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In today's print edition, THE BOOKSELLER publishes a two page report, Library task force starts work: "A new task force for libraries, which met for the first time this week, will focus its attention on sharing best practice between councils, promoting the role of digital and shaping a workforce for the future." "One of the key aims of the Leadership for Libraries task force will be to highlight to council decision makers the variety of roles that libraries play in their communities - be it boosting health, safety or information agendas. It will also look to help services to share their skills and show case their value." Dr Paul Blantern is quoted as saying "We have to be realistic, we can't save every building. What we're trying to do is build a real library service that is fit for the future." The article ended with a rather self-satisfied comment by Brian Ashley, director of libraries at Arts Council England, "It was a very positive first meeting which provided a very strong basis for our future work." The Editor of THE BOOKSELLER has written a separate editorial, Hearts and crimes: "The library service is falling into its own dystopian tale. The story fits all the tropes: a bleak landscape of buildings far from their former glories and managed into a state of terminal decline by an authoritarian state whose apparatchiks speak the language of obfuscation. A plucky band of supporters fighting on, one day stumbling upon a once magnificent building in Birmingham City Centre, "Goddamn, you," one shouts, "you really did it." "It is too soon tell if Paul Blantern ......can re-write this narrative. In his interview with THE BOOKSELLER (pp04-05), his words are carefully measured. Blantern does not want to overstate his case before he has begun: but he can ill afford another review into libraries to do nothing." Frances Hendrix Martin House Farm, Hilltop Lane, Whittle le Woods, Chorley, Lancs, PR6 7QR Tel: 01257 274 833. Mobile: 0777 55 888 03