http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2012/04/not-brain-surgery-tony-durcan-on-bbc.html. 

"Another senior manager today gave, at best, lukewarm support for the need for paid and qualified library staff.  At the end of  an interview with the highly influential Today Programme this morning, Tony Durcan appeared to say that volunteers could replace paid staff as long as they had a "network of skilled people" to support them.  Mr Durcan is the boss of Newcastle City Council libraries, a former president of the Society of Chief Librarians and a current Councillor of CILIP, the professional body for librarians.   After saying library work was "not brain surgery" he did list a few of the vital jobs that library staff do but then said that volunteers would be equally able to do so as long as they had assistance. It did not appear from context, although this was never explicitly stated, that this assistance had to be in the same library. This will pain many, not least the campaigners in Surrey and Gloucestershire, who wish to keep libraries under council control.  It also appears to go in some way against the official CILIP policy that states:

"If community managed libraries are to be regarded as part of the statutory service they must have a core paid staff, be part of the professionally led public library service and operate within a service level agreement with that parent library service. Volunteers play a valuable role in enhancing the public library service but they are not a replacement for the skills and expertise of staff. All are entitled to a public library service of high quality."

On the other hand, like almost all librarians, Mr Durcan will not be used to being interviewed by national media and it is easy to mean one thing and seem to say another."

 

 

Frances Hendrix

Martin House Farm, Hilltop Lane, Whittle le Woods, Chorley, Lancs, PR6 7QR

Tel:  01257 274 833.   Mobile: 0777 55 888 03