being lost. Library services have had ample experience of that sort of thing so we all know what that feels like. Wishing them all the best for the future. Surrey are also having a major, major, major cut – with a cut in usage of 25% since 2010 being used – get this – to justify an over 50% cut in funding and ignoring all the other cuts there since 2010. So that’s not fixed in any way, no sir. There’s good news, on the other hand, from Scottish libraries, with £450k for various library projects and from Libraries Connected who have got £75k from ACE for regional work. I have no idea what the latter means but the press release makes it sound like a good thing so here’s hoping.
Changes
- Pembrokeshire – New Haverfordwest Library/culture centre to open.
- Staffordshire – Lichfield Central Library moves into ex St Mary’s Church.
- Surrey – Cultural budget to be cut 2019/20 by more than half from £8.7m to £4m: merge libraries. 25% drop in use since 2010. More volunteers to replace paid expected. Consultation.
Ideas
UK public library funding and usage both decline by 4% 2017/18. Coincidence?
Dec 9th
Editorial
The newest comprehensive (well. OK, eight months after the event and missing one-fifth of all library services) annual Cipfa figures on public library performance have been released. They show a decline in usage of 4% mirrored by a cut in budget of the same, not taking into account the cut of around a further 2% due to inflation. Staffing is down by 4%, volunteer hours up by nearly the same and book issues down by around 5%. So it’s all around the similar amount. Correlation does not however imply causality but they’ve been similar-ish for years and there have notably not been such declines in use in the USA where funding has stayed fairly stable.
Well, that’s my take. Tim Coates, quoted in both the Guardian and the BookSeller, denies any impact caused by budget cuts and places the blame squarely on librarians being incompetent. So, if I’m being as balanced as those two sources, I guess it could be that as well. What does your direct personal experience tell you? I know which mine does.
Changes
- Bath and North East Somerset – New volunteer library opens at Timsbury with 2500 books.
- Lincolnshire – “Ignite” take over Birchwood and Boultham libraries.
- Somerset – Confirmed that Highbridge and Sunningdale libraries will close at end of year, 13 to become largely volunteer.
Ideas
- Calmness packs – include lava lamps, aromatherapy and noise cancelling headphones but, weirdly, no books.
- Guerilla kindness – leaving positive messages in books.
Well, at least in one way, UK public libraries are leading the way on privacy
Dec 2nd
Editorial
The launch of the very good guide to privacy for library staff was a nice surprise – befittingly, they kept that quiet – as it is very well written and includes an excellent call to arms by Aude Charillon as well as useful tips and examples. Do have a read. Sadly, I think the only thing many public library services are currently leading on privacy-wise is not sharing their performance data. There’s an excellent article by Libraries Stats on the continuing drama of CIPFA trying to control access to library figures (or, rather, “professionally collate” them and then refuse to give them to anyone who does not have £650) and also the rather poor record of some library services in sharing their data on request. This is a very ironic shame, and shameful, for library services. I was taught in library school that we were signposts to people, not locked doors, but that does not seem to be the case for many. I hope the trend towards Open Data apparent elsewhere finally reaches the library sector soon.
Well, I don’t often mention my own library service on the website, for obvious reasons of the need to keep work and blog separate. But it would be off of me if I did not mention Cheshire West and Chester Council library service winning not just the Transformation award for which it was entered but also the Overall Award as well, and it would also be wrong if I did mentioned they’re my employer. So, well done colleagues, well done library service and well done the Guardian for their continuing support for libraries. That’s at least something that’s not secret.
Changes
- Central Bedfordshire – Leighton Buzzard Library reduced space due to council customer services co-location.
- Hull – 2010/11 £4m budget cf. 2018 £3.8m.
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