And as proof of point this just came across my aggregator:
"Now public libraries, some of them more than 100 years old, face
closure, as local authorities across the country look for "soft
targets" in an attempt to make budget savings."
"More than 100 libraries are currently threatened with closure, the
national government has admitted."
"But the future might not be entirely bleak for Britain's libraries.
Miranda McKearney, director of the Reading Agency charity, says that
libraries that reinvent themselves can thrive. A new campaign,
"lovelibraries," aims to show that a redesign and some creative
thinking about stock, presentation, author events, reading chains,
online catalogues and tie-ups with other libraries can help revive
interest."
"The case for libraries is as strong as ever. Libraries just need to
get smarter in articulating it better."
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0628/p04s01-woeu.html
Ryan Eby
On 6/30/06, Karen Coyle <kcoyle_at_kcoyle.net> wrote:
> Ryan Eby wrote:
> > On 6/26/06, Jacobs, Jane W <Jane.W.Jacobs_at_queenslibrary.org> wrote:
> >> In
> >> fact, pleasing our customers may bring us less funding, not more. We
> >> will ultimately be accountable to funders not customers and they are not
> >> really the same people.
> > If the library doesn't
> > have meaning or relevancy to the community then it will be much harder
> > to get the millage or budget that one might need to keep "in
> > business". It might be a board that approves things but if the public
> > in general doesn't care, and budgets get tight, then it's an easier
> > thing to cut.
> One thing we are REALLY bad at is showing the value of our services.
> This is ironic, because our services are hugely valuable. Subscription
> to x journals (at retail) $nn / population = an impressive amount of
> money. Free internet access (at internet cafe prices) * number of hours
> * number of computer = an impressive amount of money. Library budgets
> get cut because no one understands how efficient our services are
> compared to individual access. And no one understands because we don't
> tell them.
>
> kc
>
> --
> -----------------------------------
> Karen Coyle / Digital Library Consultant
> kcoyle@kcoyle.net http://www.kcoyle.net
> ph.: 510-540-7596
> fx.: 510-848-3913
> mo.: 510-435-8234
> ------------------------------------
>
Received on Fri Jun 30 2006 - 13:03:11 EDT