The idealist
10th May 2004, 11:27
Extract from the guardian weekly (may 6-12 2004)
Britain's once-proud libraries, founded 154 years ago as "the universities of the street", are starting to die on their feet, according to a report published last week.
They stock too few books, are not open at times that suit the public and are burdened with too many expensive administrators.
Figures on the declining popularity af the service led one analyst to predict that it would cease to exist within 15 years. They have also spurred the Government to call a high-level meeting to try to find the answers to what is seen as a gathering crisis.
The libraries summit, as it is being called, will be convened next month by the media and heritage minister Lord McIntosh. It is expected to generate new guidelines for local councils and librarians.
The analyst, Tim Coates, chose one of the service's rare days of celebration to warn of an apocalypse. As librarians gathered at Westminster with writers to mark the 25th anniversary of public lending right for authors, Mr Coates issued a 25-page report which finds that in the past 10 years the number of libraary users has fallen by 21% while the number of books borrowed has fallen by 35%. At the same time the cost of the service has risen by 39% while spending on buying books has fallen to 9% of total funds.
Mr Coates, a former managing director of the bookshop chain Waterstone's, said a measure of the decline was that, when the public lending right became law in 1979, two and a half times as many books were loaned by libraries as were sold in bookshops. Now the figures are roughly equal at 700.000 books a year.
He recommends that libraries should remain open from early in the morning until late at night and that spending on books and reading materials should be trebled to give reader a better chance of finding bestsellers on the shelves.
Opinions on the article and Mr Coates idea for taking care of the problem?
Personally I am apalled by the idea that the libraries should close. They are the only way for people who cannot afford books to aquire them.
Britain's once-proud libraries, founded 154 years ago as "the universities of the street", are starting to die on their feet, according to a report published last week.
They stock too few books, are not open at times that suit the public and are burdened with too many expensive administrators.
Figures on the declining popularity af the service led one analyst to predict that it would cease to exist within 15 years. They have also spurred the Government to call a high-level meeting to try to find the answers to what is seen as a gathering crisis.
The libraries summit, as it is being called, will be convened next month by the media and heritage minister Lord McIntosh. It is expected to generate new guidelines for local councils and librarians.
The analyst, Tim Coates, chose one of the service's rare days of celebration to warn of an apocalypse. As librarians gathered at Westminster with writers to mark the 25th anniversary of public lending right for authors, Mr Coates issued a 25-page report which finds that in the past 10 years the number of libraary users has fallen by 21% while the number of books borrowed has fallen by 35%. At the same time the cost of the service has risen by 39% while spending on buying books has fallen to 9% of total funds.
Mr Coates, a former managing director of the bookshop chain Waterstone's, said a measure of the decline was that, when the public lending right became law in 1979, two and a half times as many books were loaned by libraries as were sold in bookshops. Now the figures are roughly equal at 700.000 books a year.
He recommends that libraries should remain open from early in the morning until late at night and that spending on books and reading materials should be trebled to give reader a better chance of finding bestsellers on the shelves.
Opinions on the article and Mr Coates idea for taking care of the problem?
Personally I am apalled by the idea that the libraries should close. They are the only way for people who cannot afford books to aquire them.