UK PUBLIC LIBRARIES UNDER THE SPOTLIGHT

Patricia Layzell Ward, UK Convenor, Library Link

UK public libraries have come under the spotlight in recent weeks. The government issued a consultation paper, Comprehensive and efficient - standards for modern public libraries www.culture.gov.uk. The draft standards have been developed in partnership with the Library Association and the Local Government Association, but the current stage of consultation included all library authorities, known library friends and user groups and other interested organisations and individuals. In line with current government policy the timeframe was short. The paper was issued on 15 May, and replies were needed by 3 July.

To summarise the standards:

• all service points to be within reasonable travelling distance: 20 minutes
• hours closed or mobile stops missed due to emergencies: 5% or less
• aggregate opening hours per 1000 population to be no less than 128
• at least one service point to be open 60 hours a week
• all static service points open 10+ hours a week to have access to an OPAC: workstations 0.7 per 1,000 population
• users can borrow up to 8 books for at least 3 weeks
• reservations service with alternative formats for the disabled, reasonable charges and 50% of requests supplied in 7 days
• active borrowers (1 book a year) to be 45% of population with library visits in relation to population served
• annual visits to website to be in upper quartile
• 75% of users to get required information which is �accurate, timely, appropriate and unbiased� with unobtrusive testing
• 95% of users to rate staff knowledge as good or very good, and helpfulness as good or very good
• professional staff to be at least 29% of total staff
• stock �2,000 for books/print and �500 for other materials per 1,000 population: all stock to be replaced within 8.5 years: 216 new items per 1,000 population every year
• fiction quality to be measured via unobtrusive testing against a sample of titles, and non-fiction against a framework of titles published in each major subject field during the year.

Public libraries have also been the focus of attention by a government committee. The all-party Culture Select Committee reported on 24 May that the service is rapidly constricting as local councils cut back on opening hours and the number of books available falls. It recommends that local people should be consulted before libraries are closed, or services reduced. As UK public libraries are funded by local authorities that are continually under community pressure to reduce local taxation, the committee has made an interesting suggestion that public libraries might benefit from national lottery funding. The committee has a reputation for close investigation of matters, and it was good to read that they are supportive of this field of culture. Their conclusions also drew on research carried out by the Department of Information Studies at Sheffield University. (The findings have been published in Library Management 2000, Vol. 21 Nos. 1 and 2).

However, Tim Coates, the former Managing Director of Waterstone�s, one of the UK�s largest booksellers, is calling for a Director-General for Libraries in a paper given at June�s Library+ Information Show. He indicates that 60% of the public library service is spent on administration, and only �90 million on books, and makes a comparison with the BBC, which currently spends 23% on administration and is pledged to reduce this to 16%. His comments will add spice to the debate on standards, and the persistent arguments about the nature of library statistics.

Patricia Layzell Ward
UK Convenor, Library Link

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