Advocacy etc

I must be mad, but I thought I’d give my perspective on the whole advocacy discussion that blew up today. I should be chilling but the discussion was fascinating on so many levels I couldn’t help myself. This will, no doubt, be less eloquent than other blog posts on the topic but, of course, I ain’t gonna let that stop me!

To be honest, I was a bit surprised by how things blew up. As far as I could see, most of the people who were upset about the discussion do advocate. For me, advocacy can mean going out and telling your users what a great service you provide (marketing) or it can be simply providing the best service your users could ask for (which requires a certain amount of activity on your part – in the sense of seeking to find out what your user wants). In terms of the latter, the old maxim often used in retail applies: a dissatisfied customer will tell 8-10 people of their bad experience (that’s a drum that is pounded loud and clear in retail). It therefore follows that, should you provide good service, those customers will act as proxy advocates for you – telling other people about the great service you provided. So, you may not have engaged in advocacy per se, but you have sewn a very powerful seed.

Let’s face it, corporations gave up a long time ago in simply shouting slogans at people and thinking that was enough to ‘advocate’ their products. Things have become much more sophisticated. Top companies know that the peer groups are the most powerful advocates you can have. It is one reason why a lot of current business thinking has moved away from top-down authoritarian structures and developed nice cosy environments that keep the employees happy and, subsequently, speak positively about their employer when they are with family and friends. The change in management culture is not due to a sense of entitlement towards employees, it is one part of a carefully constructed marketing strategy.

In the age of social media, this ‘casual’ advocacy has become more important. People tweet about products and things they are doing and that has a much bigger impact on people than an advert on the TV. Of course, this doesn’t work for everyone in your peer group, but you can be assured that your message will influence someone. Essentially, almost every public act is an act of advocacy (because you are doing it ‘publicly’ and we are simple creatures, easily influenced!). One might argue that buying a certain brand in the supermarket counts as ‘advocacy’ (the act of buying being, after all, an endorsement or support for a particular brand). Therefore the creation of proxy advocates is, in my view, very much central to any marketing strategy.

And I guess this is where I find difficulty with those who are up in arms about the recent discussions. As far as I can see, if you are committed to excellent standards of service in your library, you are an advocate (creating proxies). If you have ‘librarian’ on your Twitter bio and have ever tweeted about libraries, librarians or related issues, you are an advocate. If you tell your friend with an e-reader “hey, did you know you can get free ebooks at the library?”, you are an advocate. If you work in a private library and make your colleagues’ jobs easier by providing an effectively (and efficiently – it is the private sector after all!) run library, you are an advocate for that service (you are justifying its existence by making the company more efficient). Essentially, pretty much everyone on Twitter who works in a library is an advocate.

Activism is something I engage in (in a rather lazy fashion to be fair). It means writing to the council, chucking in FoI’s, writing about the problems facing libraries, trying to drum up support in the local community by highlighting the cuts and the impact they will have. Now, that is not for everyone and only a fool would suggest that everyone should engage in it. It’s hard work and saps away your free time. I wish everyone was an activist (that is the nature of my own political views) but hey, we live in the UK and us Brits aren’t known for it! But much as I would like everyone to do it, I know some can’t or unable to. I don’t hold it against them (I hold it against our society in general…kidding!). We make our own choices in this life and it is not for me to tell people whether they should act or not. If you feel you cannot be an activist, fine. If you don’t want to give up your spare time fighting councillors and local politicians, fine. But advocacy? Well, keep on doing what you are doing!

Additional

I should add that the Code of Professional Practice for Library and Information Professionals states the following:

C: Responsibilities to Colleagues and the Information Community

The personal conduct of information professionals at work should promote the profession in the best possible manner at all times. Members should therefore:

1. Act in ways that promote the profession positively, both to their colleagues and to the public at large.

5.7 million households do not have an internet connection

Libraries can help address digital inequality (image c/o splorp on Flickr)

Yesterday the Office of National Statistics released its latest Internet access – households and individuals report.  Once again it demonstrated something that is often overlooked, there is a sizeable proportion of the population that do not have an internet connection.  According to the statistics, although the percentage of households with an internet connection has grown to 77% (up 4% on last year), there are still an amazing 5.7 million households in the UK without internet access.  Other top line statistics from the report:

• 45 per cent of Internet users used a mobile phone to connect to the Internet
• 6 million people accessed the Internet over their mobile phone for the first time in the previous 12 months
• The use of wireless hotspots almost doubled in the last 12 months to 4.9 million users
• 21 per cent of Internet users did not believe their skills were sufficient to protect their personal data
• 77 per cent of households had Internet access
• 50% of those without internet say they do not need it
• 40% say that the equipment is too expensive or they do not believe they have the skills required

…many children are being left behind

The last three points are particularly crucial.  Households without internet would mean, in many cases, families without internet connections.  This is particularly concerning as it has been demonstrated that children’s performance at school can be affected by their inability to make use of an internet connection.  Whilst the report doesn’t provide statistics on family households without internet access, it is not beyond reason to conclude that there are a great many families included within that 5.7 million households figure.  And, consequently, a great many children who are potentially being left behind by their ‘connected’ peers.  The consequences of this disparity are fairly clear.

The final two points are also concerning and provide a stark reminder of what damage would be done by large-scale library closures.  Libraries can play a massive role in addressing these issues.  Trained, professional library staff can help to support inexperienced users to find their way around the internet and gain the confidence to take full advantage of what it offers.  It has been demonstrated in repeated studies that people using the internet are economically better off (££) and, at a time of such economic difficulty, this is more important now than ever.

…public libraries are crucial to reducing digital inequality

Furthermore, the provision of free internet access in public libraries is absolutely crucial to reducing digital inequality and ensuring that a sizeable proportion of the population are not left behind.  Close public libraries and remove the only point of free internet access and you create a society of digitally excluded, those left to flounder as they do not have the finances or skills to keep up with the digitally advanced.  It is not enough to simply provide these people with computers and hope that will resolve the inequality.  Who will provide the support and the training?  Public libraries are still the best way to ensure that the digital revolution does not further isolate the disadvantaged from society and ensure that no-one is left behind.

One further point on this issue that perhaps ought to be made, in terms of libraries/librarians themselves rather than the people who use them.  It is worth noting that neither the Guardian or the BBC made any reference to public libraries offering free internet access, nor did they mention the impact library closures could have on those that are digitally excluded.  You may argue that the point isn’t directly relevant to those particular articles.  Maybe not.  However, it is worth remembering that although there have been plenty of positive shifts in the coverage of libraries in the past year, commentators still do not see libraries as a solution to modern-day problems.  For library advocacy to have any real success, this has to change.  Because if people of influence cannot see the role libraries can and should play in addressing contemporary concerns, there is little hope for the future of the library service and the profession.

Voices for the Library – now available on Foursquare!

Now, you learn fairly early on when working with me (especially on VftL) that I like to play about with stuff and try out new things.  I’m all for experimenting and trying things out.  My attitude is generally: if it works – great!  And if it doesn’t?  Well, I just keep it to myself and no-one finds out about it.  Well, a few people find out about it but I make them swear on pain of death not to tell anyone anything.  So it was with this spirit I took to exploring the wonder that is Foursquare.

Now, to be clear right from the off, I was very much anti-Foursquare.  I thought it was a complete waste of my time and was nothing more than an opportunity for people to shout about where they are.  I was very reluctant to even give it a try.  Until I discovered that there was a rudimentary facility for adding brands and creating pages.  Now this intrigued me so I signed up and played around to see how it could be used.  After a bit of playing I had some ideas but needed to get a page up and running to see for myself if it would work.  Then, yesterday, the page making facility was markedly improved and I decided to give it a whirl…

Our new Foursquare Page

So here it is, the Voices for the Library Foursquare page – which just so happens to now be featured on the Foursquare page gallery.  So, what is my thinking about how it will be used?  Well, initially I thought it would be good to highlight libraries that earmarked for closure and suggest making a visit to show support.  If they follow the page and login to Foursquare on their mobile device whilst in the area of the library, the tip should automatically pop up and suggest they make a visit.  Now, I know that this alone won’t save the library in question, but I thought highlighting it would at least be a start.  Every little helps as (another) well known brand might say.

But then I got to thinking, maybe it should be more than just visiting for what is essentially a negative reason (albeit with a positive outcome), why not highlight positive stuff too.  Well, I say I got to thinking, it wasn’t me at all but a tweet from @stephthorpeuk got me thinking…

@ijclark haha, I already added some of our libraries last summer- & added Tips of what day they were closed, + free wifi,free computers etc!—
steph (@stephthorpeuk) August 03, 2011

That’s what a library advocacy Foursquare account should be doing…highlighting the many great and unique things that libraries offer.  The reasons for visiting should not just be about saving the library, they should be about what the library can offer – truly positive reasons for paying a visit.

Of course, all this isn’t without its own problems.  Adding 500 libraries and the appropriate ‘tips’ to Foursquare is not easy, let alone looking up the other 4,000 odd and seeing what makes them unique and special.  So, if you are able to do either of the following it would be greatly appreciated

1. If your local library isn’t on Foursquare but you are, please add it.
2. If there is something special and unique about your local library and you aren’t on Foursquare, email contact@voicesforthelibrary.org.uk and tell us and we’ll add that information onto that library’s Foursquare page.

I have also put in a request for the development of a VftL badge awarded when a certain number of libraries are visited (ideally libraries marked for closure but if not possible then any library).  I’m not sure the badge will actually happen as they seem to be very strict on adding badges, but hopefully they’ll back it.

Of course, what I should have said (and I have forgotten until right at the end!), is that if you are on Foursquare, look us up and follow us!

Librarian day/week in the life…

11.30am - time to send another FoI (image c/o ToniVC on Flickr)

I know I have kinda already written a blog post for the Library Day in the Life project, but I thought why not write a post summarising the week as a whole.  Of course, the fact that my original post appeared to have become more of a personal reflection on my school days rather than a useful post about what I do and what I am doing has some bearing on this.  To be honest, I just didn’t think I had done it justice.  So, here I am, about to over-compensate to the max.  One of these days I will strike the balance just right.  Today, however, is possibly not going to be one of those days.

As you will have noticed from my original post, the bulk of my job is spend dealing with spreadsheets.  Most of the time I am either preparing statistical data, or ensuring that our online holdings are accurate.  I also deal with student queries in relation to our online resources and some general queries about their library access.  This past week I have also been covering for a colleague in ensuring that all of our OPACs and self-issue machines are working correctly.  This week happened to be the week were we had a bit of an issue with a number of our OPACs.  Luckily it was easily resolved and there was a very limited impact on our students.

Away from work, a number of other things have been going on this past week.  As part of my ongoing attempt to find new ways to spread the word about Voices for the Library, I have been looking into a new opportunity that I think could be quite exciting.  One of the joys (and challenges it has to be said) about the campaign is the fact that it is run with a zero budget.  This means that we have to be quite creative with how we spread the word (which is why it started life on social networks).  I’m not convinced that we have fully broken out into the ‘offline’ world and I think we’d be the first to admit there is still work to be done there.  However, I think we have made good use of the resources at our disposal and I am still dead chuffed at the amount of followers we have both on Facebook and Twitter despite lacking a marketing budget.

Anyway, whilst chuffed with our progress online, I am not one to rest on my laurels.  One of the other pleasures I get from VftL is that I can just go and try stuff out (within reason of course!).  I’ve always been a great believer in trying things out and taking risks and so I am always keen to take full advantage of this.  My current ‘risk’ involves the use of Foursquare as a tool to promote libraries.  Up until recently I was adamant I would never sign up for this particular social network as I saw limited value in it.  However, I decided to explore it as part of a project on mobile technologies and spotted an opportunity for VftL to have a presence on the network.  I won’t say too much about it at the moment as I am not sure it will come off in quite the way I hope, but if it does I will be sure to blog about it!

Regular readers will also be aware that I am currently studying a distance Masters at Aberystwyth University in Information and Library Studies.  I am currently in the process of conducting research for my dissertation, due in April 2012.  I have been getting rather panicky about it of late – worrying I wouldn’t get it finished in time.  My progress was not helped by recently moving house and being without internet for two weeks [insert 'sad face' emoticon here].  However, this week I scheduled a phone call with my dissertation tutor and, I have to say, having had a chat with them I feel much better about where I am and where I need to be.  In fact, it is fair to say I was buzzing when I put the phone down.  I finally feel like I can see a way forward and get cracking on the next stage.  Whilst I think I need to keep ‘on my toes’, I feel far more confident about completing before the deadline and (finally) getting that Masters.  Phew!

I prefer the metaphorical kind myself. (image c/o Wessex Archaeology on Flickr)

Finally, I have been involved in a bit of digging the past couple of days.  It recently emerged that Wakefield council intends on closing half the libraries in the district.  Annoyed at the councillor’s claim that:

“…since 1992 more than four out of every 10 library users have stopped going into libraries.”

I decided to write to the councillor to ask if he can explain how this figure was arrived at.  I am still waiting for a response.  Not content with questioning the councillor, I also entered a host of Freedom of Information requests to get a little more information about what has been going on in Wakefield.  I am hopeful that I will receive suitable answers to all thirteen (yes, thirteen) questions within the three week time limit.  If anything interesting turns up, you’ll be sure to find out about it.

I have also sent off a series of questions to Dorset County Council who are also considering closures.  After a recent council meeting, councillors narrowly agreed to withdraw funding on nine libraries across West Dorset.  It is good to note, however, that not all councillors take such a relaxed attitude to library closures (you’d think so sometimes when trawling around for the latest library news).  Cllr Ronald Coatsworth deserves a great deal of respect after expressing his outrage:

“We have heard of lies, damn lies and statistics and it seemed to me that here was another case of distorted figures being used as a justification for a particular course of action which had been pre-determined.
“They are discriminatory, treating different groups in different ways and have no place in the Dorset I represent.”

More councillors like this please.

Another bit of digging, this time a bit closer to home, turned up a blank but was referred to by the political editor for the local media group, Paul Francis, on his blog.  A while back it emerged that shocking proposals were put before a recent Conservative group meeting that (it is suggested) included the closure of forty libraries.  No further details emerged so I decided to enter a Freedom of Information request to see what could be uncovered.  Unfortunately my request was rejected (for reasons outlined on Paul’s blog) but not entirely convincingly.  I fully intend on appealing this rejection and hope I will be as success as I was in overturning the DCMS’s rejection of an earlier FoI request.  We will see.

So that was pretty much my week.  I had hoped (believe it or not) to have more things to share from the week, but maybe those things will happen at a later date.

This week was mainly fuelled by If Not Now, When? and, of course, this.

What’s going on with CILIP?

This morning I stumbled across this blog post on the CILIP website about volunteers in libraries. The most interesting (slash disturbing) statement being:

“The Policy Department at CILIP is currently drawing together a position statement about community managed libraries. For us it seems essential that, when set up, they should fall within the statutory provision and be considered an integral part of the public library network – for this they will rely on the continued existence of a professionally led, quality statutory service.”

Hardly the stirring attack on coalition policy that many advocates would have hoped for. Let’s hope that as well as campaigning for libraries, CILIP also leads the way in the fight against privatisation and the coalition’s destructive ideology.

UPDATE

Annie Mauger has subsequently added this statement to the aforementioned blog post:

“The Blog below was written with the intent of contributing to the debate on the use of volunteers and community managed libraries and pointing out some dilemmas that the profession is facing. CILIP’s standpoint remains that only a professionally run library service can fully meet community needs and comply with the statutory requirements.

We sincerely apologise to anybody who thinks otherwise from this blog. I made a speech with the Minister present at the Future of Public libraries event on 20th June reinforcing the value of professional services and why we need them. CILIP will continue to advocate the importance of professionally run services and experienced staff and the contribution they make to communities, families and society.”

Voices for the Library – a call for articles!

Voices for the Library

Hey you!  Yes you!  Are you a librarian, library worker or library user??  Think that there is too much negative coverage of libraries or the people who work in them?  Do you find the continual focus on closures and cuts depressing?  Think librarians and library workers are undervalued?  Want the opportunity to share the fantastic, wonderful, life-changing things that libraries and librarians offer?  Fed up with a long list of questions that are a frankly desperate attempt to build to something spectacular?

Ok, that’s enough of that!  I have noticed on Twitter and on blogs over the past few weeks (probably months to be fair) that a lot of people have commented on both the need to demonstrate why librarians are important and the somewhat defensive tone to some of the library campaigning messages out there.  Well, there is a place you can address this if you wish.  Simply get in touch with Voices for the Library and share either positive stories about libraries or the role of librarians.  Lots of people read it (including lots of people in the media), so it is well worth doing so.  Of course, it won’t change things overnight, but it might help a little bit.  And if nothing else, it will be nice to share some positive stuff to balance out all the bad news stories out there at the moment.  And we’re all for some positivity!

Academic libraries after the Browne Review

The actual M25 (obviously!) - via Bob McCaffrey on Flickr

I should probably have blogged more about CPD25 over the past couple of months since I started getting involved in one of the task groups.  It’s one of those things I keep meaning to blog about, things keep distracting me.  Well, yesterday I delivered my first presentation for many years at a CPD25 event so now is as good a time as any.

CPD25 is, essentially, the training arm for the M25 consortium of academic libraries.  There are a number of task groups which are each responsible for a different aspect of academic libraries.  The group I am involved in, Task Group 3, is concerned with Operational Management – covering a broad range of activities including digitisation, use of social networking and, in the case of yesterday’s event, the impact of the Browne review on academic libraries.

In the lead up to the event, I was asked by one of the organisers if I would like to talk about Voices for the Library.  Normally I leave public speaking at these events to others involved in the campaign (I am far happier pottering around in the background…causing havoc mainly), but I thought this would be a great experience for me and, as I live relatively close to London, I thought I should take on presentation duties for a change.

The event itself was fascinating.  There were speakers from a range of different libraries, including one from a private university, BPP (who, it seems, appear to be embarking on some aggressive expansion).  Having not encountered a private University library before, I was quite interested to hear what their situation was and how they saw the future post-Browne (I fear that phrase will be used a lot in the future).  It seems there are few differences between ‘them’ and ‘us’, it just seems as though they are better prepared for the ‘customer orientated’ future that we are all facing.

We also heard from Goldsmith’s College and in particular how they dealt with the student occupation before Christmas.  Without getting into the politics of the occupation, it was hard not to feel sorry for the staff who had to deal with what must have been a very difficult situation.  It was interesting to see how they relied on social media to keep up to speed with what the students were planning (chalk another one up for social media).  It was certainly interesting to hear how the occupation was handled and what lessons were learnt for next time (and I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of student occupations).

After the first two talks there was a break out session which enabled the attendees to discuss what is happening in their universities and what they felt the future held.  The common theme emerging from all these discussions could probably best be summed up by the words ‘uncertain’ and ‘challenging’.  I don’t think we will have a clear idea on what the future holds until a year down the line when, hopefully, things will become clearer.  It was certainly interesting to hear from representatives of various institutions about the kinds of challenges that they were having to face – and I think it proved helpful for those in the process of change to hear about similar challenges in other universities.

After lunch we then heard from two representatives from UEL who talked about their inspiring New Beginnings programme.  The one thing I will take away from this more than any other was the story of a current PhD student who left school with no qualifications, took a chance on the NB scheme at UEL and gained the confidence to obtain a degree at the institution before embarking on their PhD. Really amazing stuff that underlines the importance of the libraries and trained librarians in universities.

The presentation before last was a Prezi on the re-structuring that had taken place at the University of Sussex.  Sometimes I am a bit ‘meh’ about Prezis (there’s a temptation to ‘show off’ what they are capable of, which is a little distracting), but this one was simple and not too ‘showy’.  Yep, all the Prezi lovers are going to have a pop at me for those comments I’m sure.

Finally came my presentation.  I won’t talk about it too much as you can view it yourself below.  I will say, however, that I was glad to have been given the opportunity to talk about the campaign.  I haven’t delivered a presentation or stood in front of an audience since me days on a PGCE programme many, many years ago.  Fortunately I was not presenting before a classroom of teenage boys so, despite some initial reservations, I was fairly confident that the crowd wouldn’t turn nasty (yeah, I used that ‘gag’ at the start of my presentation too…shoot me please).  I was also fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to dish out the business cards I had printed out a while back, hopefully a few people will check us out now they know where to find us.  Now I have got one presentation under my belt, maybe I’ll do a few more.  Although maybe I am not quite ready for Prezi just yet.

A copy of the script is also available.

Women’s Institute say ‘Save our libraries!’

Annie Mauger's address in Wordle form (c/o wordle.net)

I’m a little late to the party, but there was some very welcome good news this week for supporters of public libraries.  And also, I might add, if you have been keen to see CILIP become more vocal in advocating for public libraries.  Yes, the WI voted at their recent AGM to throw their very considerable weight behind the campaign to save libraries.  What a fantastic organisation to have on your side in a scrap.  If anything should put the fear of whatever into Vaizey and co it should be the sight of the WI joining the fight against a policy of library closures that the DCMS is stealthily supporting (maybe not so stealthily).  And as for the level of support from the WI, well:

And the vote on libraries is in, 98% of members at the AGM have voted to campaign in support of local libraries #theWI_AGM #savelibraries—
Women's Institute (@WomensInstitute) June 08, 2011

That says it all really doesn’t it?  Local campaigns across the country deserve a huge amount of credit for working with the WI and raising awareness of this issue.  Without them, this resolution would never have passed.

As you can see above, I created a little Wordle using the text of Annie Mauger’s address in support of the resolution.  My favourite thing about the Wordle?  The fact that across the middle are the words ‘library’, ‘help’ and ‘people’.  Sure, it’s not entirely grammatically correct, but it is a nice little reminder.

In terms of the role of CILIP, I am pleased that Annie presented the case at the AGM.  One of the reasons I was reluctant to join the organisation was its lack of visibility and failure to really make themselves heard in the media.  Whilst we are still some way off CILIP dominating the media coverage of libraries (a recent edition of Newsnight again looked outside the profession for a defence of libraries), there has been a noticeable increase in the amount of coverage CILIP has received.  This has got to be a good thing.

So, having decided to give CILIP membership a trial run, what is my initial assessment on the direction in which it is heading?  Well, I am very encouraged.  Continue to engage at all times with the media and national organisations such as the WI, and I see no reason why I shouldn’t continue to pay my sub come next April.  Although April is a long way off so let’s not jump to any conclusions just yet!

Present. Tense?

It can't be any worse than unruly teenagers surely?

Yeah, I got a biggie coming up.  A week on Tuesday I will be delivering my first live presentation.  It’s only going to be around 15 mins long, but it’s still kinda a big deal.  Up until now, the only presentations I have prepared have been for interviews or assignments on my course.  I have never really delivered a presentation for more than three people.  That said, I do have some experience of talking to an audience.  Although the kind of audience that I have dealt with in the past is a little…er…different to the kind of audience you get attending these kind of events.  Different in that they were teenage boys.  Yep, after completing my undergraduate degree I went on to train as a secondary school teacher.  I can barely believe it myself looking back.  I don’t regret the experience for a moment, although I may have said otherwise at the time.  One thing is for certain, if you can hold your own at the front of a class of 25-30 teenage boys, you can cope with almost anything that gets thrown at you (and there were a lot of things…ah, too obvious).

I know there is a lot of stuff out there advising on how to deliver a presentation, but I think a lot of it can be taken with a pinch of salt.  Many of the ‘rules’ are not really universal.  I’ve seen excellent presentations delivered with bullet-pointed slides.  I’ve seen terrible ones that are delivered in the ‘right way’.  The deciding factors in whether a presentation sinks or swims for me as an audience member?  Passion and enthusiasm.   Present with those in your armory and everything else is irrelevant.  Hey, there’s a way to put more pressure on myself beforehand.  Now I am going to be conscious of whether I am conveying enough passion and enthusiasm.  Way to go.  Let’s back out of this paragraph now before I start pontificating further on what makes a ‘good’ presentation and really shooting myself in the foot.  Pretend you didn’t read any of that, ok? Hey! HEY!  Don’t re-read it! Move along!  Next paragraph…

So anyway, I’ve just realised that I haven’t even explained what my presentation is about.  I guess that should really have been in the first paragraph.  What the hell, I’ll introduce it in paragraph four.

Just recently I’ve become involved in CPD25 – a  staff development and training organisation in association with the M25 consortium of academic libraries.  Shortly after attending my first meeting, I was asked if I would like to deliver a short presentation on Voices for the Library for an event.  Despite my determination to avoid any speaking engagements on behalf of the campaign, I accepted.  I thought it would be good to get the experience under my belt and ultimately it was one of the main reasons I asked to be involved in CPD25 – to challenge myself and push me into trying new things.  What better way to start than by delivering a presentation?  Although it is only going to be around 15 mins long (hardly a keynote speech), it is 15 mins more presentation experience than I have previously had.  Normally I leave the speaking engagements to others, I’m far more comfortable behind a keyboard than behind a lectern.  But who knows, maybe I might step out a few more times once I get this out of the way.  And then maybe I could write one of those ‘this is how you do a presentation’ type posts…

No Furniture So Charming – The Future for Libraries

Bethnal Green Library - home to the evening's discussion

Yes, it may be a nice day outside but what better way to pass the time than to write-up yesterday’s library debate at Bethnal Green library?  Let’s face it, sunshine is overrated.  Mind you, that may have something to do with being fair-skinned and prone to burning.  Anyway, I’m not here to share my dermatological issues, this post is supposed to be all about last night’s fascinating discussion about the future for public libraries as part of the London Word Festival.  An interesting and, dare I say, lively event which gave me much to ponder and left me trying to work out how on earth I was going to put it all together into a coherent blog post – you may have guessed already I was struggling to think of how to open this post.  And now I have drawn attention to it I have only made things worse. Damn.  So, where to start?  How about the beginning?  Or maybe some Tarantino-esque narrative messing?  No, let’s go conventional.

It was with a certain amount of fortune that I was able to attend last night’s discussion.  A few days back, the author Alex Butterworth (he of the excellent The World That Never Was – read it!) tweeted that he had a ticket available as he was no longer able to attend.  Seeing as I was off on Thursday afternoon I decided I should definitely make the most of the opportunity and asked if I could have the ticket.  DMs were exchanged and, although I had no official confirmation, I was assured that my name was down on the list and surly bouncers would not turn me away.  Pleased that I had managed to secure tickets for the event, I then moved onto stage two of my cunning plan: get some fellow Tweeters to come so I have company and get the chance to meet people that I have only ever encountered virtually.  Lucky for me, Sphericalfruit, usernametaken10 and the more conventionally named PhilBradley, were all also intending on going to the conference.  This meant only one thing: a touch of pubbage beforehand (well, a pint anyway) – a fine way to start the proceedings.

We’ll skip the pubbage bit, not that anything untoward occurred of course…suffice it to say, however, that the Salmon and Ball pub makes an interesting contrast to Bethnal Green library…

So, on to the event itself – which is, after all, the reason why I am writing this post.  The event was hosted by Travis Elborough, writer and occasional reviewer for The Guardian.  The panel consisted of:

• Nora Daly – Digital Curator at the British Library.
• Charles Holland – Architect who recently completed work on Thornton Heath Library.
• Chris Meade – Director of if:book.
• Philip Jones – Deputy Editor of The Bookseller

In terms of the format, the presentations were split into groups of three with a break between each session to enable the panel and the audience to reflect on the ideas that the presenters had each put forward.  There was also a short interval after the second group of sessions to enable people to get a drink and talk to other attendees (and, in my case, do a little Voices for the Library promotion).  So, on to the presentations…

…but before we move onto that, there were a couple of annoyances that kicked the evening off.  First, the event started with Travis ‘shushing’ and then we were told that the presenters’ would be informed that they had reached their five minute time limit by the sound of a book being stamped.  If they proceeded for a further thirty seconds then the audience were to collectively ‘shhh’ until they stop.  I’m sure this was all meant as an amusing way to manage the presentations, but it did strike me as ill-advised.  At an event such as this it is not advisable to alienate a proportion of the audience so early in the proceedings.  As we all know, there’s nothing librarians hate more than the stereotypical book-stamping, shushing, over zealous librarian.  Well, apart from those that perpetuate that stereotype perhaps.  So, next time, skip the shushing please

Taken shortly before the shushing announced the start of the discussion.

The first session of the evening included presentations by Tom Armitage (game designer and technologist), Kirsten Campbell (writer and educational games designer) and Rachel Coldicutt (creative producer).  There seemed to be a running theme through these opening presentations: libraries as places to explore and transform.  Tom had an interesting idea about using the date label as a space to provide intriguing information about the book in question.  He argued that ‘books are their own souvenirs’ and should include information about the book’s own story (is it new, well travelled, always out on loan?) to intrigue people into exploring the book itself.  Kirsten referred to her love of her mobile library (her father was a mobile library driver) and how libraries should be a space to inspire children and act as transformative spaces.  She also shared her illustrated version of the mobile library – complete with cocktail bar (!).  Thankfully, it also included a computer and underlined the importance of the library as a vital resource for those without Internet connections (not all presentations reflected this need).  I’m not sure if her vision of a mobile library complete with cocktail bar would get off the ground, but I’d certainly use it!  Finally, Rachel argued that the kind of library we know now is probably coming to an end.  And, luckily, she has now posted her presentation online so, instead of making sense of my notes, I can simply quote her:

In my experience, all the best libraries make it as hard as possible to find things. They disguise them with esoteric filing systems, hide them in book stacks, or behind book request form, or they just don’t have the books you want.

…

I’m a big fan of limited choice. When there aren’t many things to choose from, the difficult choice is a lot easier. And when you don’t have the luxury of “people who liked this also liked”, you have to find your own way.

…

So I would ask that the library of the future is a place that enables limited, arbitrary choice. A place that makes you concentrate. And a place that makes you improve yourself, because you don’t have any other choice.

An interesting, slightly quirky presentation: libraries as places where you can’t find what you want.  Would that work?

After Rachel’s presentation we moved onto the panel’s reflections on what had been discussed.  Before we moved onto the next round of presentations by Ruth Beale (artist and ‘pamphlet librarian’), Nicky Kirk (architect at Amenity Space Architects) and Peter Law (digital producer for Hide and Seek).  Ruth argued that libraries do not have a clear identity compared to books.  She suggested that libraries represent:

• A classic hallowed place
• Communal space
• Something personal
• Something digital

She shared images of the book block at the recent protests in London and the mass book withdrawal at Stony Stratford library, as well as noting the many cultural references to libraries in film, such as Ghostbusters, The Day After Tomorrow etc.  It was interesting to note that books do have a clearer sense of identity than libraries.  Perhaps that is because libraries represent abstract ideas and notions that cannot easily be symbolised.

The next presentation by Nicky Kirk unfortunately referred to libraries as ‘monastic spaces’.  Yes, you can guess where this is leading.  Libraries should be a place for peaceful study and should be a reaction against the digital world.  They should be filled with intimate private spaces, sound-proofed to ensure quiet reflection and study can take place.  Quite where children (who make up a massive proportion of library users) would fit into this I am not really sure, let alone those without Internet connections at home.

The final presentation in this session was delivered by Peter Law and argued that libraries should have revamped tech, better websites and should be a playful space for things beyond books (although, as Peter kept reminding us, libraries should be about books too).  Also suggested that libraries should be a space to use for theatre productions (like that idea) as well as for bands to perform (which some libraries have already taken advantage of).  I think out of all the presentations I liked this one the most.  Peter acknowledged that books are central to the library, but that they could and should offer so much more.  Surely this is what the future library should look like?

The London Word Festival - including a lovely badge!

We then had another break for a discussion amongst the panel and points from the audience.  It was at this point that a couple of us (one more forcefully than the other!) raised the issue of the strong book bias in a lot of the presentations as well as the event in general.  The shushing and book stamping were raised as issues of concern in terms of stereotyping and there was a certain disappointment with the lack of really innovative thinking in terms of what the future library would actually look like.  I added that I felt access to information was a crucial component of the library service, and that the format in which it comes in is not important, whether it be ebooks or the Internet, libraries should provide a space for free access to information in all its forms.  To be fair, I think some of the panelists and presenters did reflect this, but there had been a high number of depressing ‘books and silence’ type presentations.  Certainly few of the presentations reflected my vision of the library of the future.

After a heated exchange and short break we moved onto the final round of presentations (and consequently the end of this long post!).  The final presentations were delivered by Dan Thompson (Empty Shops Network), Trenton Oldfield (This Is Not A Gateway) and finally Jon Stone and Kirsty Irving (Sidekick Books/Fuselit).  Dan started off with the controversial statement that he ‘doesn’t like libraries’ and finds them ‘dull and uninspiring’ – good start!  What followed, however, was an interesting presentation on creating portable book cases containing your favourite books which can be shared with people to inspire them.  Dan argued that we all have books that we would happily pass onto others (I’m a bit of a hoarder so not sure I would!), and this would be a great way of sharing the books that inspired you with the people you know (or even those you don’t).  He also argued that councils are not the best institutions to provide a library service and, instead, people should take over empty shops and convert them into library spaces.  I kinda liked the idea of having one less commercial outfit on the high street and replacing it with a space for books and information – although I am not sure how this would work practically.  I think it is fair to say Dan was a little concerned about how his presentation would come across after earlier criticisms, but it was well received by the audience, even the loud ones at the back .

Next up was Trenton Oldfield who opened by talking about his romantic connection to libraries before expressing his view on the politics of the future library.  He argued that they should be held onto no matter what, even if underused by the local community.  Trenton very much appeared to believe in the importance of libraries as social spaces which was an nice change from some of the ‘bookish’ presentations that had gone before (not that there was anything wrong with those).  To finish he put forward six propositions:

1. Defend the exisiting library
2. Make the houses of the wealthy the library…open up the places where people have a wide collection of materials
3. Split the coalition (!)
4. Create a rite of passage whereby everyone can publish a book (aided by the library?)
5. Encourage serendipity
6. Promote libraries as a 21st century social space.

I may have paraphrased those slightly as I was rather focused on listening as opposed to note taking at this stage!

Finally came Jon Stone and Kirsty Irving who came up with an interesting comparison of libraries as being like old computer games that should evolve in the same way.  Their piece was amusingly illustrated by playing an old RPG text based game with a library as the setpiece.  Ultimately they argued that the future of the library is virtual rather than the traditional form that we are used to.

Wow, that was a long blog post!  In summary, it was a very interesting event with some innovative (as well as traditional) visions of the future of libraries.  I’m not sure if a fully formed vision emerged from it (if that was even the ultimate goal) but there were certainly plenty of ideas thrown around and lots to think about.  Above all, it was great to see so many people discuss libraries so passionately and argue in defence of such a great and vital institution.  People actually care about libraries and care enough to present a vision for the future, that alone was an encouraging sign.  No defeatism here, just more food for thought for those that wish to see them destroyed (if they are even prepared to taste what is on offer).  Yes, there was a little shoutiness and a little disagreement and debate, but that is a good thing.  Without debate and discussion there is no drive to defend libraries.  By arguing and debating we can come to a much stronger vision for the future of libraries, one that is shared by a wide-range of people.  I sincerely hope there will be many other such debates in the future.  My favourite line from the evening?  ’Libraries should cost more and be paid for through an increase in general taxation’.  Amen to that.

As for the company I kept, it was great to finally meet up with some people I have been following on Twitter for some time.  Special thanks must go to both Sphericalfruit and usernametaken10 for distributing Voices for the Library flyers whilst I was trying to pluck up the courage to do so.  Many thanks   It was also good to hear positive feedback about Voices from members of the audience – things like that keep you going!

Chris Meade has also written a blog post on the future for libraries and a collection of photos from the event have also been posted on Flickr.  Thanks to the London Word Festival for putting on an interesting and lively debate, I hope that similar debates will be planned for next year.

Now, let’s see if I can go and enjoy the sun a little before it gets dark…