Quite a few public libraries are open on Sundays and I'm sure more would open IF WE HAD SOME MONEY TO OPEN WITH.
It is incredibly sad to me that members of our own profession are seeing us as irrelevant. Even if you do have access to the intenet and e-readers at home, you are making a big presumption that people know how to use them or can afford to purchase their books. Public librarians facilitate access to information.
We help disadvantaged groups, people and sectors of the community access information and resources that they might not otherwise be able to access.
Public library staff are trained professionals and they cannot be and should not be replaced by volunteers, no matter how lively.
Mobeena Khan
Stock & Reader Development Librarian, West Area, Libraries, Culture and Learning
Watford Central Library, Hempstead Road, Watford, Herts, WD17 3EU
t: 01923 334680 Comnet / Internal: 29480 Mobile: 07584 521706
Working hours - Wednesday, 1pm-5pm, Thursdays and Fridays, 9am-5pm
hertsdirect / twitter / facebook
Hertfordshire - County of Opportunity
-----Original Message-----
From: Library and Information Professionals [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lesley Firth
Sent: 24 January 2013 12:31
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Arts Council report on community libraries
Hi Zena,
I'm not sure you can argue that the people inside library buildings could become irrelevant but that volunteers will still want to do information work. Seems a bit illogical.
Out of curiosity are you extending this vision to hospital libraries? Would you agree that us hospital librarians are could be swapped for volunteers? Clinicians all have internet access at work so why would they need the library (physical) and library service? Is that all we do? Provide internet access & books? Is that all public libraries do?
Kind regards,
Lesley
Lesley Firth
Assistant Librarian
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust
Library and Knowledge Services,
Professional Library, Lincoln County Hospital,
Greetwell Road, Lincoln, LN2 5QY
T: 01522 573952
Keep up to date with Library and Knowledge Services' news with our blog www.lksnews.blogspot.co.uk.
Health Libraries in Lincolnshire www.hello.nhs.uk
-----Original Message-----
From: Library and Information Professionals [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Woodley Zena (RQ8) Mid Essex Hospital
Sent: 24 January 2013 12:22
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Arts Council report on community libraries
I think we all have to be very mindful of a wider view here.
The country has no money spare. We can argue for hours about the sematics of who & how - but the fact is, most of us are poorer, incl. the government. Even if all the coffee chains in the business paid full whack, it still isn't enough - our debt is over $1.04 TRILLION, and climbing.
Councils are increasingly being told to take on more services for health, and you may have noticed the poxy state of the roads lately. Those are only two examples.
Councils are also being told that penalties will apply if they raise council taxes.
I am not a proponent of all-volunteer libraries - but there are surely cases where, with intelligent management, it's better to have lively volunteers than a closed building. That should be be a matter for local opinion, & for local discussion.
I have long thought that public libraries could have done much to help themselves by adapting to current work practices - why are they never open on Sundays, for example? It's when most shopping is now undertaken...
I can foresee a time - within my lifetime - when (certainly within towns & larger conurbations) all homes will have internet access fitted as standard, and it will be as taken for granted as is the supply of clean water domestically. Couple that with the rise of electronic books & readers, & a library building - plus the people inside it - almost become irrelevant.
Assuming our working lives are extending ever further, it's also possible that some volunteers will become attracted to information work, and will add it as another skill to their portfolio...
Zena
Zena Woodley B.A.(Joint Hons), MCLIP ~ Information Resources Manager ~ The Warner Library, Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford CM1 7ET T: 01245 514310 e: [log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Library and Information Professionals [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adrian Smith
Sent: 24 January 2013 10:04
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Arts Council report on community libraries
Many services which used to be provided over the counter e.g. at Post Offic= es are being moved to the internet.
Online tax returns, National concessionary travel Bus Pass, Universal credi= ts and benefits now presume citizens have internet access.
Ministers assure us that if claimants don't have internet access at home, t= hey can go to the Library for IT
Adrian, Headingley
________________________________________
From: Library and Information Professionals [[log in to unmask]]= On Behalf Of Clark, Ian ([log in to unmask]) [ian.clark1@CANTERBU= RY.AC.UK]
Sent: 23 January 2013 11:36 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The Arts Council report on community libraries
Voices for the Library statement on the Arts Council report:
The release of the official view on community libraries has underlined our = grave concerns about the future for public libraries in the UK, and the gov= ernment=92s intentions towards them. Whilst some of the contents come as n= o great surprise, we are deeply troubled by how this report will be interpr= eted by library authorities across England.
According to the report, community libraries run by volunteers are a viable= alternative to a service provided by paid and trained staff (both professi= onal and non-professional). We simply do not agree with this conclusion. = Volunteer libraries are not a sustainable long-term option and simply offer= many councils a quick fix or a useful tactic to shift responsibility for p= roviding the service from the council to the local community. Very often, = this is done despite the local community=92s preference for the service to = be delivered by the local authority. In effect, this transfer of responsib= ility isn=92t so much recognition of =93the value of communities being more= involved in the provision of local libraries=94 (as the report claims), bu= t a way to play on the fears of the community by informing them that they e= ither provide the service, or it will disappear.
Read the full statement here: http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpre=
ss/?p=3D2800
Ian Clark
Voices for the Library
Care, Excel, Innovate
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