This is very interesting John, 

And strangely familiar. If the BFI is resurrecting it's 1930s focus on school age education with a bit of 'information clearing house' for the general public thrown in, lets hope it doesn't start resurrecting its 1930s politics too. 

Melanie Selfe

On 21 Dec 2010, at 15:22, Hill, John wrote:

For those of you planning to write to Greg and Amanda to express your concern about the lack of value that the BFI attaches to its library, and the research it assists, the extract below from an internal document explains how it is proposed that the BFI's 'library offer' will be oriented towards 'the public' rather than 'researchers and students' (who presumably don't belong to the public). Although we have to be sensitive to the fact that the BFI is faced with cuts, the hit to be taken by the library looks set to be disproportionate (particularly given its relatively low cost compared to other BFI activities).
 
"As a cultural organisation with limited public funding we can no longer afford to offer the levels of service we once did to HE or the depth of information we provide at the moment by phone and email. We believe that there is a market for a free library service, oriented towards the public rather than researchers and students and tied to audience development.
We propose therefore making our library offer part of our public offer, working with our education team to increase schools and young persons’ usage of the Library, whilst trying to retain higher education users through digitised delivery and a research offer at the Conservation Centre. We propose that even within a much-reduced subsidy we will be able to retain this, and deliver the reading room within BFI Southbank space, utilising the Gallery, mediatheque and education project spaces.
We will need off-site storage for much of the Collection, with changes to lead times for booking materials, and development of facilities at the Conservation Centre at Berkhamsted to offer research access (as well as partnered research on projects with our curators)."
 
You may also want to keep an eye on

 
From: Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Turnock, Rob
Sent: 21 December 2010 14:45
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Announcement of Plans for the Future of the BFI Library

Dear All,
 
To add to the misery, it seems that staff involved in BFI Viewing Services will be made redundant. Apparently content will be accessible digitally via the various new services on offer.
 
As many colleagues in film and television studies will be aware, most material is analogue - so how will this work?
 
The good news (acccording to a reliable source) is that BFI press and marketing are mostly unaffected by the cuts.
 
Best
 
Rob Turnock

From: Media, Communications and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) on behalf of Paul McDonald
Sent: Mon 20/12/2010 19:15
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Announcement of Plans for the Future of the BFI Library

Dear All
You may have already received this through other channels but the BFI has set out plans for their future. See

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news/85

Of most interest is likely to be the proposals for the BFI Library, which will see a much reduced service offered at BFI South Bank and the majority of holdings held at Berkhamsted, which is home to the BFI National Archive. So there will be a BFI Library in the future, but not as we know it.

Expressions of concern or despair can be directed to the chairman Greg Dyke ([log in to unmask]) or director Amanda Nevill ([log in to unmask]).

Having just received the renewal of my BFI membership card through the post this very morning, and as the library is the part of the BFI I most care about, I'll be exploring avenues for obtaining a refund.

Best
Paul

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MeCCSA is the subject association for the field of media, communication and cultural studies in UK Higher Education. Membership is open to all who teach and research these subjects in HE institutions, via either institutional or individual membership. The field includes film and TV production, journalism, radio, photography, creative writing, publishing, interactive media and the web; and it includes higher education for media practice as well as for media studies.

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MeCCSA is the subject association for the field of media, communication and cultural studies in UK Higher Education. Membership is open to all who teach and research these subjects in HE institutions, via either institutional or individual membership. The field includes film and TV production, journalism, radio, photography, creative writing, publishing, interactive media and the web; and it includes higher education for media practice as well as for media studies.

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Dr Melanie Selfe
RCUK Research Fellow
Centre for Cultural Policy Research
University of Glasgow
9 University Avenue
Glasgow G12 8QQ
Scotland

Tel: +44 (0) 141 330 2288
Fax: +44 (0) 141 330 4142

The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401

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