tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post3911149107379168101..comments2024-03-25T22:59:30.053+00:00Comments on Desperate Reader: Libraries – They’re for adults tooDesperate Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-32073301291568062011-02-11T19:17:55.345+00:002011-02-11T19:17:55.345+00:00Shortsighted or what? It's time someone forked...Shortsighted or what? It's time someone forked out to buy the Big Society a new pair of glasses.Bailey Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17984821508092658560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-69465446055279967702011-02-10T22:07:46.817+00:002011-02-10T22:07:46.817+00:00Novel Insights - they all sound like such little t...Novel Insights - they all sound like such little things but the over all effect is devestating. I found the citizans advice bureau's local to me to hard to get hold of - odd opening hours and the need to make appointments way in advance. Using the library meant access to information and people who could point me in helpfull directions, so I left the CAB to people who really needed it. I wonder what the pressure on the services that remain will do. I can't imagine it will be pretty.Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-7695000078120297772011-02-10T01:04:35.113+00:002011-02-10T01:04:35.113+00:00Good points. On a similar note, many Citizen's...Good points. On a similar note, many Citizen's Advice Bureau's are closing, something that I have the same issue with. It's all too easy to take these things away but much more difficult to see them ever coming back.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-39597425943933887622011-02-09T22:33:49.030+00:002011-02-09T22:33:49.030+00:00Thank you Nymeth - and feel free to link. I think ...Thank you Nymeth - and feel free to link. I think Josbookjourney says it best - it's hard to imagine the impact of losing libraries will have. They're not a luxary.Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-64452731607158538352011-02-09T21:00:58.970+00:002011-02-09T21:00:58.970+00:00Perfectly put. I hope you don't mind if I link...Perfectly put. I hope you don't mind if I link to this post - your last paragraph in particular says it perfectly.Ana S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16092495983972185943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-58692859098187700952011-02-09T20:01:23.265+00:002011-02-09T20:01:23.265+00:00Well said!
I think all this library closure is go...Well said!<br /><br />I think all this library closure is going to affect the local councils in ways they just cannot imagine.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-38471898263672696042011-02-09T20:00:59.069+00:002011-02-09T20:00:59.069+00:00It seems we're all agreed... it would be a muc...It seems we're all agreed... it would be a much poorer world without libraries , and yet again it will be the poorer among us who suffer when they close. I might choose to buy my books now (cheap and second hand for the most part) but always assumed that libraries would be there for me when even that choice is taken away.Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-61790033913315894812011-02-08T20:16:40.012+00:002011-02-08T20:16:40.012+00:00I agree with you entirely. This is an another sh...I agree with you entirely. This is an another short-sighted action that will be of no benefit to anyone. As you have observed, they offer so much more than "just " books. They are a vital cog in the community and anyone who thinks that making them obsolete is a wise idea is just a buffoon. <br /><br />I work with young people who are marginalised and at the bottom of the pecking order. As a professional, I can't tell you how often a library has provided inspiration, education, warmth and possibilities to the young person and I. I have had wonderful librarians cancel fines -one of whom enabled a young girl in a hostel to read to her newborn baby. I have met with the Service Manager for Culture and Arts and his team- who have always shared information and opened up educational opprtunities to my organisation and young people. They represent a vital part of community learning, development and imagination. They provide educational opportunities to those who are frightned by mainstream choices and involve all ages of people in journalism, media, story telling, community activities and the documentation and preservation of identity and humanity . <br /><br />In short, keep your mitts off the libraries and try placing the individual at the heart of decisions made.Rubyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03964613999404091909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-26803772482051051202011-02-08T20:14:08.984+00:002011-02-08T20:14:08.984+00:00I took full advanatge of Leicester Library service...I took full advanatge of Leicester Library services as a young adult, waiting for buses, researching for my studies, actually studying, borrowing maps for trips out & about and adding to what became a significant collection of recorded albums. At the time a lack of experience led me to believe that this is what all library services are like, more years than I'd like to admit later I realise that this isn't the case, Leicestershire's library service is exceptional. My point is, is that it shouldn't be and as times are getting harder for all we should think past the headline 'sick child Vs library' and look at the bigger picture. I read today that my local MP has made a legimate claim for a taxi to drive a distance less than the walk from my house to the library, the £51 could have bought a few books (both adult & childrens)and the exercise might have also made her a saving in gym fees, so here's a thought why don't we make MP's have the same rules about claiming for taxi's as applies to children walking to school (nothing under 3 miles) and direct the money saved into the library services, thus still leaving money for the sick children?<br />Sorry I appear to have ranted abit there, but I absolutely agree with you Hayley, there are a lot things we should put before cutting the library service.Cloverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07244729851811109360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-45733509828331865982011-02-08T14:25:32.764+00:002011-02-08T14:25:32.764+00:00I couldn't agree more, Hayley. I'm thinki...I couldn't agree more, Hayley. I'm thinking about my (distant) retirement when I don't expect to have much cash to splash - I hope there will still be libraries for me to use!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16788591439454294083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-12400874207407680062011-02-08T10:58:16.472+00:002011-02-08T10:58:16.472+00:00Excellent points as the others have said; it's...Excellent points as the others have said; it's nice to have somewhere to go to when you are unemployed or underemployed as I was in 2006. Plus for me as an adult they are priceless; imagine how much I'd spend on books if I couldn't go so often - I guess I just wouldn't read.verityhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16825551404394913715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-36715272282080857382011-02-08T09:23:08.274+00:002011-02-08T09:23:08.274+00:00I am so behind you in this. As a retired individu...I am so behind you in this. As a retired individual living on a fixed income I would be lost without the libraries. I do have a little spare cash at the moment to spend on books, but that has to be reserved for the ones that I know I'm likely to want to return to. Those that I'm going to read once and then store simply in memory or on the blog, have to come through the library system. At the moment, we don't know what's going to happen Birmingham libraries. I can only hope that they will find ways of making saving that don't prioritise one section of the community over any other.Annhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16966461711132186974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-57463231286843465092011-02-08T00:31:10.461+00:002011-02-08T00:31:10.461+00:00I think you make an excellent point, Hayley. Libra...I think you make an excellent point, Hayley. Libraries are much more than just books, and the services they offer to people who rely on them are rarely available elsewhere. The problem with most of the library services being cut is that they tend to be in rural areas where people with no transport - such as those on limited incomes or the elderly - truly will be cut off without them. It's not just about who borrows books - it's about who needs a warm place to spend a few hours in the company of others, who needs to look up job adverts, who needs a quiet place away from a crowded home to study. These spaces aren't mandatory for the state to supply, of course, but I wish value wasn't always calculated in financial terms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-80096952780442342772011-02-07T23:27:36.430+00:002011-02-07T23:27:36.430+00:00I think they should be about the printed word too,...I think they should be about the printed word too, but they offer so much more and all of it is important. I'm wondering how this post will read back to me tomorrow when I'm worked up about something else though!Desperate Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15708411387912078122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8011557877105021955.post-1459574462327945432011-02-07T23:21:54.995+00:002011-02-07T23:21:54.995+00:00Excellent points! When I first moved back to the U...Excellent points! When I first moved back to the UK I would have been lost without the internet facilities in the local library. I "still" tend to think libraries should be primarily about the printed word, but can see I'm not considering the other services they offer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com