Further supplementary memorandum submitted
by the British Library Regular Readers' Group
The RRG has campaigned for 10 years:
1. To retain the Round Reading Room and
other Bloomsbury facilities in tandem with the reduced provisions
at St Pancras. This battle was lost—but the RRR will remain
a reading room as part of the British Museum.
2. To draw attention to the failings of
St Pancras during the extended construction process. Now St Pancras
is up and running, and for the most part is working well. But
problems remain:
(a) Land to the north of the BL site must
be retained for the Library so that it can develop fully as originally
intended—"a single library under a single roof".
There will be commercial pressure for the land: if all the land
cannot be retained by the BL, at least the underground space for
storage basements must be kept.
(b) The BL is still split-site (St Pancras,
Boston Spa, Micawber Street, Woolwich). Most modern/current support
literature is at Boston Spa which requires advanced planning for
those wishing to use the St Pancras Reading Rooms.
(c) For an institution keen on new technology
it is surprising that there is no single general catalogue; ie
no complete inventory of BL holdings in one place. OPAC (Online
Public Access Catalogue) is not compatible with RLIN (Research
Libraries Information Network) so that RLIN updates of, say, 18thC
aquisitions are not available on OPAC and the books are effectively
lost to BL Readers because they don't know they are in stock:
this applies to many thousands of antiquarian books bought since
1980. BLAISE (BL Advanced Information Service) is a subscription
service online but it is not updated and therefore increasingly
less "advanced" than it ought to be.
(d) There is a danger of the BL trying to
be too many things to too many people—as the submission
of the BL to this Committee indicates. Once again, the BL has
managed to produce a document without mentioning books once—and
whatever happens in the future, books will remain the heart and
soul of the library.
(e) Proper, meaningful, reader involvement
in the BL management structure is essential for long term success.
In the last 10 years, there has been no real sign of BL management
wanting any reader input. And we note, from the submission of
the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport that "individuals
and organisations with an interest in the BL have been asked for
their views on the Library's performance". Ironically, this
Readers' Group has had no such request.
Reader involvement is important in public libraries
as well. Why not channel the energy and enthusiasm which is currently
employed saving libraries into building a better library system
for the future?
We would like to emphasise:
1. The need for a clear definition of "minimum
provision" in public libraries—by population and other
indices—and the necessary funds to provide more in areas
of greater need.
2. The need for libraries to have their
own communities in local authorities rather than being lost in
"leisure"—and therefore more able to protect and
enhance levels of provision, with support from readers' committees.
3. The need for a new presentational style
for libraries, drawing experience from the newest book shops:
they should be social and cultural centres, a new focus for committees,
not dingey retreats.
4. The need for clear directions to all
publicly-funded libraries, including the BL, about disposal of
stock. A county librarian told me recently ("don't quote
me") libraries are more and more a matter of "pile 'em
high, read 'em quick, sell 'em off". David Alexander's paper
gives a depressing picture of the vandalistic lengths some libraries
will go—ripping out titlepages as an administrative convenience
before selling off reference books at 50p a time should not be
happening. British Library disposals have been a matter of interest
and debate over many years—no doubt the library management
will be able to advise on the details later this morning. A few
years ago the BL was somewhat embarrassed by a Leeds firm setting
up in Bloomsbury and festooning the trees of Great Russell Square
with advertisements for "British Library Book Sales"!
Boston Spa has book sales three to four times a year; books are
sold to "invited" local booksellers at a set price of
£2 per book. As David Alexander indicates, many more go out
to charity: a sale in York last week aimed to dispose of approximately
13,000 volumes—what was left went into skips.
Loss of our libraries' basic resource—books—from
inept disposal or theft, must be stopped.
|
