Peter A:
>But they often are central, aren't they - or am I just lucky in where I have lived? In reverse order, I have lived in:
>Saffron Walden: Library in the Market Place Great Shelford: Library in a main shopping street Cherry Hinton: Library in the main shopping street
>Cambridge: Library in a major shopping development less than five minutes walk from the centre of the city.
I also live in Cambridge and was going to say the same thing, it's changed the entrance from the ground to first floor but it's still pretty much in the same physical place, now between 2 shopping centres (Grand Arcade and Lion Yard). But I was in Taunton on Tuesday and they are the same, right next to a shopping centre with the TIC and a cafe. Or Norwich where it is above the market place and has other resources in the same building.
I suppose It's easier to make a library a central focus, or indeed 'redo' the library (air conditioning, IT facilities, café, better organised shelving, automated checkout systems) when an area is being redeveloped. I can't imagine you can just plonk a library in the old Woolworths or in a rapidly emptying shopping centre everywhere it might be useful. Although in some places that might be a great idea, especially if the major landlord is indeed the council and the requirements are lower.
Depends on expectations maybe? The idea of having lots of smaller library branches as we do in Cambridge for a relatively small population might be seen as mad to some towns.
And because they are on the outskirts doesn't mean that they are not in society, in fact they might be more in society being near a housing estate rather than being next to Iceland and Boots on the High Street.
A couple of miles from that housing estate might sound nothing to you or I but to the people that would need to get a bus or taxi to go that far you have just deprived them of an important service. I've found it really interesting seeing where some libraries are in different towns I've been to around the country.
Kevin
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Kevin Symonds
Library and Information Services Manager
Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
15 Chaucer Road
Cambridge
CB2 7EF
http://www.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk
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-----Original Message-----
From: Library and Information Professionals [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter M Adams
Sent: 13 June 2013 16:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: CILIP rebranding general meeting
On Thu, 13 June, 2013 11:13 am, FARMER Nicky wrote:
> With apologies for veering off the topic - I would like to see
> Libraries integrated much more into society i.e.. placed inside
> shopping centres/on the high street so they are in the centre of town
> rather than in the outskirts as so often is the case.
But they often are central, aren't they - or am I just lucky in where I have lived? In reverse order, I have lived in:
Saffron Walden: Library in the Market Place Great Shelford: Library in a main shopping street Cherry Hinton: Library in the main shopping street
Cambridge: Library in a major shopping development less than five minutes walk from the centre of the city.
Before that I lived in a small village which had no library - but it did have a most efficient (and very central) information centre: the village shop; ten minutes waiting to be served, at the right time of day, and you learned all the latest local news!
Cheers
Peter A
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Peter M Adams
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