-----Original Message-----
From: Library and Information Professionals [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Penny Bailey
Sent: 24 January 2013 16:27
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Arts Council...
Ok surgeons are pretty specialised with in the medical profession. But why aren't librarians as professional as fully qualified lawyers or GPs?
When I worked in law firms I would take any lawyer to task if they thought my profession wasn't as important as theirs.
Librarians work alongside teaching staff in universities with equal academic qualifications as the teaching staff.
Librarians are specialised professionals with unique skills but all too often they associate themselves with admin work that yes it doesn't need a library degree to do.
If more librarians stood up for their profession and didn't cling to admin tasks but successfully delegated them to library assistants, then it would generate more appreciation of what librarians do. Unfortunately too many people including higher management, the public, the government and the Arts council don't understand the difference between library assistants and LIBRARIANS.
And if we don't understand the difference and value our unique skills then god help us!
All the best,
Penny Bailey BA, Dip. Lib, MCLIP, MIoD, FRSA Managing Director Bailey Solutions Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)1273 773788
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web: www.baileysolutions.co.uk
Web: www.knowallenquire.com
Registered in England, Company no. 04445779. Registered Office: Curtis House, 34 Third Avenue, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2PD. VAT Reg No 737 381 417 -----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 16:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Arts Council...
Um - I expected to be flamed, so can't say I'm at all surprised at responses, some of which are almost Pavlovian.. I do hope that anyone reading this will accept a viewpoint other than traditional.
For NHS libraries, I'd say e-trainers were the pivotal roles. Any information person with good teaching & searching skills, and who goes out & about - to clinical meetings, etc., markets the NHS library services more effectively than a sign to the physical presence - lovely though the staff are - the library is often a distant building somewhere on site. We all know that clinicians have varied technological skills - and that some prefer us to do the donkey work of finding & sending them articles. Now, be honest: it doesn't take a library degree to do this - anyone of slightly-above average intelligence can do it. Clinicians could do it themselves - indeed, NHS'Excellence' fully believe they do - but given the problems & difficulties <we> have getting beyond HDAS, who could blame clinicians for asking the library to get the desired article?
How important are librarians? Compared to surgeons, we're not. Compared to a fully qualified lawyer, we're not. But we're jolly good in a supporting role, by providing them with the right information, at the right price, and at the right time. Indirectly, then, we are assisting the clinician to best treat his/her patient by making the correct point-of-care decisions to enable a satisfactory conclusion, whether this be an unscheduled visit to A&E, or a planned operation. Those who take the time to get to know us here know our value: people don't spend much time with the staff in most public libraries, so how would our many positive abilities get through to them? How is this done?
We've had volunteers here - and I'm always thrilled when they go on to get a 'proper job'. Which is why I posited that 'intelligent management' was a prerequisite. <This is not an oxymoron!> You get a good volunteer; you have to enthuse them, keep them buoyed to give a good service - and if necessary help them with their job-hunting skills. And then you start again. The parallel is with bell-ringing, where someone patiently teaches a 14yr-old to ring well - and when s/he can do so, it's time for GCSEs, & one rarely sees them again...
As the old countryman said 'It depends where you're starting from' - Andrew Carnegie originally set up his libraries for those workers attending evening clases, desiring to better themselves. The fiction market was served by the Boots Circulating Libraries & the like. The Carnegie libraries (beautiful buildings, most of them, even if many are now showing their age) were subsumed into Public Libraries; and had to extend their range to include the latest fiction. Does everyone on this list really think it's a public library's duty (i.e. a civic duty) to provide access to '50 Shades of Grey'? Because if the overall opinion on that is positive, then volunteers will do.
It's no good bemoaning lack of money - you offer staggered working hours, like other places do. I have worked for private companies where my monthly outlay was - exceptionally - £20 on information. I had NO budget! If people want the experience of working within the public sector, they will accept contracts which include a rota of weekend working.
Where there is no vision, the people (librarians or no) perish. WHERE is the vision for the future that information is exciting, and to have this knowledge of finding things - and how to find things - and how to classify them once we've found them - is pivotal. Organising information logically & practically is a VITAL tool - especially online. But all I've read so far indicates a collection of very nice professionally qualified people, who can be a teensy bit precious! Nothing stays the same for ever. I consider I'm fortunate to have had nearly a decade within one organisation - but I've experienced redundancy 3 times, which - if it taught me anything - drilled into me that I am not indispensable, and that I must constantly change & reinvent - myself, my service, my abilities. The NHS will change dramatically over the next 3 years - as will the health information provision within it. What's here now probably won't be at the end of that time, not in its current format.
Personally, I see nothing wrong in desiring a smaller, less intrusive state. My informed historical perspective on the obverse gives me either communist or fascist alternatives, both of which I find far less desirable.
-----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 b= ecome 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 lib= rary (physical) and library service? Is that all we do? Provide internet ac= cess & 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:LIS-PROFESSION@JISCMAIL= .AC.UK] 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 o= f 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 is= n't enough - our debt is over $1.04 TRILLION, and climbing.
Councils are increasingly being told to take on more services for health, a= nd 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 counci= l taxes.
I am not a proponent of all-volunteer libraries - but there are surely case= s where, with intelligent management, it's better to have lively volunteers= than a closed building. That should be be a matter for local opinion, & fo= r local discussion.
I have long thought that public libraries could have done much to help them= selves by adapting to current work practices - why are they never open on S= undays, 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 standar= d, and it will be as taken for granted as is the supply of clean water dome= stically. Couple that with the rise of electronic books & readers, & a libr= ary building - plus the people inside it - almost become irrelevant.
Assuming our working lives are extending ever further, it's also possible t= hat 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:LIS-PROFESSION@JISCMAIL= .AC.UK] 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= =3D es are being moved to the internet.
Online tax returns, National concessionary travel Bus Pass, Universal credi= =3D ts and benefits now presume citizens have internet access.
Ministers assure us that if claimants don't have internet access at home, t= =3D hey can go to the Library for IT
Adrian, Headingley
________________________________________
From: Library and Information Professionals [[log in to unmask]]= =3D On Behalf Of Clark, Ian ([log in to unmask]) [ian.clark1@CANT= ERBU=3D 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 = =3D grave concerns about the future for public libraries in the UK, and the= gov=3D ernment=3D92s intentions towards them. Whilst some of the contents= come as n=3D o great surprise, we are deeply troubled by how this report w= ill be interpr=3D eted by library authorities across England.
According to the report, community libraries run by volunteers are a viable= =3D alternative to a service provided by paid and trained staff (both prof= essi=3D onal and non-professional). We simply do not agree with this concl= usion. =3D Volunteer libraries are not a sustainable long-term option and = simply offer=3D many councils a quick fix or a useful tactic to shift resp= onsibility for p=3D roviding the service from the council to the local comm= unity. Very often, =3D this is done despite the local community=3D92s pref= erence for the service to =3D be delivered by the local authority. In effe= ct, this transfer of responsib=3D ility isn=3D92t so much recognition of = =3D93the value of communities being more=3D involved in the provision of l= ocal libraries=3D94 (as the report claims), bu=3D t a way to play on the fe= ars of the community by informing them that they e=3D ither provide the ser= vice, or it will disappear.
Read the full statement here: http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpre=
=3D
ss/?p=3D3D2800
Ian Clark
Voices for the Library
Care, Excel, Innovate
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We have served the people of Lincolnshire since April 2000, providing a com= prehensive range of hospital-based medical, surgical, paediatric, obstetric= and gynaecological services delivered by highly trained staff and voluntee= rs. Every year, we invest in improving our clinical services by replacing a= nd upgrading our medical equipment, modernising our estate and facilities a= nd improving our information and technology infrastructure.
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Care, Excel, Innovate
Apply to be a member of our Foundation Trust. See the web site at www.meht.nhs.uk for further details.
Information in this message may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient please accept our apologies; please do not disclose, copy or distribute information in this e-mail or take any action in reliance on its contents: to do so is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Please inform us that this message has gone astray before deleting it.
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