Why I can't get excited about the new Library of Birmingham.

"a new library opening must be a positive thing, right?" - this is a question that was put to me the other day, you see I've not exactly been upbeat or towing the party line on the opening of the new Library of Birmingham.
I just can't get excited about a £189m (or is it? see http://thebirminghampress.com/2013/09/six-years-late-and-way-over-budget/) city centre library when all around it local libraries and library staff are being slashed.
See http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/about-public-libraries-news/information/changes-by-local-authority-a-to-fife for information on cuts to libraries in Birmingham (28% budget cut, 10% cut in opening hours, 37% cut in staffing, colocation, volunteers and low staff morale mentioned)

"yes but it will act as a catalyst", yes a catalyst for more councillors to build more expensive (mostly PFI) city centre vanity projects at the expense of local and rural libraries.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/aug/29/library-birmingham-local-services-austerity
"The new £188m Birmingham Library will open with a fanfare to the public next Tuesday, with 400,000 new books – nearly twice the previous library's capacity – and an eye-catching design by Dutch architects Mecanoo.
At the same time, in other parts of the country, austerity-struck council leaders slash funding for professional librarians and close local library branches or hand them over to be run by groups of volunteers. Campaigners predict that there will be 400 library closures in the next three years."

I, and others, have concerns about the future of project and whether it will remain publicly managed, I/we also have concerns about the commercialisation of the library as touched on in a recent Economist article;

http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2013/09/library-birmingham
"He is equally pragmatic about the need to monetise the library (local authority funding is frozen at 2007 levels): “We need to find ways to generate commercial income, whether that’s from hiring facilities, making a greater success of retail or catering than in the past, or through business sponsorship or private sector philanthropy.” Though no community libraries have closed in Birmingham, library hours and staff will be reduced and much of the core lending facilities will become self-service, he says."

So as you can see I'm not overjoyed and i'm not the only one!

"But Margaret Bailey, of Brent, north-west London, said she would not be sharing in the enjoyment.

She has seen six of her 12 local libraries close since 2011 due to spending cuts and said she was angry so much money had been spent on just one.

"We are told you can't keep libraries open because of the cuts forced by central government and yet Birmingham finds £200m for this," she said.

"If staff are being cut and services being reduced I would not want £200m spent on one library. It makes a bit of a nonsense of them saying there is no money."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-23854509


 

Library Safari anyone?

The first time i heard about a 'Library Safari' i thought it was linked with Under 5 sessions, someone with a guitar singing "we're all going to the zoo tomorrow" but oh no!
A 'Library Safari' is a package offered by Red Quadrant and their partners Konvergence to Library Authorities in order that they can supposedly;

Evaluate the current customer experience

Assess this against experiences in other environments, specifically retail

Delegates will participate in an active practical “safari”, visiting local retail premises to explore the environment, map customer journeys, measure activities etc. They will then apply the same principles within the host library before developing a “plan of action” for their application in their own authority.
They offer an introduction to the concept of "decoding the customer journey", rediscovering and improving libraries using insights gained from a retail perspective.


Now in principle this is a great idea, of course library staff should be familiar with their local environment and community, this should be done automatically as part of the staff induction process and staff should as a part of their day to day work be actively involved in promoting, to use two management terms, 'embedding' and 'engagement'. But, and it's a big but, not with a view to introducing retail models into their libraries.

The other thing that strikes me about this is how do small businesses in the catchment area of a library feel when that library tries to compete in their market place, renting dvds, faxing, scanning, selling books, selling coffee etc etc? I'm sure that they are not very happy about it and i wouldn't blame them after all business is bad enough without a public service trying to muscle in. Not that I'm in any way extolling the virtues of SME's, but you know what I'm getting at.

And why are we trying to muscle in? Well that's something I've discussed many a time, see;
http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/brand-or-ethos.html



 

Brand or Ethos?

I started working in Public Libraries when i was 17 years old, i was brought up in a Marxist household and believed in public services especially libraries and the role they could play in empowering and educating working class communities. I also loved books and reading and was enthralled to have free access to a treasure trove of literature, knowledge and information..

My passion and belief hasn't wained over the years in fact it's grown stronger!

Public services, including libraries are under attack from 'austerity' cuts, commercialisation, deprofessionalisation, privatisation, divestment and library staff are under pressure to conform and 'keep their heads down', something I've never been very good at! This is why more than ever I truly believe that Public Library staff need to re-discover their public service 'ethos' but what do i mean by this? To me it means a commitment to advancing social equity, integrity, pride, listening to and involving the community in service provision, impartiality,  and specifically in relation to public libraries providing free access to information, knowledge and educational opportunities, in other words empowering communities to take control of their own lives. To me it's political as is everything!

I didn't want to work in libraries to improve my own personal 'brand' or to aspire to senior management, for me it's never been about that and anyway career advancement in public libraries is a very difficult path and poorly resourced. I've now got 20+ years experience and due to a nasty re-structuring which meant being downgraded or promoted I'm now a Librarian for the first time which means i have more independence and control but this also poses problems due to personal conflicts of interest and confrontations due to my disagreement with many in the profession about the way libraries are moving.

One of my major disagreements, and i can assure you i have a few, is with the introduction of commercialisation and retail models (see i can refrain from using the word neoliberalism!) into the service, this to me goes against everything that i believe a statutory, publicly funded and accountable library service should be. We see it all around us in the language we use and the approaches we adopt, from calling 'users/patrons' 'customers' to employing consultants to re-brand and market our services. I get really angry when i hear colleagues harp on about the miraculous benefits to users of 'face-on shelving', 'quick reads', bright shiny colours and self serve, do we think the average library user is a moron that can only function in an HMV, Top Shop environment and have we really ever properly asked them if this is what they want or need?

There appears to have been an "unquestioning acceptance" (thanks to David McMenemy for this phrase) of this agenda and it really does puzzle me, why do we as a profession think that we need to accept this, and why are some welcoming it with open arms?
We are allowing ourselves to be hijacked by marketeers and consultants when we have the expertise and knowledge within our own service, we know how to talk to and involve communities and users, we know how to publicise events/services/stock, we know how to make our libraries welcoming and accessible, we know how to innovate, we have been doing all this and more for years!
for a classic example of what's being sold to us a profession see;
https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A2=ind1210&L=LIS-PUB-LIBS&F=&S=&P=65139

So what's happened then, have we taken our collective eye off the ball, have we lost our pride and confidence as public sector workers and instead become caught up in our own profession and careers? I know some of it's got to do with low morale, poor training. out of touch senior management with their own agenda, lack of sector leadership, lack of political will, ideological cuts but surely we have to take some personal responsibility for the state we're in? We have to regain our confidence and pride and start a fight back, unless you are one of those who truly believe it's the best way forward for libraries in which case i suggest that you either apply for a job as a 'wrangler' with Anythink or hope that LSSI or JLIS win some more contracts!

The question is not what can we learn from the retail sector it's what can they can learn from us after all we're the ones with the history, legacy, expertise and oh yes that other "elephant in the 'library' room" (stolen and bastardised from Lauren Smith, sorry!) ethos!