Lazy Sunday afternoon

With the final assignment for the semester completed and handed in, I can now have another look at this blog.

And first and foremost change the design to something less stereotypical of a librarian.  I hope you all like it.

Plus catch up on a couple of things.  Such as: the link to the article on the York Gate Library I promised you a fortnight ago.

And here is a link to a report causing a stir in library circles in the UK.  Published by KPMG, Payment for Success references libraries as an example of public services that need to be re-thought and how it might be done.  The relevant bits are on pages 18 and 19.  Andrew Motion, former Poet Laureate, has already slammed the report in the Guardian as have library associations and blogs including CILIP, Girl in the Moon, and Information Overlord.

Although libraries and their staffing are not the main thrust of KPMG's report, it is extremely clear that the authors have not visited a public library in a very long time.  If they had bothered to do so, they would have seen that many public libraries have already made the transition to the "vibrant community organisation and space" they call for.  Had they gone into the back-office of a library, they would have seen that the "over-skilled paid staff" do considerably more than stamp and re-shelve books.  They would have discovered that public libraries are not only keen users of computers and the Internet - they also provide Internet access and online databases to their patrons.  And that the use of modern technology is enabling libraries to provide better service and considerably more resources to their patrons.  When I lived in Hertfordshire, every public library there (50 of them) is connected to all of the others and all library patrons in Hertfordshire need only one membership for access to all 50 libraries, all thanks to modern technology.  And given that many of these are small village libraries, this enables them to provide all their patrons with a much larger book/CD/DVD stock than each could manage on their own, and without having to travel long distances to visit the library.  Thanks to the online catalogue, a book held in the library at Abbots Langley can be requested and delivered to the Wheathampstead library for the princely sum of 50p - and given that the bus only goes through Wheathampstead once every two hours during the week and not all during the weekend, this is a tremendous service to the residents of Wheathampstead.

Due to continuous budget cuts, libraries have looked to modern technology to create greater efficiencies, and co-operative ventures between libraries have led to better stocked libraries - which is precisely what the KPMG report is calling for.  Even a brief visit to their local library would have shown the authors that.

And I find myself wondering what KPMG's own corporate library would make of the report.  Although it's probably not called a library any more.

Cheers!

Catherine