John:
you are right about Hampshire but this sort of response (in general, I
really don't want to personalise this) - makes me despair, because it
discourages debate on the real issue.
Even at 55% (LISU), staffing costs are damagingly high and the effects (yes,
there are other factors as well) include
LISU 2003 p.4 "Only 9.6% of total libraries expenditure was on books in
2001-02."
We SHOULD be concerned that
a) most of our (Paying) customers still want a good range of books etc.as
their top priority
b) we are NOT spending 90% of our budget on what they want.
There are some good things happening out there, but they need to deepen and
spread very
rapidly if libraries are to recover their relevance to most of the general
public.
Regards,
Andrew
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Briggs" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 28 April 2004 16:52
Subject: Re: Press Release from the Laser Foundation - 'Who's in Charge?'
> Andrew Sandeman wrote:
> > A pity that a report which makes some important points - controversial
> > maybe, but the basic thrust is well supported by evidence - should be
met
> > with this sort of 'debate'.
> >
> > Hopefully, perhaps elsewhere, we can have a more considered discussion
> > about
> > how to achieve the STEP CHANGE in effectiveness which is so clearly
> > needed.
> >
> > For example, it looks as if many authorities spend (roughly) two thirds
of
> > their budget on staffing,
> > whereas I understand that the BBC spend approx.20%.
> >
>
> The figures quoted by the report are that Hampshire spends approximately
> half of its 'funds' on "staff", which is in line with the UK as a whole
(see
> Appendix 2).
>
> John Briggs
>
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