Libraries

A couple of today's photos of the library/post office/community hub.

The strange thing is that although the library has been renamed as a community hub, everyone still calls it the library.  Even the notice on the old post office states that they have moved to the library.

I had that issue when I met up with my Behaviour Manager and my HR Manager the other week.  They suggested we meet up at a local quiet cafe as I didn't want to go to my workplace.  Whilst there, the HR Manager asked me if I would like an appointment with Occupational Health, to which I agreed.  She then produced a long questionnaire and asked me questions from it.  These included personal details, details of my medical history, details of my work issues.  She asked them in a loud voice, and I was convinced that a man at an adjacent table was listening in.  I should have spoken up, but I just wanted to get the whole thing out of the way.  In the end, I said I wasn't feeling comfortable and would like to leave.  I can't believe that senior managers like that could be so careless and negligent.

I have been concerned about meetings involving private sensitive information being held in public spaces in libraries within ear shot of other people. I would definitely want such a meeting to take place somewhere private. I had to pay for a meeting room in my village hall in order to see my Union rep while off work. She wasn't allowed to visit my home and I did not feel comfortable talking about work problems in a cafe or library where other customers might know me or my boss. Does the library you go to have a private meeting room? Some do. 

The old libraries with wooden bookshelves and actual books had a certain magic.

Since childhood I felt safe and at peace in a library.  Reading old and new books, the smell of the paper.

Now they are almost gone.  The library I visited yesterday, is awful.  Actually I had a two hour meeting there with my mental health employment advisor and I was using the computer applying for my latest job.  A part time post paying £26ph.

The computer desks take up more space than the book shelves.  There was a uniformed security guard with a radio and possibly a camera built into his uniform. There was a long queue to use the three post office counters.  The bookshelves are metal and plastic.  There was a loud children's group in one corner.

Yuk.

Libraries of old were often a bit intimidating I think.  Some of our Dorset Libraries are community hubs and offer other services but we still have plenty of books! All staff have autism awareness training and two of our libraries have autism rooms which can be reserved, or used informally. these have dimmable lights and soft furnishings as well as muted colours and provide a quieter space if people need it. 

We always have quieter spaces for people where possible and staff are available to chat or help. We employ people with autism too and offer volunteering to young people with all kinds of disabilities. 

Hope you like the picture!

I love libraries too. We have three -  one is walking distance and two are a short drive. They are all of the book-filled variety. I remember the one down the road when I lived 'oop north' - I spent hours in there as a four year old hoovering up knowledge and data. I loved the non-fiction area - loads of things about planes, cars, trains, animals, buildings and some were filled with colourful pictures (this was the late 60s)

I could never see the point of story books - I'd have to read hundreds of pages with no technical data - why? I think I've only read a small number because it seemed to be a lot of effort with little return.

I know what you mean, Robert.  Unfortunately, it's the times we live in, with cutbacks in local authority spending priorities.  Libraries have had to 'diversify' in order to survive.  The library in the small town where I live still focuses on books - but they're being increasingly elbowed out.  Several years ago, the Reference room was converted into an office for the Registrar of Births and Deaths, and all the reference works - Enycyclopedia Britannica, dictionaries, Debrett's, thesauruses, atlases, etc - got dumped.  So much of that stuff is available online now.  I love poring over atlases - but how are they to compete with the more immersive experience of Google Earth?  About half of the library is given over to adult fiction and non-fiction, but with the inevitable focus on popular titles.  The children's section takes up roughly a quarter.  The rest of it is display cases, computer terminals, DVDs and CDs.

I don't know what the figures are now, but I know that 'reading books' has for a long time been a declining activity with the advent of the internet, computer gaming, Kindles, etc. Everyone hoped there would be a renaissance in children's reading with the popularity of the Harry Potter books, but surveys I've seen - conducted by Library Services - indicate that children are less inclined to read books now than ever.  It's very sad.  But there are so many other demands and distractions for them.  Sad, too, that so many even older people think things like Winnie The Pooh and Mary Poppins are Disney creations.

I occasionally pop over to my local university library, which is huge and has large 'Quiet Spaces'.  Even there, though, you get people talking and making other noises.

As a kid, I loved the hush and reverence of a library.  They were places to escape to.  Now, as you say, they're more like community centres or shopping malls.