Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Haringey to be congratulated for Library Service Statement
HARINGEY Council is to be congratulated for its statement yesterday about its commitment to our library service.
This is in contrast to the plans of some other councils in the country. Haringey's intention to expand the role of libraries, rather than close them, is definitely the right policy.
At least for once the council is leading and for the right reasons, in the right direction.
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Tags for Forum Posts: libraries, public spending cuts, third space
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by GK/OD on
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This article from on the Standard Tuesday, of which I have to say I found I agreed with to a large extent.
During my Fifty years I`ve felt very supportive of libraries, love reading.
Things move on.
I shop for books at charity shops all the time, they`re reasonable and current.
Also have an E-Reader and I love that option.
Having said that I appreciate that not all can have an E- Reader or afford those prices but I do think there is less need for Libraries these days.
I can see a case for them being them cut to some degree.
Anyway the below article is certainly something to think about. Apolgies to those many who have already read it :)
Cue violins, cue voiceover. Yes, we were all brought up in public libraries. We were all rescued by them from a troubled past. They are secular churches, places of meditation, succour and faith. For those with no books, computers, e-books, downloads and childcare facilities, the local library is the last refuge of a civilised society
The trouble is that a dwindling number of people exist in the gap between those who are not remotely interested in books and those who can find literary stimulus without the intercession of the state. In the galaxy of possible cuts to local services, the closure of perhaps a fifth of London's neighbourhood libraries may be sad but does it really constitute what Philip Pullman calls, in the argot of his trade, "the darkening of things"?
For older readers, libraries are like cod-liver oil, Hovis and branch-line steam trains. They evoke nostalgia for lost youth, even if few can state when they last borrowed a book from one. I hesitate to suggest that applies to most of the celebrities who gathered for last Saturday's "shh-in" for Save Our Libraries Day. The truth is that library visits have fallen some 20 per cent over the decade and book borrowing by a third.
When one of my local libraries was threatened with closure a decade ago, we reacted as if the council was proposing to massacre little children. It was like a branch-line closure that would supposedly "cut off" a whole community. No library would mean a swift descent into a cultural abyss. We saved the library and left it to remain what it was, mostly an informal old people's day centre and children's romp room.My present library is more like that of a provincial university that has lost its students. Anyone wanting to browse a book for free has only to cross the road to Waterstone's and settle into an armchair with a friendly cup of coffee. Love them as I may, most public libraries are old-fashioned, run by dedicated evangelicals with a training and skill far outstripping the demands of their customers. Bookshop workers need not be trained; they just need to love books.
I can just recall when the local library was privately supplied by Boots the chemist, run at the back of the pharmacy and charging tuppence a week per book. They lasted until 1966, when they were finally run out of business by ratepayer libraries. There were gloriously musty rooms lined with books at the back of the chemists, where adults would gather and chat over the latest best-seller for hours, while I was allowed my weekly Arthur Ransome.
That said, I could never see why new or second-hand books, entertainment videos and music CDs need to be supplied free on the taxpayer. Opera, theatre and cinema are not supplied free, except in China. What is the difference? I'm sure young people need encouragement to read, though I note that 75 per cent of students now claim to be "too busy" to use a library. But reading is the job of education institutions, not taxpayers.
Besides, the free supply of a product or service by the state clearly drives independents out of business, none more obviously than public libraries have done to private libraries, bookshops and now music stores. I am not clear how that helps the cultural life of the nation, but the state monopoly on book lending is clearly failing to sustain demand. Unlike bookshops, libraries are shut much of the time.Libraries should be a gift to the Big Society movement, which in this case should be the small society. Books are classic recyclable products, as the vitality of second-hand bookselling shows. They are things people lend, exchange, buy, sell and dump on others. Two-thirds of books are bought as gifts, fuelling a natural market in their re-use. Many booksellers survive on people giving them stock for free.
It cannot be beyond our wits to marry bookselling and book borrowing. If a lending library could once have been part of a chemist or W H Smith, why not now? Perhaps it could go into partnership with a local coffee bar, as in one I visited in California. If a community wants to keep its library and is ready to use volunteers to keep it going, let it. Leave it free to levy a parish-style local tax to do so, as for parks and gardens. It is wrong that the unions should have a stranglehold on library employment, which merely increases the chance of their having to close.
The key is to fasten on what matters. Every London borough should have a serious reference library, holding its archives and local history and offering a range of literary activities and events. Local neighbourhoods have other needs. They want a place where book-lovers, lecturers, lenders, borrowers, even buyers and sellers can share space, run not by local or national government but by the neighbourhood itself. In some parts of Scandinavia, fount of much sound localism, libraries are like clinics, services run by neighbourhood voters with local taxes. As it is, inner London still has some 120 libraries, as against 58 in the equivalent area of Paris and just a dozen or so in New York.
In rural areas the cultural life of a
village must find house room in a church or village hall. London is lucky in enjoying a multitude of schools, libraries, theatres, arts centres and, come to that, bookshops. It would be strange if the market in these facilities did not evolve over time. London has a mass of buildings now competing with bookshops to warehouse and distribute books. There must be better ways of doing that.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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The article is by Simon Jenkins. If people follow the link here there are some interesting responses to it.
Although, GK/OD rather than your reproducing the whole article, I'd have been interested to read more about your own views and experiences. About what you read; what you and your family and friends think of Haringey's libraries and how they've changed and should change.
(Tottenham Hale ward councillor)
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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I was heartened to see in the announcement that an expanded role is being contemplated for libraries. I saw one Borough has re-branded their library buildings as Library & Information Centre, which is not a bad approach.I mainly use the local library (Stroud Green) to read a wide range of newspapers and I rarely borrow books that I did in my youth. I am also able to use their DOS-Windows boxes if my internet connection goes down.
The lengthy cut and paste above is relevant, but it might have been better included as a link. Mr Jenkins sees libraries as a form or recreation or entertainment and I think this has been part of the problem. How are they classified? In Haringey during the 1990s the service was passed from pillar to post; at one point it was grouped with sport.
To my mind, the library service should be seen as life-long learning and as an adjunct to education if not part of the education budget. Much of the credit for the excellent position of the Borough's library service must go to the Head of Libraries, Diana Edmonds.
An earlier policy thankfully abandoned some years ago, was to close branch libraries and have only a couple of super-libraries (for the whole Borough). That would suit many people just fine, but it has to be remembered that few people visit libraries if they have to travel more than one kilometre. This tends to disenfranchise the elderly, the young and the disabled.
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Permalink Reply by Helen Riley on
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Here's one response to the article from Annie Mauger, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals which has some facts and figures.
Simon Jenkins states - “The truth is that library visits have fallen some 20 per cent over the decade” - it simply isn’t. The number of visits to public libraries in the UK increased from 318 million to 324 million over the last decade. Issues of children’s books increased from 91 million to 95 million over the same period. Web visits to UK library services have increased by 87.7% over the last four years. 78% of 5-10 year olds use libraries.
6 million adults in this country have serious literacy problems - impacting on their education, employability, health, wealth and well-being. Public libraries help to address these literacy problems. According to recent research published by the National Literacy Trust, children and young people who use public libraries are twice as likely to be above average readers. Public libraries are much more than a room full of books, I suspect Simon Jenkins knows that, but it doesn’t make for such an interesting column."
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Perhaps, as you suspect Helen, Simon Jenkins adopts a grumpy-old-fart persona to spice up his columns. At The Guardian it seems to be catching, with Peter Preston in a similar harrumphing mood about libraries. (With a photo to match.)
But while a few facts are valuable to counter their partly inaccurate views, don't we also have to admit they have some valid points? As does GK/OD.
The book trade has changed radically. So has the way we circulate, store and retrieve information. Kindles, Amazon and Google are changing how we read and find things out. My Bruce Grove colleague Stuart McNamara is fond of asking when more Haringey staff will realise that "Google and a pencil" take you quite a long way. (He's right. But first the control nannies at the top will have to stop treating staff as kids; and let them access the internet.)
I don't know for a fact - but I strongly suspect - that Haringey's libraries are untypical for several reasons. A central and important reason is not simply that - as Clive Carter points out - we have Diana Edmonds. (And let me add that Diana and my partner Zena Brabazon worked together and have remained friends.) It's also that Diana was hired to turn round what was then an officially failing library service and given the resources and backing from the then Leader and Chief Executive to do so. This overrode the normal injelititis prevailing in parts of Haringey Council. (Though don't imagine that all the other services were keen to learn anything from this process.)
A second reason was that most library staff seem to have responded and embraced the change. They are proud of what they (not just Diana) do and have achieved.
And a third reason is that - as sphamilton describes - large numbers of Haringey residents like what our libraries offer; and use and value them. Again to agree with sphamilton, thousands of residents simply don't have space to study or even read quietly for enjoyment. I wonder whether privileged people like Preston and Jenkins even begin to grasp this?
None of this means the existing framework is perfect and has to remain frozen. Nor that the community "hub" model is a panacea. Given the criminal depth and speed of the cuts there are huge risks as we try to limit the worst damage.
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But first the control nannies at the top will have to stop treating staff as kids; and let them access the internet.
Alan: you've made similar suggestions before. Is this an appropriate comment for a responsible councillor to make? Would this not undermine managers? Are you satisfied with the current levels of productivity? After the 'criminal' cuts, is there really still the capacity to surf the 'net on company time? Is there fat yet to cut? Do you think there is a chance that some of the staff might not necessarily be as conscientious as you would be, in their research on Face-space and Mybook?!
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Do you think there is a chance that some of the staff might not necessarily be as conscientious as you would be, in their research on Face-space and Mybook?!
Then they will be fired for not doing their job.
Why punish grown ups for what you think they might do?
The Haringey Green Team are allowed access to social media, far as I can see they use it well and work very hard at their jobs working in the environmental dept (this is based on meeting with some of them and discussing what they do). The Library runs a Twitter feed which provides valuable info about events. If staff used the Internet more they might be as better informed on issues than some of them appear to be at present.
Anyone over the age of 18 who can spend more than 5 minutes on Facebook or MySpace probably wouldn't manage a responsible job anyway.
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I'm sure that many council staff would use the web wisely. Library staff I believe have such access – and are constantly in the public eye. But do to you think there might be a reason why all council staff are currently punished not currently provided with web-surfing facilities?
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Clive, let me give you a straightforward practical example.
Between 4 November 2010 and 3 February I tried to get Haringey Property Services to remove a sofa dumped outside one of their commercial premises. I took photos, posted them on Flickr, and gave them the link. I kept being told the sofa had been removed. The next time I walked past, it was still there.
I reported it again, taking more photos, Same story. Last week I found out they'd been sending contractors to the wrong location. The sofa has now gone. But not other stuff I reported.
You can see and read the whole story here and the latest instalment on Flickr.
Photos, videos, Flickr, and other social media sites are not the solution to every problem. But they are a valuable tool. Residents (and councillors) can show as well as tell staff about problems.
Liz and I have also used our own Flickr pages as a complementary way to comment on problems and suggest solutions.
An automatic block on almost all social media websites makes as little sense as banning people from bringing magazines and newspapers to work - in case someone reads something non-work related. Or banning mobile phones because staff might be tempted to ring friends and family.
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Alan could you also email this information to the party whose responsibility is to deal with it?
makes as little sense as banning people from bringing magazines and newspapers to work - in case someone reads something non-work related.
– how about portable TVs? I'm sure one could argue there are some work-related programmes on the telly. But do you think there might just be a tiny possibility of misuse? Surely the line has to be drawn somewhere on entertainment-at-work?
Don't forget that the staff is supposed to be there to perform a task and that they are paid to perform that task and not least, paid by the rest of us.
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"Alan could you also email this information to the party whose responsibility is to deal with it?"
Clive, I do exactly this. It's what the Council asks councillors to do. For routine stuff I use Haringey website Report a Problem page. (As that doesn't have a facility to send photos, I occasionally give the Flickr link.)
My ward colleague Cllr Reg Rice had also reported dumping at Property Services managed forecourt - with no success. He used the website. As had residents who told us nothing was done. Understandably because the Property Services Team are trying to operate with failing systems.
When routine reports don't solve a problem (or it seems to be complex) councillors are asked to use the Member Enquiry system. If you click here you'll see this is what happened with the famous blue sofa.
You ask if portable TVs should be banned from workplaces. Technology has overtaken your question. See John McMullan's comment.
The solution is not bans and blocks. Properly run organisations need sensible rules for grown-up professionals, overseen by competent managers.
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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I recently made a flytipping complaint and posted it on youtube. Don't worry Alan, the enforcement staff saw it on their iphones whilst sitting in the office. They probably get onto facebook from there too but don't tell Claire Kober, I'm sure she knows how to erect a Faraday cage at New River House.
Interesting point about Simon Jenkins and privilege. The only working class journalists I am aware of in Britain that don't peddle salacious smut for a red-top write about football (I could cry sometimes when I see how obviously talented they are). Even the politically left wing writers don't need to earn money for what they write (witness the success of the Huffington Post which did not pay its writers). Simon Jenkins probably has a lovely bloody library in his house.
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