On most days the library in Chelsea Town Hall is a graveyard.
Could that be because of shelves filled with rubbish like those on the left by pulp writers James Patterson and Danielle Steele?
Muriel Spark, one of the great novelists of this and the last century published over eighteen novels.
The library service has decided that only four of her great novels will be displayed.
No wonder the libraries run on empty!
If your tastes run to fine literature it is like finding a needle in a haystack amongst the shelves of pulp fiction.
Of course the libraries are stocked with rubbish. to keep readers out. to create space to rent out as offices. the Cllr False brainwave. supported by Cllr dizzy Campbell
ReplyDeleteLibraries are obsolete. Every thing is on the internet
DeleteSell off the libraries
ReplyDeleteThat’s not fair. When I studied library science at UCL’s MA programme we were taught not to force our standards on the patrons but to give them what they want, which we know from computer analysis of borrowing. Patrons are encouraged to order online or in person or by telephone anything held at the Kensington Central or the branch libraries. And when I am conducting research the Chelsea Library has ordered research materials for me by inter library loan. One can even get materials from the British Library although with my free old-age bus pass and BL reader’s card I prefer to order (from Ballston Spa) online and read stuff at Euston Road. (My research just now is on terrorism law; maybe not smart to have that recorded on CCTV in Chelsea.)
ReplyDeleteYou were taught by the wrong people then: teachers who felt that the lower orders should be fed pap. Some of the great Labour politicians were were autodidacts who educated themselves to lead this country by aspiring to read the sort of literature that would equip them to lead. Your doctrine condemns people to mediocrity. The miners had their own educational institutes. They would never have read crap by Danielle Steele or James Patterson
DeleteIt needs imagination to fire up interest in libraries and increase use. K&C is stuffed full of great writers. Has any Library committee member ever thought about asking the likes of Edna O'Brien or William Boyd to give talks? William Boyd is very community orientated and would happily spare the time. A little imagination might help
ReplyDeleteErnie Bevin, Keir Hardie and other self educated Labour leaders would be horrified to find a library with shelves stuffed with such mindless rubbish. These men relied upon libraries to feed their minds.
ReplyDeleteLibraries are yesterday's world. Get used to it.
DeleteLibarsries full of "pulp fiction" isn't anything new and not strictly an RBKC thing, I remember the library shelves in N London in the 90s being packed with Mills and Boon and Jeffrey Archer!
ReplyDeleteSome Libraries are more in use than others. Study space is needed in the poorer parts of the borough. Community space is needed in all. Unfortunately we have a Council that wants to use the space to compete with business workspace providers. There is future life for our Libraries. 19:09 has the right idea. Unfortunately RBKC would prefer to asset strip our public buildings rather than than listen to thoughtful feedback from the public.