I may be wrong, but haven't the last 150 years of Public Libraries in the
UK been about dealing with Social Exclusion? Haven't they been about
providing information, education and recreation freely through books for
people who might otherwise not be able to afford them? Don't we still,
broadly have that function, albeit through a wider range of media? If I
understand Frank Daniels correctly, he seems to be suggesting that library
staff wait passively for the user to visit the library and deal with them
personally. Great - I'm all in favour of person to person contact, it was
one of the best parts of my years managing branches. But if we don't go out
and market our services (yes Market Frank, it's the world we're in like it
or not) then Public Libraries will probably be extinct by 2015.
I think this e-conversation has proved that 'community' is a lot more
complex than it used to be, than we perhaps want it to be, but we do have a
responsibility to all of those communities and it's probably a good idea
that government policies force us to consider that - no matter how
irritating at times. That's democracy for you. The trick I think is going
to be in deciding how best to meet the needs of all the different
communities. I suspect that the generic library, except perhaps small or
part-time branches may be on the way out and we may have to think more
about tailoring services in different places to different user groups.
After all there are department stores and specialist outlets in the retail
model.
Whatever road we choose, we will increasingly find ourselves having our
library transactions through other means whether phone, e-mail or website
hits. I for one think this is a great thing. I don't want to be stuck in
the past, and I would much rather see our profession in the forefront
making change happen and managing it than bemoaning a lost era.
Frank Daniels <[log in to unmask]>@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> on 04/03/2005
11:22:30
Please respond to Chartered Library and Information Professionals
<[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: Chartered Library and Information Professionals
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To: [log in to unmask]
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Subject: What future for public libraries? New LASER Foundation paper
I would like to "tease" out from Malcolm Dobson something he said about
communities and professional ethics, as I sense that he has put his finger
on something vital. I noted what Frances Hendrix said in reply to Malcolm
about the importance for a library service to know the community, or
communities, it was put there for. She is certainly right to say that it
would be foolish for a library service to shun that basic research.
Having said that, and at the risk of putting words into Malcolm's mouth, it
seems to me that the ethical duty of a librarian, professionally graded or
otherwise, is to deal with the individual clients who present themselves,
of their own free choice in the library for what will always be a face to
face personal transaction. For me, if not necessarily for anyone else, this
is the battleground on which professional ethics is practiced. Yet so much
of what goes on now in the profession appears to be about the implemenation
of policies emanating from government bodies, policies which are clearly
designed to effect a solution to something called social exclusion. When
chief librarians gladly throw themselves into this latter type of activity
(there is very often money attached to such projects) they seem to forget,
or affect not to care, that what they are doing is in fact deeply
political. If challenged on this I imagine that they would say that it is
for the benefit of the community, and besides, it is official policy.
I have never understood how one can stand in an ethical relationship to a
community. For me, it is grounded in personl, one to one encounters, and it
needs to be apolitical in the context of a profession (any profession). I
am hoping that this is what Malcolm was trying to say, but if not I offer
my apologies to him. The subject is of course open to further
discussion!
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