Library wasting money

BigAl94

Another example of how crap and unfit for purpose our public sector is. Complain to local press and MLA's.

caz2703

CL wrote: »

It was the same when I was in hospital having our baby. Heat blasting, windows open. And two weeks ago when I took the baby to be weighed at the health visitor's drop in clinic, and even with the windows open the heat was unbearable.

I had my LO in the Ulster back in March and the heat could have killed you. I had to have the windows blasted open, even at night to try and cool the place down. Go figure that the midwives drum it into you that the baby should be sleeping at between 18-21C yet the hospital must be closer to 30C if I have to open a window at midnight to stop myself fainting.

bingo_bango

My office (NICS) has heating turned off and it won't be back on until October. Even if it is on, we close half the radiators down so it doesn't have to work so hard.

Bigger issue is the greenhouse effect during the summer as we don't have Air Con. It's like working in the Bahamas at times.

Golden_Anemone

bingo_bango wrote: »

Bigger issue is the greenhouse effect during the summer as we don't have Air Con. It's like working in the Bahamas at times.

This is common bingo bango but closing window blinds on South-facing windows before the sun heats up makes a huge difference.

Let's hope we have reason to wish we had air con this summer.

Polly

My friend works in Admin for the Health Service and last winter, when we were all struggling to pay huge bills for oil, she was going to work in t-shirts as the office was so warm. I work in the private sector and am horrified by this waste of public money.

SnowyOwl_2

Newry library has recently reopened after a big refurbishment. I went in today and it appears that they have got rid of approximately 90% of the books. It's all white walls and white fittings and wooden floors and very minimalist. There's also a big space for exhibitions - a sum total of 15 paintings in an area that could house the entire children's section or all of the entire old non-fiction section...but no, 15 ficking paintings are more important...

Snoozle

I feel compelled to point out that this is not always the case in the public sector. A few years ago I worked in the finance dept of one of the health trusts. We were in temporary buildings (temporary since the early 70s, from what the older staff told me), and they were in such poor condition that a private sector employer would probably have been terrified to put staff in them for fear of being sued. In stormy weather, the rainwater ran down the inside of the office walls, often causing the electricty to blow. The central heating didn't work, and we had our blow heaters confiscated because they too caused the electricity to go off with a bang. For about four months of the year, it was coats, scarves and gloves at your desk, because you would have been numb with the cold otherwise.

I also worked in one of the local councils, where although the offices were modern, and admittedly were warm enough, there was no hot water available for handwashing - they refused to pay to have it plumbed in.

My OH works in the health service, and their heat is switched off in April and not put back on until October, regardless of weather, so when you get an unusually cold snap outside the winter months, its tough luck. OH was brought up in a house with no central heating, so it suits him fine, but he often mentions that the rest of the staff are sitting with their coats and gloves on during colder weather.

So, just to draw attention to the other side of things, its not a given that in the public sector you are sitting in luxury surroundings, living it up at everyone else's expense.

real1314

Polly wrote: »

I work in the private sector and am horrified by this waste of public money.

I work in the public sector and I am horrified at the waste of money. Mind you, it happens in the private sector too. That impacts on consumers and we all have to pay more on that basis too.

dumbo

SnowyOwl wrote: »

Newry library has recently reopened after a big refurbishment. I went in today and it appears that they have got rid of approximately 90% of the books. It's all white walls and white fittings and wooden floors and very minimalist. There's also a big space for exhibitions - a sum total of 15 paintings in an area that could house the entire children's section or all of the entire old non-fiction section...but no, 15 ficking paintings are more important...

I also was in Newry Library yesterday SnowyOwl & all I could see was a total waste of taxpayers money, adults now have to go up to the 2nd floor for a book & children to the 1st floor, personally I think the library did not need the huge refurbishment & money spent that it had. I was told by an insider that the reason for the huge refurbishment was that they had to make the 2nd floor accessable to disabled people, fair enough as the lift only went to the 1st floor, but could this not have been done without the other unnesessary refurbishment that was carried out at a much lesser cost & the heat was blasting in this Library with all the windows open.

Who asks the taxpayer if they want to spend their money like this?

SnowyOwl_2

dumbo wrote: »

I also was in Newry Library yesterday SnowyOwl & all I could see was a total waste of taxpayers money, adults now have to go up to the 2nd floor for a book & children to the 1st floor, personally I think the library did not need the huge refurbishment & money spent that it had. I was told by an insider that the reason for the huge refurbishment was that they had to make the 2nd floor accessable to disabled people, fair enough as the lift only went to the 1st floor, but could this not have been done without the other unnesessary refurbishment that was carried out at a much lesser cost & the heat was blasting in this Library with all the windows open.

Who asks the taxpayer if they want to spend their money like this?

I totally agree about the idiocy of them putting the most used sections of the library onto higher floors. This will do nothing to maintain or increase the number of users of the place which in the longer term will jeopordise the library's very existance. If they really had to have that silly exhibition space it should have gone into the most awkward to get to spot - anyone interested would seek it out. I didn't notice the heat - I was too busy trying to find books!