Archived decisions

Item 8

Written Statement: Amanda Field

Hampshire Library Scrutiny - witness answers to panel's questions

What service or services do you feel that libraries could and should provide for (all of) the local community?

The focus of libraries is to be a one-stop-shop for reading in all its forms. They are unique in offering free access to, and the free loan, of books. Through this provision, libraries encourage literacy. Effort, and spending, need to be focused on this `unique selling proposition'. (With 94p in every pound being spent on buildings, administration and staff, and only 6p on books in Hampshire's libraries, I would suggest that they have lost sight of this mission)

What evidence do you have to support your thoughts on this?

The combined total of recorded human thought since the Greeks and Romans.

What suggestions would you have for simple and effective ways for borrowers or prospective borrowers to tell libraries what kind of books they would like?

I rather feel this question is the `wrong way round'. As a library user, I expect the professional staff who run my library to behave as any forward-thinking corporation might behave: to use all the customer data they have at their disposal to examine the profile of their customers, look at what they borrow and how often, whether their borrowing patterns have changed, whether they place orders for books, whether they use the fastback service, and so on. They also need to examine the demographic or socio-economic profile of their customer-base (i.e. not just the people who use the library) so they can build a picture of the area that they serve. Thirdly, they need to use this information to review their book collection to see how accurately it caters for this customer profile, and take steps to fill the gap, if there is one. Most importantly, they need constantly to monitor their book stocks in every subject-area, and sub-area, to ensure that their collection offers a balanced range of titles that does not omit major `classics', key titles from important authors, popular works, emerging new talents etc etc. Collections can easily be `skewed' over time by individual users ordering titles, older copies of books being thrown out and other factors which result in an unbalanced collection (Gosport Discovery Centre is a good case in point). Libraries also need to acknowledge that it's `what's on the shelf' that is absolutely vital, not `what's in another library somewhere else in the County, or in a store somewhere'. The ability to borrow on impulse, or to stumble on an interesting book through serendipity, is an important part of the library experience. For regular borrowers, it opens up reading possibilities in areas they might not have thought of. For those who read little, and who do not necessarily know what they want to read, it offers a wide-ranging selection.

How important or helpful is it for libraries to provide free access to the internet?

When the `people's network' initiative began, it was important for libraries to offer free access to the internet because few homes had the internet, and if they did, it was usually only via an expensive dial-up connection. However, by the beginning of 2006, some 34 percent of UK households not only had internet access, but broadband connection. Take-up of broadband has been much faster than expected, but nevertheless, the writing has been on the wall for 18 months or so now, and libraries needed to react quickly. Imagine a situation in the late 1950s with libraries proudly announcing that they were investing in a new initiative - a room full of televisions - where members of the public could come and watch TV. Within five years, the idea would have seemed absurd. The situation is very similar today. Within just two years, 80-90 percent of households in the South East will have broadband access (according to a survey by Point Topic, an e-consultancy). Yet libraries still seem to be investing heavily in internet provision in the belief that `everything is online these days'. What I think Hampshire needs to do is to look at the way universities are making use of internet provision for students. They still offer `plain vanilla' use of the internet, but their real focus is on subscribing, as institutions, to services that individuals could not otherwise afford to. Many technical and specialist journals, for example, are now only available online as a subscription service. The full version of the Oxford English Dictionary is no longer carried in hardcopy, but is subscribed to by the institution. The services which Hampshire libraries could offer would depend on the demographic profile of its users, of course. But in making this the principal thrust of internet investment, it not only makes it `future-proof', but also continues the libraries' mission of providing, free of charge, literacy-based facilities that are not available in the commercial sector.

How could these library services be improved?

I've outlined a number of ideas elsewhere in this document, but two things are absolutely key: a huge increase in book stocks (which are now woefully inadequate at Gosport Discovery Centre), and longer opening hours. This, combined with smarter business processes, good marketing and better staff training, will reverse the decline in book borrowing. Clearer thinking about the future for non-traditional reading media (internet etc) and the part libraries can play in this, is also essential.

What kinds of books do you think would be good to add to library stocks?

(I've covered the answer to this question elsewhere in this document)

How important is it for you that the library is really convenient, such as in a popular shopping area?

Convenience is certainly important but only if the library has the same (or longer) opening hours as the shops or facilities that surround it. Most shops have late-night opening on at least a couple of nights per week; most shops are open on Sundays. Libraries need to be open too. This is particularly important for people in full-time work who otherwise find it difficult to get to a library, but also because consumers today are becoming used to (and expecting) a `24/7' culture. They can buy plane tickets, talk to their bank, order a DVD, do their weekly shop and a thousand other tasks (including e-government transactions) online, anytime, and they expect all businesses to be moving in this direction.

Where else would be a convenient library location for you?

Libraries in future might think about locating sub-branches alongside supermarkets and superstores, which tend not to be in high streets any more and which offer copious free parking and easy access. That would mean libraries keeping the same opening hours as the superstores, of course.

Do you think it is useful to have Citizens Advice Bureaux and local council services, including libraries all in one place?

I think the library service should think carefully about its focus, balancing the desire to draw more users in, with the dangers of diluting the `offer'. Cross-promotion of services is a good thing, but the one-stop-shop for council services should be the town hall, and the one-stop-shop for reading (in all its forms) should be the library. If space is at a premium, then the space available for books must be maximised.

Do you feel more inclined to use a library if it is bright, comfortable and has art work or museum displays in it?

Of course libraries should be bright and comfortable, if `bright' means attractively designed, clean and well maintained; and if `comfortable' means good provision of seating/tables, good lighting and well thought-out shelving. Nice artwork on the walls would be part of this, as it would be in any public building. But however nice the building, if it doesn't have the books I want or need, isn't open when I want, and offers no quiet spaces in which to read or study, then it's of no use to me. I would happily put up with a less-than-perfect environment if the library had the books that I wanted on the shelves. Museum displays, again, are a nice addition in interior design terms if space allows, but do not constitute a replacement for a proper town museum - which is what has happened in Gosport.

Are you ever been asked your thoughts on how the library could be improved?

I have completed a questionnaire at Gosport Discovery Centre. The questions, however, were of the `motherhood and apple pie' type and did not probe any of the real issues. They seemed aimed solely at getting a positive endorsement of the Discovery Centre concept. (I have designed many such questionnaires myself and know how they can be designed to elicit particular types of response).

Are there clear signs to the library, and advertising to tell people what facilities it provides, such as free internet, or visits by authors?

There may well be a direction sign in the high street, but I've not noticed it. The Discovery Centre in Gosport suffers slightly by being set back from the main street and perhaps could do with an A-frame board on the high street promoting events, or some activity outside the main doors in fine weather to increase visibility. It became visible for the first time for many people when the librarians were on strike and were outside with tables, petition etc. I'm aware of very occasional newspaper advertisements, but these are mostly for the Gosport Gallery, an exhibition space in a separate building. However, if the contents of the library continue to be as they are, then there's really little point in making it more visible.

What would encourage you to use the library more, or to start using the library?

Minimum requirements would be:

- Adequate book stocks in all subject areas

- Silent study areas away from the noise of coffee shop, children, internet, phone, staff talking, `talking elevator' etc.

- Longer opening hours including Sunday opening

How important is it that staff are available to help, and what qualities should customer-facing staff have?

Knowledgeable, well-read, professional staff who love books, and can inspire others to love books, are absolutely vital. They need to be able to recommend books or authors, show customers where to find information, help users understand how to evaluate information they find in non-traditional sources (e.g. the internet), offer specialist skills in a particular area (e.g. Naval history). Clearly they need to have all the customer-facing skills you'd expect to find in an equivalent commercial enterprise (helpful, polite, `can-do' attitude, attention to the way the library looks and how books are displayed etc) - though this is not always evident currently. Qualified librarians, with their level of skill and training, are an essential core of this staffing,

What other comments to you think are important for the committee to consider?

Libraries need to:

- make a huge increase in book stocks

- open on Sundays

- listen to their customers (at County and at branch level)

- benchmark themselves against libraries not just in other counties but in other countries (e.g. the US) and in other environments (e.g. University), for fresh ideas

- make sweeping changes in buying and administration to free up more of the budget for books

- ensure that, in chasing one set of customers (young, non-readers), they are not alienating another set of customers (older, book-readers). This is not inclusiveness - this is swapping one customer-set for another

- measure their success in more sophisticated ways than `numbers through the door'.

- use the whole range of marketing techniques available to promote the library (many of these techniques cost nothing)

- ensure there are silent areas for study. If you feel that young people are `uncomfortable' with silence, then bear in mind that close to 50 percent of young people go to college or university. All areas of college libraries, apart from the book issuing area, are silent.

- install a night-return slot for the return of books after hours

- build a database of email addresses for users so they can receive regular newsletters about new books in the library, events etc and personal recommendations of books they might enjoy, based on previous borrowing

- construct a catalogue online that tells customers what is in their own branch library without trawling through pages and pages of other Hampshire-wide data. Include extracts from books on the catalogue, a review, a picture of the cover etc.

- get books out from store and put them on the shelves. If people can't see the book, how do they know if they might enjoy it or not?

- offer the latest hardback books on a one week loan. If the main marketing thrust is on top-ten paperbacks, libraries are competing head-to-head with supermarkets whose heavy discounts mean that people can buy these books. Few borrowers can, or would want, to buy every hardback they want to read, and if a new book comes out by an author they like, they want to read it straight away - not wait months before it's issued in paperback

- abandon DVD and CD rentals. This is a dying business with the advent of internet downloads and postal-rental companies. Libraries should have moved away from this by now. They should be planning for `pay as you download' stations for audio books, music, and film, where users can plug in their iPods, PDAs, mobile phones etc. They need also to be planning for the advent of electronic palm-top `books', so that users can plug in their device and download books

- design shelving that packs the most books in the best space. Six-feet-high shelving works (just look at bookshops, university libraries etc). Low shelving means that older customers, who probably comprise the bulk of book-borrowers, have to constantly bend to see the titles (and means a vast floor area is used for a small number of books). Use library assistants as `personal shoppers' to accompany the few users who are not able to reach books from higher shelves.