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Few tears for departing MLA
09.09.11 | Desmond Clarke
This month the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council shuts its doors.
Few will mourn the loss of a quango which delivered little strategically for the library sector despite a stream of initiatives such as Blueprint for Excellence, Framework for the Future and the two-year Library Modernisation Review.
The current culture minister, Ed Vaizey, said the Labour-instigated review simply provided a "classic ministerial excuse for not acting" (The Bookseller, 9th July 2010) and ironically his own lack of action in office can only give further credence to this view. The MLA's essential failure was that its board never developed and promoted a vision for public libraries in the 21st century which was widely understood and supported. What should be the role of public libraries in today's society and how should they fulfil people's needs? A lack of leadership and advocacy in the sector has long been an issue.
The only real advocacy has come from the thousands of local campaigners, supported by authors, who have had enormous success in persuading local authorities not to close their libraries. As a result just five libraries (and 31 mobiles) have been closed in this financial year and many councils have switched to a policy of radically reducing opening hours and replacing librarians with volunteers to deliver the required savings.
Any hope of a radical transformation of public libraries has long been superseded by demands for extensive job cuts. It is a moot point whether either "excellence" or "better libraries" will result from skilled librarians and library assistants being replaced by community volunteers. Equally importantly, inefficiencies remain in place in spite of moves to reduce the 151 separately managed authorities in England. Ed Vaizey's target of reducing the number of authorities by perhaps a third seems a distant aspiration.
It seems that bold talk of "transforming" public libraries has after just a year fallen into the "too difficult" tray of ministers. Even moves to encourage e-book lending and national initiatives such as a universal library card are running into difficulties.
More worryingly, reading and literacy projects face cuts. Four years ago, the Parliamentary Select Committee for Culture described public libraries as "a service in distress". Many would argue that in some authorities it has moved into crisis, though there remain beacons of success where authorities have responded to the needs of their communities and been quick to reduce unnecessary layers of management and share back office services. Alas, having so many separately managed authorities has allowed the poor and mediocre to continue alongside the good and excellent.
The excuse is that libraries are a local issue despite the Secretary of State's duty under the 1964 Act to superintend authorities and ensure that the service continues to improve. Into the sector reluctantly rides the Arts Council and it has appointed a former manager at the MLA as its new library director. It is clear that ACE will have no more success unless it takes a radical new approach, commissions proper research to support an effective strategy and builds a vision for libraries which can be widely understood and supported, especially by the elected members who determine resources.
ACE faces an enormous challenge and it should first set up a development board to provide the necessary vision and expertise to help every authority deliver. The public library service will not be revitalised by arts administrators or even by the professional bodies. It needs people with the imagination, skills and drive to build a service fit for people's needs in today's society. The people who use libraries have been ignored to date. It is now essential that they be listened to.
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Whatever you think of MLA, real people with real families, real lives, real careers and real mortgages, rents and bills to pay are losing their jobs.
This after the event putting the boot smacks of scores being settled rather than any real attempt to move things on. It is shameful and it stinks.
There is a major absence of common decency on the part the author, and a lack of humanity towards people who face uncertain futures.
Disgusting.
Unfortunately Ex MLA Staffer is correct. I was certainly not the MLA's biggest fan but there are humans involved in all these discussions. I'd be delighted to see the back of JISC but there are good people there who have lives beyond their employer. Maybe the solution is to waste less of our tax money and do something useful and be more accountable? Whatever, I certainly wish no harm to the individuals. My mind springs back to the Austin Powers movies where a henchman speaks to the screen as hordes of them are shot and says something like nobody thinks of the poor henchmen and their families. From the upper floors of publishing houses these things are forgotten and manifest in unfortunate pieces like this without due care for people and the lives they continue to live.
You know this all sounds a little like miners being upset because we no longer need coal in the quantities of the 1960's.
Doesn't anybody think that public libraries are essentially from an age when real poverty prevented people owning books ? No matter what some might say that is not the case today . Anybody can afford a couple of £ in Oxfam , or The Works , or even £5 for a new paperback discounted .[I come from a very humble background so I DO know ].
We are all really hanging on to £1bn expenditure p.a for libraries [mainly infrastructure and staffing costs -only £85m on books]rather than giving the money directly to needy people so that they can buy the books they want .
Incidentally didn't the MLA effectively create Lord [Matthew ]Evans, so it was not a complete waste was it ?
I for one miss MLA, or at least the part I used to deal with. Their project funding and support (e.g. Creative Learning and Learning Links) were extremely valuable and with a modest amount a great deal could be achieved. We are still reping the benefits of an initially MLA funded project a few years ago.
There are as many poor people now as maybe 50or even 100 years ago - they can't afford books not even discounted or charity shop books and therefore the library is as necessary as ever.
As a union member I always mourn the loss of people's jobs but as a librarian I dont feel the same for the MLA! I once got a request to meet with Roy Clare, he said he wanted to hear my views on the future of libraries. We met and I told him that I beleived that the introduction of diversification and retail models had been disastrous for libraries and that we should be concentrating more on the core ethos of books, staff and buildings but this is not what he wanted to hear. He wanted coffee shops and 'discovery centres'! No wonder we are in such a mess!
This article understandably attacks the MLA's policies and, in particular, the failure of its board to promote a vision for public libraries. The MLA was supposed to provide strategic leadership for the sector. The fact that public libraries are facing disproportinate cuts, and so many librarians are being replaced by volunteers, must be evidence of the MLA's failed policies.
What was the total cost of the MLA failure?
Yeah, cuts to library funding are all down to the MLA, aren't they? Nothing to do with a massive recession. If only the MLA had been better then libraries would be remaining opening even though all other services are being cut. You are so right.
@Commentator - I am getting really tired of people who seem to think libraries are nothing more than a book lending service.
Of cousre it is regretable that people have lost jobs., and not for the first time with MLA. The Regional move was costly (and of course unnecessary and with a loss of jobs). The move to RSA will no doubt be of little import, understaffed and undervalued.But so many jobs lost in every sector.From police to factory workers.
BUT The MLA failed to understand that the it could and should have done so much more to persuade elected members of councils of the importance of public libraries. If the MLA had been an effective advocate for public libraries and had provided strategic leadership, the sector would not have been faced with the same level of cuts and many front line librarians having their jobs being replaced by volunteers. So much could have been done to merge authorities and share back offices (and cut the costs of Councils' central services).
Lord Evans, when he took on and created the MLA left it healthy and a respected body, not I am afraid how it ended up.
A fascinating selection of comments. Clarke has a pop at MLA for failing to provide leadership over the library modernisation review. Yep, that's right. Clarke has a go at MLA for failing to make the minister deliver on an initiative of the ministers own devising. Thus you have displayed all the facts about how the publishing illuminati see the world. They don't understand public service, they don't understand the relationship between politicians and public servants, and they don't understand the constraints under which (rightly) public servants operate.
But don't let that stop them pontificating and making MLA the scapegoat for not doing exactly what some publishing executives want. Don't let them stop having a go at people who are losing their jobs. After all, they're only the little people, aren't they?
And as for the final comment, if you can't tell the difference between Arts Council England and the Royal Society of Arts, well, you really should stop having opinions.
A fascinating selection of comments. Clarke has a pop at MLA for failing to provide leadership over the library modernisation review. Yep, that's right. Clarke has a go at MLA for failing to make the minister deliver on an initiative of the ministers own devising. Thus you have displayed all the facts about how the publishing illuminati see the world. They don't understand public service, they don't understand the relationship between politicians and public servants, and they don't understand the constraints under which (rightly) public servants operate.
But don't let that stop them pontificating and making MLA the scapegoat for not doing exactly what some publishing executives want. Don't let them stop having a go at people who are losing their jobs. After all, they're only the little people, aren't they?
And as for the final comment, if you can't tell the difference between Arts Council England and the Royal Society of Arts, well, you really should stop having opinions.
We all sympathise with those at the MLA who are losing their jobs. However this piece was about the policy failures of the MLA and its failure to provide strategic leadership and effective advocacy for the sector. The MLA's remit may have been too wide but that does not excuse its failure to persuade councillors that public libraries are important and should not suffer disproportinate cuts. Our sympathies should be directed first at the many, many librarians whose jobs are being replaced by volunteers.
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