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Book stock down 142,000
• FLICK Rea, Camden executive member for culture, is quite correct when she says that people are obtaining information from sources other than books (It’s a turn-up for the books as libraries see borrowing slump, March 6).
The internet and other digital sources are becoming more and more important.
However, books are not going out of use and are still extremely popular.
What Cllr Rea failed to say is that the really large change which has occurred over the last few years is that the public libraries reduced their book stocks dramatically.
This was not as a result of sifting public tastes, as she sought to imply, but because senior library managers have become confused about their tasks.
They no longer have a clear understanding as to what is important.
In Camden, we have the same number of public libraries as 10 years ago. This is not because of a benevolent council but because the residents of the borough forced that council to drop library closure plans a decade ago.
The buildings still exist to remind the council that it is not all-powerful but those libraries are more than bricks and mortar.
They get their name and are defined by their contents – books.
In the seven years 1999-2006 the Camden Library Service reduced its book stock by over 142,000 books. This is equivalent to the closure of 3.5 average public libraries. Perhaps the council has won the library battle after all.
Of course, it is interesting to read about the opinions of politicians and people associated with the book trade but it is the opinions of library users that are important. – a fact often forgotten by both groups.
Fortunately, there is a very simple way for the usually unheard residents of Camden to make their views known.
The Camden Library Service is in the process of carrying out a survey to ascertain residents’ views on library opening hours.
The survey form will be delivered to all households with the Camden Citizen and there are piles of them in all the libraries.
Within the survey form, there is a box to tick, if you believe that Camden libraries have an “inadequate book stock”.
The library service only wants people who have stopped entering its libraries to use this box.
Simply ignore this caveat and tick the box whether or not you are a former user. You will not be given this opportunity again in the near future, so use it.
ALAN TEMPLETON
Chair Camden Public Libraries Users Group
Honeybourne Road, NW6
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