View from the Chair:

The refurbishment continues apace .........
Those visiting the Mobile Library or Manor House Gardens will have seen the eastern wing of the building has been removed. In its place, will rise the new eastern wing, housing the new lift entrance for the disabled, infirm and mums with buggies. At the Project Board meeting on 11th February it was disclosed that the Children’s library will remain where it is - a relief for many of our members who were concerned at the alternative plan.
There will be no computer suite as such. The same number of computers agreed, will be scattered throughout the library floor and basement.
The management of the basement complex will fall to the crèche manager who will effectively sub-let the classrooms in a complex deal of paper-money shuffling, which they told us will meet the commitments of the business model.
At the most recent "Safer Neighbourhood Team" panel meeting, Peter asked the police to keep a good eye on the property, as Kingswood is not contracted to provide security coverage, 24/7.
The Mayor’s Commission on Learning and Libraries: news of this came "by way of". But, then, who is aware of the Mayor’s Commission on Empowerment of Local Communities (that was last year). The latest Commission is to plan the future of both libraries and Adult Education. It appears set to merge the library service, in some way, with Adult Education, and involve the "third sector". Out of 20 members 3 spaces are allotted to users. It appears our group is not regarded as representative of Lewisham Libraries per se, rather, we represent only Manor House library. In fact, because no group is said to fit the bill, it was decided by Martin O’Brien, the Strategy Officer, that there will be no Library Users represented on the Commission. Instead a library "professional" will take on that responsibility.

FACE TO FACE: Prior to this, the new Chief Executive of Museums Libraries and Archives, Rear Admiral Roy Clare " who was so successful at The Maritime Museum" was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s midday programme "You and Yours". Mr Clare determined that "the public received the libraries they deserved...." which prompted me to write to him and explain after 8 years of almost full time work trying to make libraries better, and failing, the fact is, no one in Authority actually listens. Mr Clare was surprised at my anger and frustration, and so forwarded my letter to our Mayor. Subsequently, our Mayor replied - a copy of which was sent to me by Mr Clare. In it, our Mayor eulogised Downham Library, suggesting its "30,000 visits" in the months of Autumn last year was indicative of the success of the ‘new idea’ of libraries tucked in to multi-use leisure complexes. In other words, box ticked! This is obviously the new "way ahead", for example, see what Greenwich has already done at Eltham.
But, let’s investigate those statistics. Downham Library is open for 80 hours per week. In November 2007 there appeared to have been 36,354 visitors. As the visitor counter is situated at the entrance to Costa Coffee it does not only measure library/IT visits. Anyone who visits the café gets counted. Downham provides a Fitness Suite, Pool, Library, Computer Classrooms, Meeting Rooms, Exhibition Spaces and a Medical Centre – all served by the café. Issues for the same month were only 10,105 items, such as books/CDs/DVDs etc. Not very good, if true.
Even more disappointing is that the issue figures for January and February which are 4,592 and 3,267 respectively.
Historic Data: Mr. Clare and the Mayor may also not be aware that in 2002/03 Lewisham registered as one of the 20 councils lending the least. The 5 year change from 1998/99 - 2002/03 was -31.7%. (source CIPFA "actual" data). It is difficult and expensive for "little people" to obtain full CIPFA figures.

PHOTOGRAPHY RECORD:

In view of the limited recorded evidence of previous refurbishments, I requested, and obtained from Hilary Renwick at the Council, permission to photograph the progress of the building works. The first series of photographs were taken shortly before the building closed for the clearance of books and etc. Consequently, we have a complete record of how the building was before this refurbishment began. Subsequently, some external photographs were obtained showing the demolition of the east wing. Further internal photography is expected to follow.

G BARING ARCHIVE VISIT:
We have alerted the Baring Foundation that the refurbishment has begun and in relation to the generous gift the Foundation offered us so many years ago, we have been asked to furnish some dates whereby they can arrange for us to visit the Baring Archives, select some materials with a view to decorating ‘The Baring Room’ – one of the Function Rooms – on the first floor. This must be done soon in order to be ready for installation as the rooms are finished.

Peter

THE STANDARDS Those Public Library Service Standards ....

2001 - The launch, which saw the end of Annual Library Plans!
2003 - Review, following Framework for the Future
2006 - Revision, followed by some being dropped, amendment and dilution
PLSS 1: Proportion of households living within specified distance of a static library (Inner London is 1 mile)
PLSS 2: Aggregate scheduled opening hours per 1,000 population, per library
PLSS 3: Percentage of static libraries providing access to electronic information resources connected to Internet.
PLSS 4: Total of electronic workstations with access to the internet and libraries catalogue, available per 10,000 population
PLSS 5: REQUESTS – to meet, 50% within 7 days
to meet, 70% within 15 days
to meet, 85% within 30 days
PLSS 6: Number of library visits per 1000 per population
Targets – 7,650 in Inner London boroughs (ALL visits count)
PLSS 7: % of library users 16 and over who view their library service as:
Very good, good, (target is 94%)
adequate, poor, very poor
PLSS 8: % of library users under 16 who view their library service as:
Good (target is 90%), adequate, bad
PLSS 9: Annual items added (216) through purchase per 1,000 population
PLSS10: Time taken (6.7 years) to replenish the lending stock on open access, or available on loan.

2009 – We then move on to the Public Library Performance Indicators. These will not be mandatory.
The last 7 years are rich in irony. The standards helped produce the following.

The Irony: as it is recorded by CIPFA, the year 2006 to March 2007. FIGURES AS REPORTED IN "THE BOOKSELLER"

Total spend on Public Libraries, give or take, £1,000,000,000 p.a.
Spending on books? DOWN, 0.7% to £100.3m
Over the previous 12 months (2005/06) the drop had been 1.6%
Book stock? DOWN, from 104.9m to 103.2m, a fall of 1.6%
Book issues? DOWN, from 323.1m to 314.7m, a fall of 2.6%
Library visits? DOWN, 1.4% to 337.3m
Don’t even think about the "DOWNS" over 10 years! Refer previous newsletters. At least the numbers of BOUGHT books have risen. The gap has to be filled somehow!!

The Year of reading, courtesy of our Prime Minister, it may be, but that is only a title.

The director of operations at CIPFA said, "This survey illustrates the major role libraries still play in the cultural life of our towns and cities.....libraries are at the heart of our communities and need to be given the strongest support".
MLA said "the figures highlighted the massive popularity of public libraries"
The new CEO at MLA, who we introduced in our November 2007 newsletter, Roy Clare said: "The best run library authorities make their money go a long way, building on the quality provision of traditional library services with innovative new ones. Today’s statistics provide important information that library authorities can examine in order to compare their performance, learn from the best, and strive for excellence."

And more of him elsewhere!!

And heard on the grapevine......
Fewer staff may be having an impact on behaviour of some members of the public in our libraries.
Reports are already beginning to filter through of previously unheard of unpleasant incidents occurring

DATES FOR THE DIARY – 2008 1) The Library and Information Show is at the NEC Birmingham 23-24 April 2008 (2) The Library Campaign holds its AGM on 10th May 2008, details later. (3) FOURTEENTH LLL WORKSHOP TO BE HELD AT 7.30 p.m. on 5th JUNE 2008 at CAMDEN TOWN HALL Speaker , Flick Rea, Executive Member for Culture with the London Borough of Camden, Chair of the London Development Agency and Member of MLA London, will tackle "Public Library Performance Indicators" All Library Friends, Campaigners and Users are welcome.

Improving opportunities for learning battles the desire for efficiency gains

ASK UNISON: Unison puts its money where its mouth is by supporting The Library Campaign with an annual grant. Unison has now produced its own leaflet, *(DEFEND THE PUBLIC LIBRARY SERVICE) which has been sent to all local councillors and Unison branches.
In brief it states that public libraries are "essential to the social, educational, cultural and economic well-being of local communities."
Huge pressures on public spending, which are getting worse, result in closures, loss of professional staff, loss of highly qualified reference librarians, longer opening with no extra resources, fewer books, little money for maintenance and "a shift away from books to computer services." We have covered clear examples from across London, and many more across the country.
*Copies (A5), plus a petition to "Defend the Public Library Service", can be downloaded: www.unison.org.uk/localgov/library.asp

LOCAL TRENDS:
A silver lining ...... at a local level, thus far the Mobile library, stationed at the Manor House site, has shown the best figures for attendance, as compared to its use at Downham and Forest Hill. This may be due to the Mobile being retained directly on site.
We are keeping an eye on the Downham and Forest Hill figures, hoping for improvements so will report in the next newsletter.
We also know what the projected spending for Lewisham’s Library Service Budget 2007/08 will be, now that the overall budget is prepared. It is provisionally set at £3.9m, of this £480,500 will be spent on stock, primarily books.
We are sorry to report that Sophie Hamilton, the Agency Librarian who took over from Niall Devitt (another Agency Librarian), who was to see us through the move and re-opening) had her contract curtailed. We would like to express our thanks as she dealt ably with an awkward situation. All Agency staff have been dismissed.
Fortunately, we still have familiar faces to greet us.
And sadly, we have discovered that all the furniture and oak shelving that was in Manor House Library, has been crushed and skipped by Kingswood, the contractors.

Independent achievement:

Ralph Winkler (former librarian at Manor House, now at Sydenham) was inspired by taking Manor House Library Reading Group and saw the distinct potential for the benefit of ESOL students. Read about this on www.librarylondon.org

ASK YOURSELVE........about
Lewisham’s Library Service: Do you find on the shelves, on the racks, stock that you wish to borrow?
Does the service fulfil your needs?
Do you feel that lower staffing levels and fewer qualified staff will have an adverse effect on the quality of the service and overall security?
Are you looking elsewhere for material e.g. books, discs, reference material, IT usage? Is the IT service satisfactory?
Do you use library services in other areas? What are the attractions?

Libraries afresh, or the library clone, C21st style:

Downham, a new library building was covered in November. Forest Hill has re-opened after its refurbishment. Eltham has been refurbished but is tacked on to and opens out into the new Greenwich College and Leisure Centre. None is a joy to be in.
Eltham seems about the best with a relatively large book collection, an attractive Children’s Library, separate but included, and with its own children’s toilets. The Teen Library and computer areas are separate, but visible and there is study space. Users are getting used to the idea that the staff are mobile and coping with self issue. However, most users are still queuing for personal service. But, eventually self-issue will be rolled out at all libraries. CLONES they are!

Gizmos and Gadgets on the move again …. What better invention than a disposable audio book? Mmmm …. The mi-vox is an MP3 player pre-loaded with a single book. No grappling, listen once, then discard or pass on or recycle. There are 30 titles currently including “The Kite Runner, “The Golden Compass”, another 25 titles are to be added shortly.
Prices range from £9.99 to £24.99. The device is tiny. www.mi-vox.com

Waltham Forest: The sudden closure of the St. James’s library stunned local users, but they immediately mounted a campaign. Libraries for Life for Londoners helped and we forwarded a campaign plan, based on our own, as soon as we were asked.

Elsewhere: Library budgets are being curtailed across the country due to pressures on public spending, partly imposed by central government. Central government has not funded local government as "richly" as before but has loaded on extra costs for new expectations.

The BIG LOTTERY Fund:

ISLINGTON was granted £800,000
HARINGEY was granted over £1m
BRENT was granted about a £1m
Camden received nothing
Lambeth received nothing
Lewisham received nothing. Surely these boroughs could have done as well as the others?

Friends of West Greenwich Library AGM: This was held in West Greenwich Library on the 15th October 2007. Please refer to www.librarylondon.org for a full report of their speaker, Bernard Ashley.

Matters of Concern:

Pillar Down: About a year ago, Peter was concerned enough about the probability that a Fire Service tender would be unable to navigate between the Grade II listed gate posts in the event of an emergency that he contacted Lee Green Fire Station and arranged a Fire Officer visit. It was concluded that the gate posts were indeed just that little bit too narrow to navigate successfully, but, since the tenders were fitted out with ample length of hose, effective fire-fighting could be carried out.

Further, in the event of an emergency evacuation, the Service would be able to ferry ladders to the building and effect an efficient withdrawal of injured persons or the infirm, etc.
Not so the building contractors. In the process of delivering plant at the commencement of the works, the contractors knocked over one of the pillars at the entrance – see picture above. The respective parts have since been removed for careful repair and eventual replacement, we hope.

We are hoping that current and former members will support our group by renewing their membership in the next financial year, which starts on 1st April 2008.
Membership covers regular newsletters, updates and group membership of The Library Campaign and Libraries for Life for Londoners.