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AIBU?

To be upset that the British Museum is closing its library

29 replies

frillyflower · 07/06/2011 22:37

The public library at the British Museum is fantastic.

They have a children's library and children's backpacks and trails. They also have thousands of adult books, all freely available to any visitor 7 days a week.

I am really sad that this service is to close.

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GypsyMoth · 08/06/2011 00:16

Lots are tho, this one is no more or less important than those in the community

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PrinceHumperdink · 08/06/2011 00:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

frillyflower · 08/06/2011 09:46

Tiffany - just because others are closing doesn't mean it's not a shame this one is too!

PrinceHumperdink - apparently the Museum is doing it to save money (cuts). Although they are keeping their other (9!!) libraries which are all closed to the general public.

They have also announced that the public don't need a library as all information is available on the Web nowadays

Seems a shame they have chosen to cut a service for the public and the only place there where there is provision for families and small children.

It's very popular. We go all the time.

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GypsyMoth · 08/06/2011 09:49

all libraries are popular and its a shame for all of them. cuts. they have to start somewhere

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 09:53

Well why do they have to start on the public library?

They are keeping all their other special non-public ones (9 in one institution!).

They are building a huge great extension at the back.

I think they should prioritise a public service - after all we pay for it.

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GypsyMoth · 08/06/2011 10:03

suppose as its open to the public,its more costly?

and maybe the numbers of people using it are dwindling? who knows?

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 10:05

And maybe they aren't dwindling!

Every time we go there it's full.

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OhYouBadBadKitten · 08/06/2011 10:08

It is pretty outrageous. It sends out the wrong message that books aren't important in such a public way.

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 10:15

Honestly it's such a great service for families.

You can hire a (free) backpack full of activities to do in the museum and then go back to the library and the children can read if they want, or parents can read little ones a story. And all the books are on subjects covered in the museum so it's such a brilliant way for children to learn about Egyptians and Romans etc.

It is also really nice that the public can access all this information so freely.

We will miss it anyway.

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LRDTheFeministDragon · 08/06/2011 10:21

That is a shame.

But then, their library used to be much bigger before they moved the vast majority of it to the then-new British Library, so I assume the library they now have is effectively there out of old habit, rather than because someone decided it was vital for a museum to have a library? I know back in the day when they moved the big collections it was partly because the Museum felt it was too big a job to keep both library and museum up to scratch.

Do you know what will happen to the books/equipment? Is it going somewhere else?

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 10:28

All museums have libraries.

The British Museum was the only one with access for the general public and a children's library too. I think it sent out a great message that they valued books and learning (and the public!). And for those of us who want our children to appreciate books and libraries that was a valuable thing really.

When the British Library moved from the Museum building they took their own books (separate institution). The Museum still had all its own libraries - that's why they have 9 private specialist ones now!

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LRDTheFeministDragon · 08/06/2011 10:47

frilly, are you sure they were separate institutions? Quite a lot of books that now belong to the British Library used to have 'British Museum' as part of their shelfmark, that's why I ask.

I was hoping maybe the books and equipment would go somewhere else to carry on being used - if not the BL maybe somewhere else? Does anyone know?

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 10:50

The BL has been a separate institution from the BM since 1973 when it became the national library.

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 10:52

The BL won't want a public library on BM subjects including lots of children's books!

The value of the BM public library is that it is IN the BM. So you look at the objects, go and read up on them and vice versa.

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LRDTheFeministDragon · 08/06/2011 11:26

I thought so, frilly! Was confused for a minute there.

It seems a real pity if the books can't be re-used elsewhere - don't personally get the snobbery about children's books. Children's books are just as good and possibly a whole lot more important than other types of book, dont you think?

If the alternative is to scrap them/put them in storage it'd surely be better to have them available even if it's not at the BM.

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IntergalacticHussy · 08/06/2011 11:40

we are truly a civilisation in decline

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 11:47

The BL not snobby about children's books (it is a copyright library so has everything), but it is an adult library so does not cater for children.

However, I don't get the snobbery about public libraries per se tbh.

It seems far more valuable and important to me to provide material for the public (especially children) than for rarefied museum staff and scholarly types who, frankly, can use libraries elsewhere, including the BL.

What price being able to tell a child about Egyptian mummies, show them in a book and then show them the objects themselves?

Whatever - it's certainly better value than a multi million pound extension and a lot of private libraries.

But hey - I like books and children and so my priorities obviously differ from theirs!!

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LaundryFairy · 08/06/2011 11:54

I would be very sorry to see this go as well.

Can you tell me where you heard the news frillyflower?

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montmartre · 08/06/2011 11:56

'All museums have libraries'?

No they don't! These days some barely have exhibits ...

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 12:04

Another user of the library told me. I asked a member of the visitor staff and they said the closure has been announced in the museum.

All museums have libraries actually they just don't all make them public. That is the value of this one.

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LRDTheFeministDragon · 08/06/2011 13:58

It does cater for children, very well! Have you never been?

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 21:19

Actually yes I have been! I was there last weeK researching for my PhD. It is the national library, a research library, and to get a readers ticket you have to be over 18.

I don't know what you mean LRD. The BL does not have a children's library.

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LRDTheFeministDragon · 08/06/2011 21:27

Frilly, I happened to mention the BL because its books used to belong to the BM, like the ones that are now in the library that is being closed. I am sure there might be better places for those books to be taken, if the library must be closed (which is a real pity).

But it's not accurate to suggest the BL isn't child-friendly. It is. I have never been there without seeing many children, with parents or on their school trips. There was a really good exhibition a while back on, if I remember rightly, the Jolly Postman and other children's illustrations, and all of the regular exhibitions have aspects that are designed for children to enjoy. I honestly don't know how you've missed this? As to needing a reader's ticket, that's not true either. You only need a reader's ticket to get to the research collections.

If, instead of going to the reading rooms, you go into the exhibitions, you will see what I mean. I absolutely loved the BL as a child and have very fond memories!

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frillyflower · 08/06/2011 21:55

I know all that LRD.

My point is that the BL does not have a children's library. They cannot take books from another library and make them available to children.

I know you don't need a reader's ticket to go to exhibitions or enter the BL building. It's called a reader's ticket because it allows you into the reading rooms to read.

The BL's exhibitions may be child friendly. That's not what is being discussed.

Again - the beauty of the BM's library is that it about the BM's collections and IN the museum.

Anyway it's all very sad.

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LRDTheFeministDragon · 08/06/2011 22:02

Erm ... actually, if you don't mind, it's what I was discussing thanks! I said the BL catered for children and was child-friendly, because you didn't seem to think so, and because I think they do a great job that should be acknowledged. I've agreed with you it's a crying shame the BM library is closing, and I'm just trying to say, what a shame if they're not considering moving it elsewhere. Surely the worst option is to lose it completely?

Fairly obviously, I wasn't suggesting I take my newborn niece along with me when I go to visit the manuscripts room and spread out some baby books on the floor for her ... but it's just not accurate or fair to suggest that the place isn't a child-friendly library, and it does rather get my back up. I know they've worked very hard in recent years to get children interested and surely you can see the BM could learn from that?