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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Original poster

to think that we NEED libraries? This is horrific.

620 replies

StuckInTheMiddleWithYou · 21/08/2010 14:16

Would MN like to run a campaign on this?

www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-hands-off-our-public-libraries-2057131.html

OP posts:
Hammerlikedaisies · 23/01/2011 11:00

Gaelicsheep you can order them.

Hammerlikedaisies · 23/01/2011 11:02

Pascoe, others pay for you if you are unfit and unhealthy. Others pay for you if you are uneducated and can't get a job.

They save money in the long run and raise the level of consciousness and awareness in the community.

I bet all this has been said before. I keep getting phone calls and don't have time to read the thread.

gaelicsheep · 23/01/2011 11:05

Hammer - it costs a fortune. A fee to order, plus the postage costs. You might as well buy the books half the time.

gaelicsheep · 23/01/2011 11:06

I am in favour of public libraries. I would just like some of their budget to be directed towards buying books. Good books.

nottirednow · 23/01/2011 11:06

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Blackduck · 23/01/2011 11:07

Pascoe28 - crap analogy ....

I wonder where I would have ended up without pubic libraries - and I come from a family that fudamentally believes in reading, but, also, when I was growing up did not have spare cash to keep buying books and/or I lived in places where access to bookshops was zero (I know amazon has changed all that...)

Hammerlikedaisies · 23/01/2011 11:09

Gaelicsheep, we don't pay anything to order a book (in Edinburgh).

I quite like finding different books at the library - ones that aren't best sellers - because often you come across something really good that just hasn't been promoted by the booksellers.

We also get books from Oxfam and other charity shops, but even at £1 or £1.50 a time, it all mounts up.

So I'm sorry you have to pay to order your books. Sad

porcine · 23/01/2011 11:29

We only have autobiographies and chick lit and old books im not interested in at ours.

I know one person who uses our local...she uses it for "somewhere to go" when she has her kids. Surely there should be more to a library than that and why do you need a library at all?

gaelicsheep · 23/01/2011 11:30

I'll check, but I'm sure I'm right because I looked into it when I was thinking of doing a course. I would have had to buy or order every single book - not in our library catalogue - and it would have cost too much. I feel like I live in a cultural backwater.

readinginsteadnow · 23/01/2011 11:32

Iirc, its 50p to order a book here, but I haven't done so for literally years, as we usually find something we want.

This thread has made me so so sad. Aside from the issue of library closures, its also heartbreaking that people these days really don't see a need for libraries. Learning and loving to read are absolutely fundamental principles of growing up. I echo the poster who said something like 'where would I be if I hadn't had the library as a child?'
We have lots of books at home, plenty for the children, but still nothing beats the experience of an inpromptu library visit.
And I wholeheartedly agree that the library performs a vital social function too, for many people.

porcine · 23/01/2011 11:35

I am in my 40's and never used libraries as a child.

MrsLucasNorth · 23/01/2011 11:49

It's 50p to order a book from library too, but they don't charge an ordering fee for CD's or DVD's, although obviously there is a hire fee.

It's a shame so many people feel their libraries don't offer a service worth keeping. We are in a small town on the South Coast - nowhere special, but I cannot fault our library service. Their range of stuff is fantastic as is their online service. I cannot recall ever requesting a book and them not being able to get hold of it for me. The have reading and rhyme sessions for kids, computers and run about 6 reading groups.

It would be a huge loss to our community if it closed.

Bumperlicious · 23/01/2011 11:51

Ours are free to order if you do it online.

porcine · 23/01/2011 11:55

Ours doesnt even have a websiteConfused

Hammerlikedaisies · 23/01/2011 13:03

This is a great article: www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/tim-lott-the-local-library-a-beacon-of-civilisation-2191769.html.

It echoes a lot of the things said on here: what are libraries for; why save them when poor people need other things more, etc.

Porcine, have you thought of asking the librarian to help you choose? If you can't find what you want, she might point you towards an acceptable alternative. If you get your kids to come with you, they learn how to find what they want from you.

Also, I don't see why libraries shouldn't be 'places to go'. I often take my grand daughter because I don't want to sit in a cafe with a 2-year-old (and I can't afford the coffee) and it's raining outside. There's a corner for toys and books for the smallest ones. I get talking to local parents too.

You could point out to them that they don't have a website (and offer to design it for them??)

DrNortherner · 23/01/2011 13:07

Books are free at my library to order too.

I also have fond memories of visiting the library as a kid, mine had a huge fish pond and a wet area where you could glue and paint. Mum would sit with a brew and a slice of cake whilst I had fun. And I remember the move from the young kids section to the older kids with such delight - it was a proud moment in my life!

Not only do we borrow books from our library, we read to ds in there too.

Plus, I think it teaches kids about responsibility, we are borrowing these books therefore we must treat them well so that the next person can enjoy them too, plus, we have to take them back in time or we get a fine. All good lessons.

My ds as a toddler would fling his toys around the room, but never books or Mummy would get cross!

narniesarnie · 23/01/2011 13:18

Didn't they justify getting rid of Bookstart by saying that people who could not afford to buy books for their kids could use libraries instead....? It's just not good enough.

gaelicsheep · 23/01/2011 13:27

We pay a small amount to order, BUT we also have to pay the postage. That's the killer.

gaelicsheep · 23/01/2011 13:30

Correction, no small charge just postage:

Items borrowed using Inter-Libraries loan scheme - cost of return postage (to maximum of £10)

gaelicsheep · 23/01/2011 13:33

I think there is very good justification for getting rid of Bookstart due to the books being so dull they would turn the poor child off reading for good.

compo · 23/01/2011 13:39

What book did you get from bookstart thatwas dull?
We got dear zoo which is a classic childrens book
and in the treasure chest got a fab one called you choose which kept kids entertained for hours creating their own story

compo · 23/01/2011 13:40

And when they're nine months they get a baby one with a Mirror at the back, what did you expect?

gaelicsheep · 23/01/2011 13:47

To be fair my most recent experience was with Bookbug. But in both cases tne vast majority of the books have been unknown and mediocre. My DD's pack included two Gaelic books with no English translation. Political agenda or what?

The thing is that for families who already buy books for their children it is a wicked waste of money. Perhaps they should target it only at Surestart grant recipients.

werewolf · 23/01/2011 14:39

It's £1 to order a book from the library here, so I don't do it.

gaelicsheep · 23/01/2011 14:44

Doesn't anyone else have to pay return postage then? I'm talking about loans from other areas, not libraries in the same council area. If so, then that's very unfair, especially since our libraries here are so totally cr*p.