I have been reading all the posts on this topic with an ever increasing
feeling of gloom and despond, which is pretty much the same reaction I
had when I was watching the coverage by BBC Breakfast Time and some of
my colleagues had in listening to the other pieces of media coverage
that took place on Tuesday. In particular, I objected to Sian Williams'
comment that
"Libraries are a great place to take the children in the summer: they
can read books and play with their toys without trashing your house."
I agree with several of those who have posted: in all of this debate,
where is our professional organisation and its P.R. department?
Furthermore, why is Tim Coates the go-to person for the media and NOT a
member of the profession and why are we not turning some of the comments
round?
If over 70% of children and young people are using libraries, is this
not an amazing statistic? Any parent or teacher or youth worker would
tell you that to get this percentage of kids to engage in anything is
fabulous. Initiatives such as the Summer Reading Challenge keep children
focussed during the holidays and are immensely useful in preventing them
from losing time at the beginning of the new school year.
No-one has mentioned the upsurge in reading groups facilitated by
libraries.
No-one has said that we get more people into public libraries than go to
football matches.
No-one has mentioned the community engagement that we have, with
services for the housebound, and the partially sighted, our contribution
to sustaining the older people's agenda and in supporting health
practitioners through Books on Prescription, not to mention our mobile
vehicles which take the service out into rural areas not well served
with amenities and public transport links.
No-one has pointed out that the way we access information is different
in the 21st century with many people choosing to do this electronically,
so that their visits to the library (using our web pages and our on-line
resources) are virtual because the information is accessible in that
format. The "hits" that we get on our on-line resources are rising
dramatically every year and these "virtual visits" need to be factored
in when assessing people's take-up of the library offer.
Given the number of initiatives and partnershiip opportunities that we
pursue, I am sure that I have neglected to mention them all, but the
long and the short of it is that we have plenty to shout about in
support of the service we offer.
We definitely need people to be champions for the library services in
these difficult times and if we aren't doing that, who else will.
Sue Williamson,
Acting Service Manager (Districts),
Cambridgeshire Libraries
-----Original Message-----
From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Usher, John
Sent: 26 August 2010 12:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hands off our libraries!
Sorry? Wot? New?
Nick's summary is indeed superb (no, I do not know Nick), as are the
subsequent reponses such as Graham's below (yes, I am an old friend of
Graham's - Hi!), with which I personally agree (usual dislaimer about
not rnecessarily representing employer's views etc.)- but new?
The disparity between the discussion on the Today programmme, the
reality of library operations today, and the paradigms evolving for
future library operations painted in this debate seems enormous - are we
even on the same planet?
To pick on point raised (and I infer no judgements on this)
*Library staff running front line council services and information
points
* Local vs regional vs national vs international service delivery (ILL,
BLDSC, LASER, Co-East, Ask, Overdrive etc.)
Haven't we been here before?
To quote William Gibson from 'Neuromancer':
'...The future is already here - it's just not evenly
distributed...'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Gibson
and separately:
'...Think Global, Act Local...'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_Globally,_Act_Locally
If we are even having this discussion, I suspect indeed 'We're Doomed,
Captain Mainwaring'.
Regards
JU
John Usher
ICT Manager
Library and Heritage Services
Islington Council
Central Library
2 Fieldway Crescent
LONDON N5 1PF
Tel: 020 7527 6920
Mobile: 07825 098 223
Fax: 020 7527 6926
Alternative contact: Michelle Gannon - 020 7527 6907
www.islington.gov.uk
How to get to Central Library:
http://www.islington.gov.uk/Education/Libraries/Local/Central.asp
-----Original Message-----
From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dash Graham
Sent: 26 August 2010 10:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [LIS-PUB-LIBS] Hands off our libraries!
One of the best replies so far in this debate, but the last section
highlights what could potentially be the death knell of many libraries
in the future.
What happens if and when the "virtual library", particularly digital
books (including e-books and audio), becomes a national service? The
same could so easily apply to enquiry and subscription database
services, e.g. a full and single national version of Ask A Librarian /
Enquire - (won't help too much with local enquiries). There are huge
cost savings and reduction in duplication to be had here. As an example
how many users are now joining libraries like Manchester to get access
to their online databases? I know of a number of librarians who have and
it's only a matter of time before the users who want specific services
find out that this service is available to them.
I'm not going to begin to suggest where the finance comes from, but when
the technologically knowledgeable and time limited users of the future,
who do not physically visit their local library, it doesn't matter to
them where they get their digital services from. After all the main
eBook provider, Overdrive, have their servers in the U.S.A.
Despite my comments I do believe that libraries do have a place in the
community, but I don't think they are going to be anything like
libraries as we know them as I suspect they will be multi-functional,
and books may be only a very small part of the services provided.
... and of course, not all users are going to be able to afford e-books
readers, etc., so you come back to inclusion again.
Graham
Graham Dash, MCLIP, Library Services Manager (Systems & Development)
Environment & Leisure Group, Leisure & Libraries London Borough of
Sutton, Central Library, St Nicholas Way, SUTTON, Surrey SM1 1EA .
Tel.: 020 8770 4763, Mobile: 07515137830, Fax: 020 8770 4777
Borough web site: www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=907
Library Catalogue web site: www.sutton-libraries.gov.uk
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.
________________________________
From: lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nick London
Sent: 25 August 2010 17:27
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Hands off our libraries!
I've lost the thread of this thread so i don't what Alyson Hogarth said.
But...
I do kind of half-agree with Steve on the "...but Libraries are so much
more than a retail outlet."
The economic model of libraries is actually nothing like a retail
outlet, seeing as we do not directly charge anything to visit or lend
books (which despite all attempts to pretend otherwise is overwhelmingly
what public libraries are currently about - and what the general public
thinks we are about). Therefore trying to model operations purely on
what Waterstones does is going to miss the marketing point altogether
(one of the key annoyances about the Tim Coates approach).
What we can and must learn from the retail sector is how to engage our
regular users, dormant users, lapsed users inactive etc etc. Our LMS
systems all store and can provide quantities of data on activity,
preferences and behaviour that would make many genuine retail outfits
weep with envy (no need for loyalty schemes here!). The fact that we do
not live or die by profit margins has been the main reason this business
intelligence has not been exploited nearly enough, but we may have to
get vert smart at it very soon or suffer the oblivion so often reported
by the media.
We also have in common with the retail sector that no one is compelled
to visit us or use us - a fact that sets us apart from many local
government services and makes us both a 'soft' target in hard times and
potentially a popular cause celebre in the local community. But we have
to get better at encouraging people to come in and when they come in to
actually give them a good enough experience that they return. This
isn't about being 'more than just books' or a being a hive of events
and activities, but about basic customer care, smiling at instead of
avoiding customers and asking them if they need any help. This is the
core of what we should learn from the retail sector.
And one other thing since I am off on a rant. Almost everyone under 40
in this country is now IT literate and everyone under 30 expects to
shop, communicate, socialise and access services online - as the default
medium. When these people become 50 and 60 and 70 year olds will their
expectation of what library services do, based on what they see now,
fit into their lifestyle? So when this year's 50-70 year olds
eventually pass on and are replaced, who will want to use the library
service?
My point is that if we do not establish libraries in the virtual market
place, with services available online and material delivered direct
(whether e-books, searchable resources, 'web 2.0' functions, digitised
local material or books by post) we will be facing much more than the
reported one third decline in visitor numbers.
If we are not relevant to the future we won't be in it....
Nick
(Service Manager: Systems & Performance
Nottinghamshire Libraries
0115 982 9029)
----------------------------------------------------------
Steve Powell <[log in to unmask]>
Sent by: "lis-pub-libs: UK Public Libraries"
<[log in to unmask]>
25/08/2010 15:03
Please respond to
Steve Powell <[log in to unmask]>
To
[log in to unmask]
cc
Subject
Hands off our libraries!
I have to agree with Alyson Hogarth here,
The comparison of Libraries & Bookshops, alongside the panicky cry of
'we've got to be more like a bookshop' has always felt to me like we're
selling ourselves short.
Sure, we'd have been bonkers not to take on board [as has been happening
for many years now] best practice in the marketing and design/layout
ideas from Bookshops and indeed from the larger retail sector...but
Libraries are so much more than a retail outlet.
Obviously I'm not a stock specialist, I'm talking more generally, but
there isn't that much common ground...unless anyone out there really
does believe that books are just 'tins of beans'?
Steve
Steve Powell BA (Hons) MCLIP
Children and Youth Librarian
Libraries Archives & Information
Communities Department
Nottinghamshire County Council
Retford Library
Churchgate
Retford
Notts
DN22 6PE
Tel - 01777 708724
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