This is an incredibly good account of the state of the Art
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/04/libraries-dvds>
> Save our libraries ... but not our gross-out
comedy DVDs
>
> These temples of learning have been under attack for
years ? depleted of
> professionals and filled with council
money-spinners
>
> Sophia Deboick
> Thursday February 3
2011
> guardian.co.uk
>
>
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/04/libraries-dvds>
>
> I have been a member of my local
library since I was four. I am still
> using the library card I was given
when I first joined (its authenticity
> is proven by the fact that it is
signed by my mum, not me), and it is
> probably the public service that I
make the most use of. Despite this, I
> wasn't as enthusiastic as many
about Philip Pullman's call to arms in
> defence of libraries
>
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/jan/27/philip-pullman-defend-libraries-web"
> title="Guardian: Philip Pullman's call to defend libraries resounds
around
> web] against funding cuts. Last year I worked part-time in
a small branch
> library, and what I found there was a service which,
after a long process
> of erosion, no longer offers what many think our
public libraries should.
>
> I worked alongside the most dedicated
staff imaginable. They were keenly
> aware of the crucial role the
library played as the hub of the local
> community, were on first-name
terms with regulars and ran the parent and
> toddler groups with huge
enthusiasm. We had no professional librarian,
> however, and the
information and research service that had once been the
> library's
backbone had been outsourced to a council-run call centre. This,
> and
the installation of self-service issuing machines, deprived staff of
>
the chances for real interaction with the public that they had once
>
enjoyed. Already, years of cut-backs had chipped away at the integrity of
> the librarian's role.
>
> I quickly found that the "temple
of learning" ideal of the library, as
> author and journalist Carl T
Rowan described it
>
[http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_library_is_the_temple_of_learning-and/201912.html"
> title="Thinkexist: Quote], was long gone. Very little study space was
> available and the book stock did not suggest great ambitions for the
> community it served. Misery memoirs and celebrity biographies abounded.
> Any decent books were hoarded at the central library and there was
usually
> only one copy of non-fiction hardback titles for the whole
county. DVDs
> were a central part of our offering. Although partly
justifiable as
> money-spinners, I still found it profoundly depressing
that we had a whole
> wall of gross-out comedies and spoof horror films,
while the literary
> classics section was afforded all of two feet of
shelving space. Libraries
> should be about leisure as well as learning,
but there comes a point when
> entertainment has taken over from
education as the primary focus.
>
> Another matter of concern was
the abuse of the library for any function
> the council saw fit. Staff
time was often taken up with purely
> money-making activities, such as
selling garden waste bags. With the
> council needing to make over ?120m
of savings, this emphasis on revenue
> raising and treatment of libraries
as convenient depots for council
> services ? with nothing to do with
information, education and culture ?
> can only get
worse.
>
> New initiatives in recent years have undoubtedly added
value to the
> traditional library model, as was recently noted by John
Harris
>
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jan/11/north-yorkshire-libraries-cuts-closures-big-society"
> title="Guardian: Librarians: 'We do so much more than shelve books and
say
> shhh']. Libraries are run very differently by different local
authorities,
> and many are no doubt better than my experience suggests.
Having spent
> last summer signing-up kids for the national Summer
Reading Challenge
> [http://www.summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/"
title="Summer Reading
> Challenge] , and also having witnessed what a
vital social role libraries
> can play for the most vulnerable, I see
much to defend in the service and
> I will be supporting Save Our
Libraries Day
>
[http://www.cilip.org.uk/get-involved/advocacy/public-libraries/Pages/savelibrariesday.aspx"
> title="Save Our Libraries Day] on Saturday. But we need to be honest
about
> the state of the service that we are fighting to save if we are
going to
> make a credible argument for providing healthy levels of
funding to
> libraries.
>
> The promotion of a love of
reading and of learning that Pullman sees as
> the essence of the
library's role has been under attack for many years. A
> key part of the
effort to protect our library services should be a public
> discussion
about what we want from it, and uncritical, sentimental
> defences are
not helpful. We should be supporting our libraries, but we
> should also
be shaping them ? something that is impossible if we view them
> through
rose-tinted spectacles. We need a clear-sighted reassessment of
> the
realities and a meaningful engagement with the decisions that are
> made.
Ultimately, if we decide that the "temple of learning" model is
> indeed
the one we want, we will have to turn the clock back, not simply
>
preserve the current, often degraded, service.
>
>
> If you
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>
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