BJ LIBRARY CUTS TO SERVICE – One suggestion
***The council’s cabinet member for culture and community, Coun John Cottee, said: “We’re looking to develop new community library partnerships with parish councils and voluntary bodies in these areas to encourage greater community involvement with these valuable assets.
“It’s not a case of replacing existing library staff, but working to improve the proposed service using community resources which already exist.
“We don’t have a specific ‘one-size-fits-all’ model in mind at all for these partnerships – quite the reverse.
“We want the library service to work for the individual communities it serves.”.
We at BJO have tried unsuccessfully, since mid October, together with the assistance of Cllr Allen Clarke to obtain dialogue with the Notts CC. On the subject of BJ Library future - Hopefully this subject can now sensibly addressed
However we suggest that clarification of several basic points are required and should be confirmed before the involvement of the community WHY?
1) Originally Notts CC announced that BJ Library services would be cut to approx 10 hours/week – This in itself is not a major problem PROVIDING the new hours available satisfy the access requirements of the vast majority of the community. What are proposed day/hours opening
2) After 2.5 months of “behind door” discussions suddenly extra finance appears and low and behold BJ Hours are increased to 15 hours/ week – with 2X Library assistants – Can the opening hours be increased to 30 hours with the addition” Volunteer” library assistance.? ( they have found £70,000 ??)
3) What guarantees are available to the community for the future stability and ongoing presence of the BJ Library - if the Community Volunteers rally round at this time what future guarantees do they have?
4) The suggestion from the Notts CC representative was that a “Library Support Group” could be created to promote and assist in maintaining the presence of a BJ Library - The Notts CC would continue to provide and finance the premises, together with official staffing and administration - The community simply provides additional volunteer s - supplementary staffing assistance. Regretfully with this particular option there appears to be little or no influential pressure available from/for the community to exercise.
5) As a community we need to seriously consider the option of a Community controlled Library Support Group – independent and divorced from a DIRECTLY controlled Notts CC controlled group – not integrated yet completely separate from the influence/persuasion of any our local administrations (BJPC, GBC , Notts CC). This action could provide a strong and positive influence relative to possible future library decisions by the NCC
6) There are signs that within the BJ community/residents (with its numerous village interest groups), there is the expertise , experience , initiative and will to establish a B J Library Support Group – we trust our optimism is in not misplaced
The past Labour Government commissioned a study on the future of our National Libraries - this is their summary dated early 2010
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Summary of Library Environment 2020 & Implications for the BL 2020 |
Implications for BL |
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The size of the network is likely to be reduced on many fronts, and this consolidation - already visible - will continue towards 2020. Opportunities provided by advances in digital technologies will have become imperatives as a result of growing economic pressures to cut costs, and consumer demand for further disintermediation. This may manifest itself as follows: |
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Copyright libraries may specialise at points along the legal deposit value chain, from preservation of physical items to end-user services such as resource discovery, digital access interfaces.
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The BL will provide the infrastructure for e-legal deposit, but where does this position it within the e-legal deposit value chain, and how does this position impact the BL's brand and reputation among policymakers, other libraries and end-users?
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There will be more joined-up resource discovery and access services (where licensing permits) across the European & global library network. (Size of network may only reduce within nations.)
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BL needs to ensure 'maximum discoverability' of its assets is built into all infrastructure developments
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Third party organisations and consumers will invent new business models by mashing up digital assets with value-added services on web and mobile platforms
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The BL can play a significant role in this by unlocking access to out of copyright content by multiple methods as a matter of urgency
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Summary of Use of Libraries 2020 & Implications for the BL 2020 |
Implications for BL |
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Requirements for information services will continue to increase, but this will not translate into an increase in visits to libraries. Aging population, environmental issues, increased bandwidth, and better online services are all expected to contribute to a decrease in travel. |
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To "Go to the Library" will have a different connotation from today. A paradigm shift will have occurred in the minds of researchers from "visiting the library to access information" to "visiting the library to work, to discuss, to present, to share".
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BL’s onsite information services will need to be as slick, as digital, as seamless and as quick as offsite. Sustainability of the estate may depend on the quality of online information service propositions.
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Separation of building and information services will continue. New spaces will be flexible, providing venues for other functions. Old spaces will be reconfigured.
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Onsite facilities need to be flexible to accommodate a variety of usage scenarios, including 3rd party use and hire of facilities.
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Information will be provided online (including to mobile devices) through secure portals to registered members of different library "communities".
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Online access to BL content should be a priority activity, with significant investment / programme resources, including renegotiation of licenses where required.
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Physical visits to the library will continue to decline, but use of resources will increase if visible. [National Library of Australia catalogue usage was reported to double in 2008 when migrated to open source software visible to Google]
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BL catalogue (the collection of descriptions of content assets) must be completely open, visible to all general and specialist web searches. Digital content must be accessible from a variety of interfaces (licensing permitting).
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In general, people will continue to use the information that is most easily accessible and available to them. This means online from anywhere, or rather, everywhere. Specialist researchers will go the extra mile (or two) because that is their occupation. However, disciplines that are not supported by first class digital resources may dwindle.
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This may influence if / how BL decides to specialise. Scholars should be invited to co-produce services based on digital collections.
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The most successful services will operate seamlessly in what we now call web 2.0/3.0 environments - mash up of 3rd party apps and content based on semantic rules. (E.g. NLA’s catalogue uses Google TOCs in search, provides links directly from catalogue entry to Gutenberg for OOC access, and to social site LibraryThing for reviews / suggestions.)
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BL should not develop stand alone / silo'd services, but become a part of the networked information environment, by providing information tools, widgets, content assets and metadata that transcend BL buildings and websites.
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Overview of environmental drivers Political |
pressure to: quantify value & return on investment improve access to info for all form public / private partnerships
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Economic |
constraints forcing: cost-cutting income diversification specialisation organisations to extract more value from less (money, land, space, people)
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Social |
pressure to: provide always-on, accessible from anywhere, DIY services meet needs of digital natives (all next generation researchers) serve an aging population that may travel less
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Technical |
challenges to: keep up with the curve manage more risk
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Legal |
constraints to: distribution and use of digital resources in research & learning aligning with international infosphere
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Environmental |
targets to: use less space, more efficiently adopt flexible, multi-use estate strategies
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Many other local authorities though out the country have been considering remedial changes for libraries for some time now . It has been reported that over 100 groups from Paddington , Dorset to the Wirral set about rectifying the situation
It is the Culture Minister’s mind to reach out thro libraries to “digitally excluded people and support them to become confident digital citizen by the end of 2012”
While UK Libraries use falls, Wales reverses the decline. Totally visitors across Wales rose from 13.9 million in 2008/09 to 14.7 million in 2009/10 and increase of 5.4%
Peter Finch chief executive of Academi, the Welsh National Literature Promotion Agency said the figures proved the benefits of todays’ change to modern multi media centres .
“I am really pleased to see that the declining use of libraries has been stopped. I think this is the policy to turn libraries into MERDIA CENTRES rather than just repositories of books”
We should encourage the younger teenage generation in our community to participate, contribute and integrate their own unique talents/interests with parents, seniors and community elder groups interests
WE SHOULD TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE HUGE LIBRARY and DIRECT DOWNLOAD POTENTIAL (FREELY AVAILABLE) BY THE “ OPEN UNIVERSITY”
Finance - How can this initiative be financed? - Suggestion
Together with LA endorsements, - approach local businesses and services for a nominal annual donation ie Notts CC, Gedling BC, BJ Parish , say £1000 each =£3000 +
There are 100+ local business who advertise locally – can we persuade each of them to donate £25+ annually towards the initiative ?
£3000 +£2500 = £5500 pa
These donations together with others which are there to be solicited from Charities etc can certainly introduce an early, ongoing contribution to the initiative
What are the BJ Community views
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