Council launches 'fundamental review' of Sheffield's libraries

[Olive 10]

 

I worked in a library for several years without any qualifications and apart from people who wish to become managers, I didn't know anyone who did have any relevant qualifications. In fact, my missus works in a South Yorks library and she's a trained chef.

 

Oh, OK, thanks for that. Must have got the wrong impression from job adverts.

 

Hope your missus comes out of things OK.

[TKenny85 10]

Oh, OK, thanks for that. Must have got the wrong impression from job adverts.

 

Hope your missus comes out of things OK.

 

No, I know where you are coming from, I put off applying for a couple of years, thinking that I was under qualified, I only had a go for a temp job for the hell of it and managed to get in.

 

Something I don't understand is libraries paying for staff to be working in them even though they are closed to the public.

[Vague_Boy 10]

Though the budget comes direct from central government and therefore you beloved Tories.

Are these "cuts" simply the result of the government acting wickedly for no good reason or are they because the country is mired in debt and out of control borrowing?

 

(All of which I presume started in May 2010? )

 

 

Billions wasted: New revelations show Balls and Brown ignored warnings that big spending spree would damage the economy

 

Britain is 'left weak' by Gordon Brown's spending spree and racking up debt, claims report

 

Gordon Brown's £144bn spending spree could land each household with £5,500 more tax

 

 

And onto more current news

 

The UK’s budget deficit - rising not falling

 

True level of UK government debt exceeds £5 trillion

UK Debt Clock

 

 

Despite all these so-called "cuts" we still get headlines like Budget blow to Osborne as borrowing hits record.

 

And

 

UK government borrowing figures set to dismay George Osborne

 

Public sector net borrowing, excluding financial interventions such as bank bailouts, is expected to be between £16bn and £16.5bn, compared with £15bn in May last year

 

Britain is reportedly on course to borrow nearly £11bn more than forecast by the independent tax and spending watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

 

The OBR has predicted that borrowing will fall from £124.4bn last year to £92bn, including the Royal Mail pension impact, in 2012/2013 and £98bn in 2013/2014.

 

But independent forecasters expect borrowing of £95.8bn this year and £104.9bn in 2013/2014, nearly £11bn more than the OBR forecast, the Sunday Times said.

LINK

 

Despite the so-called "cuts" the figures speak for themselves. We are borrowing more than ever.

 

Unfortunately we don't seem able to do anything but suckle at the public sector teat and complain when the money runs dry.

 

It's a good job the Industrial Revolution was centuries ago. Today's modern Briton wouldn't have a clue and it would be left to the Germans and the Chinese to make the running.

 

Much like they do at the moment.

[Areffty 10]

No, I know where you are coming from, I put off applying for a couple of years, thinking that I was under qualified, I only had a go for a temp job for the hell of it and managed to get in.

 

Something I don't understand is libraries paying for staff to be working in them even though they are closed to the public.

 

There's a difference between library assistants (who are trained) and librarians (who are qualified). Even so, an assistant, who has experience, can help the public to access whatever information they want. A volunteer won't be able to provide the same assistance (until they gain a similar amount of experience or training).

 

Over the last few years Sheffield's libraries have shed a large number of staff who haven't been replaced. They're running on a shoestring at the moment. Any volunteers will be replacing staff who have left/retired. These are jobs that youngsters could have had, e.g. apprenticeships etc. but they're being offered to volunteers for no pay.

 

This is deceitful!

 

The public may not realise, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done in libraries by 'backroom' staff. Books need to be covered, repaired, despatched to other libraries. New books (and other stuff), need to be chosen, sourced, ordered, taken delivery of, Barcodes applied etc.

Books don't magically appear on the shelves!

 

Then there's dealing with the public, who are not all polite and well behaved.

 

Dealing with a thief who is intent on stealing articles which are the property of you, the ratepayer, requires a degree of professionalism and experience. Or should it be a free-for-all?

 

A library worker's job is not all about date-stamping books!

[Benedictine 10]

I agree there are still those that dont have internet access but realistically how many generations away are we before everyone does.

 

If you dont have it at home you may have moble phone internet access or work access, local colleges, internet cafes, free wi-fi in shopping centres, food courts, cafes, buses and trains, pubs and bars.

 

We really are not long away from it just becoming the norm - automatically hardwired or wi-fi everywhere - with no fuss and no hassle very soon it will be as common and as simple as plugging in to get electricity.

 

I understand that libraries are more than just books but as those aspects become less and less will there really be a need for them to be used for the other community activities mentioned. After all, we still do have local community halls, church halls, scout huts, school halls, local function suites and sports centres which could accommodate those coffee mornings, communtiy groups, neighbourhood watch, specialist interest groups etc.... Those premises will not be required to be open all day every day and thus will need little or no staff outside of the events.

 

As for local history etc I simply do not beleive that local branch libraries contain enough of that sort of thing to make them viable. That would be quite suitably contained in the central library.

 

Im not saying that this is a good thing but realisitcally who can honestly say that they truely regularly use their local library. Where would those figures be in 2, 5, 10 years time. Even this current generation of retirees and early pensioners have touched the commencement of the computer age with most being aware if not fluent in the use of home internet, email, ereaders, ipods etc... Any generations behind that are going to be even more "digitally enhanced" and I simply cannot see where the library system will fit in with that lifestyle.

 

Sad as it is there is simply no place for it anymore. Like the typewriter, microfiche machine, telex and flared trousers local branch libraries should be consigned to history and more investment should be made into the more substantial central reference libraries with their properly stocked and comprehensive history articles, archive newspapers, journals and collections.

 

I still think people are missing the point of what the core of libraries should be used for, that is I think, children's books.

 

You cannot underestimate just how important it is to get children reading as much as possible from a young age. Libraries are central to this and play a big role in helping to raise literacy, which is the single biggest factor of people getting out of poverty by the way.

 

This week alone my two kids have gone to the library twice and got about 5/6 books each time - they read more than me now! What should I do with them instead, stick them in front of a computer? We also have two computers and a kindle - books and technology are not mutually exclusive. We still have pens you know, typewriters didn't take them away.

 

The bottom line for me is that this is still a ridiculous discussion. I can't believe I am having to write to 'defend' libraries. Once again, brilliant propaganda, people will get sucked into cutting their own hands off if it is talked about in the media enough. Wake up people.

[fake 10]

I still think people are missing the point of what the core of libraries should be used for, that is I think, children's books.

 

You cannot underestimate just how important it is to get children reading as much as possible from a young age. Libraries are central to this and play a big role in helping to raise literacy, which is the single biggest factor of people getting out of poverty by the way.

 

The bottom line for me is that this is still a ridiculous discussion. I can't believe I am having to write to 'defend' libraries. Once again, brilliant propaganda, people will get sucked into cutting their own hands off if it is talked about in the media enough. Wake up people.

 

But SCC have started a literacy programme for children that is targeting the poorer families. They have 30 volunteers and are taking on another 20 all trained by ICAN a charity. Mind you it is being run by Dore's buddy Jackie Drayton (councillor for children) who should also be a volunteer and by doing so would save the council money.

 

Children also receive free books and assessments when they reach nursery age.

[Ms Macbeth 75]

I agree there are still those that dont have internet access but realistically how many generations away are we before everyone does.

 

If you dont have it at home you may have moble phone internet access or work access, local colleges, internet cafes, free wi-fi in shopping centres, food courts, cafes, buses and trains, pubs and bars.

 

We really are not long away from it just becoming the norm - automatically hardwired or wi-fi everywhere - with no fuss and no hassle very soon it will be as common and as simple as plugging in to get electricity.

 

I understand that libraries are more than just books but as those aspects become less and less will there really be a need for them to be used for the other community activities mentioned. After all, we still do have local community halls, church halls, scout huts, school halls, local function suites and sports centres which could accommodate those coffee mornings, communtiy groups, neighbourhood watch, specialist interest groups etc.... Those premises will not be required to be open all day every day and thus will need little or no staff outside of the events.

 

As for local history etc I simply do not beleive that local branch libraries contain enough of that sort of thing to make them viable. That would be quite suitably contained in the central library.

 

Im not saying that this is a good thing but realisitcally who can honestly say that they truely regularly use their local library. Where would those figures be in 2, 5, 10 years time. Even this current generation of retirees and early pensioners have touched the commencement of the computer age with most being aware if not fluent in the use of home internet, email, ereaders, ipods etc... Any generations behind that are going to be even more "digitally enhanced" and I simply cannot see where the library system will fit in with that lifestyle.

 

Sad as it is there is simply no place for it anymore. Like the typewriter, microfiche machine, telex and flared trousers local branch libraries should be consigned to history and more investment should be made into the more substantial central reference libraries with their properly stocked and comprehensive history articles, archive newspapers, journals and collections.

 

I suppose I'm a 'youngish' pensioner! I visit Hillsborough Library at least once a week - to borrow books. I used to read the papers too, but those have been stopped, as part of the effort to cut costs. I have always been a member of a library wherever I live, and have to say I love the setting of Hillsborough, in a lovely old building in the park. I'd probably volunteer there if that was the only way to keep it open.

 

My grandchildren (the eldest is five) also visit their local library, and have been read to since they were babies. They enjoy choosing books, and being read to, especially as part of their bedtime routine. The five year old reads to us now! For many families books are still an essential part of helping children develop their language skills and imagination. Being familiar with books also helps when they start school.

[Aleksandr 10]

My point is, in my subject, as with most at the cutting edge of science/technology, there are no significant textbooks, what there are, are texts which are already out of date containing information from the literature that is several years old. By the time they are published the field has already moved on.

 

If you are gaining significant new information from textbooks in a science/technology subject, to me, it suggests you aren't keeping pace with your field. In addition if you are getting these from a public library as opposed to an institutional one you're employer is failing.

 

And yes I have shelves full of text books. There are maybe one/two I have picked up in the last year, only becuase they are in front of me and easily accessible, I wouldn't even bother to walk to the library 2 floors below to read them. The information they contain is available on a myriad of internet sites including Wikipedia.

 

I'm struggling to think who would need access to the information I have access to and not already have it. It's a lofty ideal for someone of few means to read everything there is to know about a subject from a public library and go on to be the next great leader of their field, but the reality is quite different. You would need vast sums of wealth to do even the most basic independent research let alone the cutting edge stuff. I can just imagine some bloke in Sheffield building the LHC or running the human genome project from his garden shed. What about the poor student studying for a degree? Well quite apart from the wealth needed to access the course, the insitution will provide resources far in excess of those any a public library can provide.

Sorry Biotechpete, but you've just discredited yourself there with mention of Wikipedia. Sure it's useful; my GP uses it when examining patients, and some of the maths pages could be described as 'hardcore', but it's full of errors. You wouldn't, for example, base your design for a new warhead on Wikipedia's description of 'critical mass'! Would you? As for your patronising comment about me keeping pace with my field, well that suggests that your field is smaller than mine!

[Squiggs 11]

I've not used the library for years. Not since the Labour Loonies of the '80s insisted that libraries stocked left wing claptrap instead of the books that people, especially the elderly, wanted to read. As a result they stopped using the library. Money should be spent on books and the internet not on videos, films, dvds etc. But the truth is that this useless Labour council are deliberately cutting these type of services so they can blame the "Nasty Tory Cuts"

 

..as is proven by nowhere else in the country except "loony labour sheffield" closing down libraries

 

no wait...