Recently the comments in the Times on the appointment
of Lynne Brindley as the new head of the British
Library sparked off a lot of complaints about the image of
librarians. Therefore an article on the front page of
yesterday's (Friday's) Independent might be of interest.
The article, headlined "Revealed: the library where punk
rock was born" was about Malcolm McLaren, the former
manager of the Sex Pistols who will be a candidate when
London elects its new mayor.
McLaren said, "I was educated to rebel at a library.
They're part of our great tradition of dissent. My whole
career stemmed from Stoke Newington Church Street Library."
He was among the demonstrators outside the House of Commons
earlier this week who were protesting against underfunding,
reduced hours and library closures in London.
Unfortunately for those members of this list who take jibes
about our image seriously, the Independent's reporter went
on to write in a way that somewhat spoilt the effect of the
earlier part of the article.
"Sporting an unusually subdued grey coat and a fawn
pullover that was almost, well, librarian, the former
manager of Sid Vicious and promoter of various
manifestations of rock emerged from under a large umbrella
to deliver an impassioned plea for their future."
Roy Davies
University of Exeter Library
http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/
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