Funding Cuts and Usage Decline....Which Comes First?

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

I'd argue it's one of those things that the private sector finds difficult or impossible to provide...

No, the private sector in the UK was quite capable of providing libraries. They were known as 'circulating libraries'; big in the 19th century, still going in the 20th century. Boots the Chemists ran one until 1966.

antrobus

princeofpounds wrote: »

...Now I don't know what the right amount of spending on this area is. I don't think every library needs to be a mini-British Library with the world's biggest collection of books any more. Especially if equipped with digital readers.

Being a member of my local public libarary I get free access to all sorts of online resources; OED, ODNB, the Times digital archive etc.

Libraries give us power.

vivatifosi

princeofpounds wrote: »

I realised this utility when I read a blog written by a (temporarily) homeless person, and it was very interesting - he basically had a choice between sitting in a cheap and nasty pub and going to the library if he wanted to be warm and entertained.

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Libraries are where homeless people go in the daytime, when their shelters are shut. Any library in a town with a homeless shelter will have regulars who come in every day for hours. They are generally polite and sit and read the papers and occasionally books or use the computers. Often they are the first in and the last out... that fits in with the opening hours where they are staying.

Some local authorities have introduced services whereby they can register the shelter as their home address in order to borrow books, or to keep books in the library to read there.

wymondham

I think they need to evolve. Ours is starting, and its now a general meeting place where people can carry out their activity in a warm pleasant environment. The local knitting club is there and its always got lots of mother/toddler groups in it.. its turning into a social centre and this is what it has to do...

Norfolk County Council tried to 'lend' electronic books to kindle users, in an attempt to keep up with technology, but this failed as it was:
a: hideously complicated
b: why 'borrow' something that is not 'physical'... seemed a very odd idea!

Generali

antrobus wrote: »

No, the private sector in the UK was quite capable of providing libraries. They were known as 'circulating libraries'; big in the 19th century, still going in the 20th century. Boots the Chemists ran one until 1966.

The big philanthropic streak seems to have deserted the Brits. I wonder if that coincided with "tax 'em 'til the pips squeak" (as Dennis Healey could've said if he wanted to).

michaels

wymondham wrote: »

I think they need to evolve. Ours is starting, and its now a general meeting place where people can carry out their activity in a warm pleasant environment. The local knitting club is there and its always got lots of mother/toddler groups in it.. its turning into a social centre and this is what it has to do...

Norfolk County Council tried to 'lend' electronic books to kindle users, in an attempt to keep up with technology, but this failed as it was:
a: hideously complicated
b: why 'borrow' something that is not 'physical'... seemed a very odd idea!

All my reading is on free e-books from the library downloaded on my home pc (actually I use one of the DKs accounts as I don't have an online log on, not even sure I have an account - if the county look at the stats of who reads what e-books they are probably surprised at what 10 year olds are reading...)

No offense to anyone who works for the local library system but the choice of e-books seems to be generally out of date and rather eclectic.....

vivatifosi

michaels wrote: »

No offense to anyone who works for the local library system but the choice of e-books seems to be generally out of date and rather eclectic.....

Part of the problem is that it isn't always possible to get the digital rights to an author's works. Some publishers just don't allow it, so you have whole series of books that can't be borrowed electronically.

It's a fairly new area though, and will improve. Libraries have had physical books for hundreds if not thousands of years, so getting a good digital offer is going to take a while. Please stick with it, and try the online magazines if you haven't already.

kabayiri

Cough! Excuse me...

This is a library thread.

Could I ask people to type a little quieter please?

[Deleted User]

westernpromise wrote: »

I think public libraries are like public bath-houses, where people who couldn't afford houses with bathrooms would go and rent a bath tub for an hour. Likewise, if you couldn't afford to buy books you borrowed them.

They had their uses in 1916, but in 2016 their time has passed. Libraries likewise. Books are now cheaper than at any time in history so there can be almost nobody who uses a library because they love books but can't afford any.

That's not the case for me. My attitude is - why buy a book when you can read it for free?

I used to buy a couple of books to take on holiday; now I borrow up to 10 ebooks from the library for free and save packing space.

It's not so much the cost/affordability, it simply convenience. I don't even have to go to the physical library any more. It would be better if more books were available on line, but I'm sure that will improve over time.

WR

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

The big philanthropic streak seems to have deserted the Brits. I wonder if that coincided with "tax 'em 'til the pips squeak" (as Dennis Healey could've said if he wanted to).

The interesting thing I've learnt is that the notion of compulsory public library provision is quite recent. 1964 to be exact. Whereas local authorities were given the power to open libraries in 1850, they were not obliged to, only applied to boroughs, not counties, and even needed the approval of a local referendum to do so.

Widespread provision of public libraries seems to not to have emerged until the 1930s. I don't know, but I suspect that it may have been a demand driven thing. Compulsory primary education only started in 1880, and it might have taken a generation or so to create the necessary demand pool.