This one is on UK libraries. Another person who isn't satisfied with what she sees in libraries from her vantage point.
London’s public libraries must take innovative steps such as rewarding regular borrowers with vouchers for travel or the cinema if they are to stay relevant to an increasingly discerning and web-savvy population, Margaret Hodge, the Culture Secretary, said today.
Imagine that, handing out coupons, or vouchers, to people who come into the library. That one will go over well with librarians.
Although spending on libraries has risen 17 per cent in the past decade, the number of books borrowed has slumped by 34 per cent, she told delegates.
Books, of course, are not the one resource provided by libraries, so that statistic is misleading. The larger point, however, is valid.
Situating libraries in railway stations and shopping centres would attract a wider market, as would a single London library card allowing users to borrow books in one location and return them in another, she suggested.
I agree. A single card is essential. It is common in New York, and seems an anachronism.
A loyalty scheme, like those run by supermarkets, could be implemented, rewarding borrowers with a one-day travelcard or a pair of cinema tickets after ten visits, for example.
This I don't like. Reducing library use to being equal with retail shopping would cheapen it. It seems to me that using a library is somewhat different than going to the market to get toilet paper or toothpaste.
More, London has 33 boroughs that seem to hardly co-operate, if at all.
"... it ought to be possible to share services and support functions such as inter-library lending, IT systems and delivery systems and thereby spend more effectively.”
No Inter Library Loans? Ouch.
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