tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3998821919569160685.post4032144688454925413..comments2023-10-26T10:56:24.511+01:00Comments on Discover more...: Appetite for instructionSwansea Librarieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07285806207043486922noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3998821919569160685.post-30482028230029918232008-08-01T14:46:00.000+01:002008-08-01T14:46:00.000+01:00There are over 200 library authorities in the UK a...There are over 200 library authorities in the UK and over 3000 actual libraries. The standard is so very varied and influenced by all those points Paige makes so well. Yes we need to be holistic.<BR/><BR/>If you think of the hotel trade if the welcome is poor or the pool cold the star rating is quickly forgotten. However the hotel trade are up front in saying what you can expect and as a customer the star rating influences your expectation. Why not the same for libraries (including inspection, mystery customer and criteria based assessment) Swansea Central **** Newark ** etc..<BR/><BR/>Anyway we do need to get in Motion! and start firing on all fronts and stop the navel gazing …..Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3998821919569160685.post-21215364748650933202008-07-23T13:27:00.000+01:002008-07-23T13:27:00.000+01:00Interesting article indeed, and quite a clarion ca...Interesting article indeed, and quite a clarion call of a response.<BR/><BR/>There’s surely no argument on what you identify as the 3 key areas (well, 4 – as you say, never forget the ‘telling people about it’ bit). I do think you’ll find the devil is in the detail though.. one service’s interpretation of ‘great book stock’ or ‘great information provision’ will differ wildly from another’s currently, and the existing Public Library standards don’t do enough, in my view, to help clarify that situation. As a sector I think we need to be more self critical if we truly want to aim higher. <BR/><BR/>There are pools of very good practice around – and Swansea is one of them (though I admit I may be biased) , but there’s still a lot of mediocrity out there (For fear of causing embarrassment I won’t mention by name the library in England I visited recently which I was truly horrified by). <BR/><BR/>The bright ideas are all out there, and there’s been some good lessons learnt about what works and what doesn’t for libraries, so why haven’t these been taken on board more widely? Are libraries not communicating their successes well enough? Are people like Paige wrong about what constitutes a ‘good’ library service? Are the ‘failing’ services unwilling / unable to change? Is it just inertia holding services back?<BR/><BR/>Lets be honest in debating all this, because I think UK Public Library provision really is under threat unless something changes soon, and that's a heart-breaking prospect.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com