The automated librarian and the manual bookseller

Local Book Sale

I have just changed all the local books in the shop window and put all the sun damaged, condensation damaged ones, various local books that may or may not have something wrong with them, various proof and production copies, into a sale.

Ramsgate Library Closed This Week

This is what it says on the KCC website “Ramsgate Library will be closed 11th till 19th July for self-service installation. Our apologies for any inconvenience caused.” It seems to be one of those council announcements that you can only find if you already know the information.  

If there is a task in the life of a shop assistant that I would wish was automated it is window dressing, having read the press release with interest I am considering some sort of self service installation in my bookshop. Something that perhaps adds new terror to the phrase; “are you being served?”

This business with our local government use of the internet is so incredibly potty that words often fail, Google takes one to www.kent.gov.uk/ramsgatelibrary if you do a search for Ramsgate Library, this page doesn’t actually tell you that the library is closed, to find this out you need http://www.kent.gov.uk/KCC.Libraries.Web.Sites.Public/LibraryDetails.aspx?aid=0&lid=87 I only managed to find this page because I already knew the library was closed. Of course the really useful thing the library could do to save staff time is to make their local history archives available online. The collections of old photographs, local paper archives, rate books and so on. I suspect that there is however a direct relationship between library funding and the number of people visiting the library, council solution, go to the library to visit a machine. In Margate they have upped library visitor numbers by making people go to the library for council services, they even have prizes for this making of a library not really a place you would visit for a quiet read.

It says on the library website: Book a PC in our brand new IT suite! If you need help our Computer Buddy will get you started on the basics. The Computer Buddy is at Ramsgate Library on Mondays 9am to 12noon, Wednesdays 2pm to 4pm, Thursdays 10am to 1pm, Fridays 10am to 1pm and fortnightly on Saturdays 9am to 11am.

Is this computer buddy some sort of automated librarian? Will this computer buddy be replaced by a machine? Will all the books be replaced by some sort of machine? With the introduction of the Kindle reader is there any future in libraries, do we still need them? Over the last few years I have watched nearly all of the bookshops close, for the most part what is left are shops that sell books, either that no one wants or hardly anyone can afford.

The problem mostly relates to a thing called the “Net Book Agreement” this was a price fixing agreement that fixed the minimum price of books in the UK, strangly this didn’t have the effect that one would expect of making books here more expensive, quite the opposite.

The idea of this was that the big and powerful retail chains, supermarkets and so on left the book world alone and small bookshops doing unprofitable or loss making business like, having specialist stock, promoting new authors and so on could subsidise this with the profits on bestsellers.

This also led to a flowing of literature in the UK between about 1940 and 1990, all over now I’m afraid, theoretically it is much easier to get published now, in reality to get something good published and on sale at a reasonable price where people can find it, well that’s another matter.

Ramsgate Library local history archive

I have heard back from Ramsgate library and I am sure you will be glad to know that my local history publications are out on open shelving where you can all enjoy them.

I also have a list from them of the ones that they are missing and will drop them in there in the next few days.

Ex Libris

When I first started to produce local history books I donated copies to the various local history archives in this area Canterbury Cathedral Library, Margate Library and Ramsgate Library.

After a while several people told me that the books weren’t appearing on the shelves at Margate Library, so I stopped donating them to all but Ramsgate Library, as I know what happens to them there.

All of the 120 local books I publish are under £10 and the object of this exercise was to make freely available to local people, with those that are reprints of scarce and expensive local history books, that have to be examined under supervision, it thought this would have the added advantage of saving librarians time and therefore our money.

I was quite surprised when I visited the newly rebuilt Ramsgate Library to find all but two of my local publications locked behind glass with the scarce and valuable local books.

I mentioned this to one of the librarians but last time I looked they were still there, so I shall try emailing them.

The strange and peculiar way that government run organisations operate never fails to amaze me. I find this even more bizarre as so many of the people I meet who work for these organisations are both charming and intelligent, perhaps the government needs to pass a bill of common sense or something.

Ramsgate Library

I went to the newly rebuilt Ramsgate Library yesterday, I didn’t take any pictures, as I am still a little cautious after my previous experience, so the ones in this post are old ones.

The library has been rebuilt excellently and there is a very good ratio of books to half-hearted attempts to compete with Blockbuster.

I got a new library card as mine was to old for the new system, an added advantage to having an up to date card is that it allows access to online reference books, that the library has paid a subscription for, (note your number needs to be entered using a capital D) one I use a lot is The Dictionary of National Biography, in book form it costs over £3,000,000 and takes up a lot of space being 60 large volumes.

I digress I am reading a series of children’s books at the moment and they had the one I wanted to read next which was also very useful.

I couldn’t see any signs of a sprinkler system, unless it is incorporated in the smoke detectors, so I will check up on it, as we don’t want repeat performance.

The only major problem I could see was that there isn’t enough shelving space, it is a case of tastefulness of the interior design overriding the primary function of the building, which is to a repository of books. This meant that some of the non-fiction sections were rather weak. Its very difficult to judge the range of fiction in a library for me, as the titles people borrow differ quite a lot from those that sell secondhand, for instance the large range of Mills and Boon they have in most public libraries don’t sell at all in a secondhand bookshop and quite a lot of fiction that never makes it into paperback if published pretty much exclusively for public libraries, this is no bad thing as it helps many authors get started.

The local history section was a little strange but I expect this is due to teething problems rather than any long-term problem, all but one of my cheap reprints was behind glass something that defeats the object of making them available to everyone. All 120 titles are in print and under £10 well under the averagely, average price of the other lending stock. The balance of the antiquarian and collectable books in the archive left a lot to be desired, so I don’t know if the central archive was being a bit mean however I am sure it will get sorted out in the fullness of time. They only have two of the four old local papers on microfiche, I don’t know if this is due to space restrictions or cost. For example they had three copies of Irelands history of Kent, he was noted for producing fake Shakespeare plays, his history of Kent is a plagiarism of Hasted the main county history that they don’t seem to have. At the time Irelands history was published many doubted that he had actually visited the county.

All said and done we now have one really good publicly funded leisure facility in Ramsgate and many thanks to all concerned.

Mainly though one is aware of the great sigh of relief that it wasn’t ruined by having a Thanet Gateway in it.

Ramsgate Library Update.

Jocelyn McCarthy has just dropped in the latest library update click here to view it

Photography and the Prime Minister

Some of you may remember the extraordinary saga that surrounded taking photographs of Ramsgate Library click here if you missed it.

At the time I signed a parliamentary petition

Details of Petition:

“Through history, we have documented the world around us, whether through written word, art or photography. Photography in particular has provided fantastic insights into the past and present, and is a hobby enjoyed by millions of people worldwide. But today, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to take photos of our surroundings, particularly in cities like London. In recent years, the price divide between professional and consumer equipment has blurred, and it’s quite common these days to see amateurs and hobbyists carrying around tripods, SLR cameras and a backpack full of equipment. Yet, we are constantly harrassed by security guards and police officers in the name of preventing terrorism. They seem to be operating under a different interpretation of the law to the rest of us, believing that somehow the length of your lens, or size of your camera is relevant. We would like clarification by the goverment on the law regarding photography of buildings and landmarks from public locations.”

Today I received the following response from No 10

“Thank you for your e-petition asking for clarification of the law on photography in public places.
There are no legal restrictions on photography in public places. However, the law applies to photographers as it does to anybody else in a public place. So there may be situations in which the taking of photographs may cause or lead to public order situations, inflame an already tense situation, or raise security considerations. Additionally, the police may require a person to move on in order to prevent a breach of the peace, to avoid a public order situation, or for the person’s own safety or welfare, or for the safety and welfare of others.

Each situation will be different and it would be an operational matter for the police officer concerned as to what action if any should be taken in respect of those taking photographs. Anybody with a concern about a specific incident should raise the matter with the Chief Constable of the relevant force.”

Library Update

Some of you may remember that I had some difficulties photographing Ramsgate Library, it was one of the most curious run-ins with our local government I have had to date click here to see what I mean.

Jocelyn McCarthy was in the shop this morning, bringing back some local history books that he had had on a sale or return basis to sell to people at a meeting to raise money, I managed to get his library update pamphlet and permission to publish it on the web, text below click here for the pictures scanned from the pamphlet.

Just a reminder and some information about our Library. Unfortunately our membership has depleted due to non-renewal of former members and I am pleading to unpaid members to rejoin us to ensure that The Friends of Ramsgate Library remains a viable entity.

Our Library will be handed over to KCC on the 1st December 2008 and it is hoped that the stocking out will take approximately four weeks so that by the first week February 2009 it will be open to the public followed by a grand opening in February.

I had a site visit a few weeks ago and I was greatly impressed by the amount of space there is.
I truly believe that we will have a Library fit for the 21st century — with three staircases, a lift, seating area with a drinks machine and central glass roof.

Our window will he installed on the 1 7th November and we are hoping to have a special dedication for the window and this will be discussed at our AGM on the 20th of November, at 7.3Opm at the Media Center, Cavendish Street, (The Old Church), for which I hope we will receive a good turn out!

The money raised for the window at present is £10K but we are still in need of some more donations and it is also hoped that we would be able to donate a few benches for the garden. If any member wishes to donate a bench in memory of a loved one this would be greatly received.

Unfortunately some of our members have the idea that after the Library is completed the Friends of Ramsgate Library will no longer continue. I would like to inform you that this is not so and that we made a promise in our constitution to continue to help in anyway we can to raise money by holding fundraising events for the library.

I hope to see you all on the 20th November.

Jocelyn McCarthy

Chairperson, Friends of Ramsgate Library

Kent libraries lose £100,000 worth of stock a year

This item in The Thanet Extra (link on sidebar) caught my attention and to begin with I thought with about 100 libraries and library fines being just over £1 per week this figure seemed reasonable. I reflected that the average item would be a worth about £10 at £1,000 per library that would be about 100 items or 2 missing or totally damaged items per week per library.

Apparently the information had been gained under the freedom of information act, and Kent libraries are considering having a fines amnesty to get some of it back.

As I read the article however it just didn’t make sense at all, stock lost in 2006 was £97,000 and stock lost in 2007 was £106,000 however the 2007 figures included the stock lost in Ramsgate Library fire, one would have expected the fire to make more than £9,000 pounds difference to the figures.

Then the article went on to say that in 2007 Thanet had the most amount of stock written off at £25,000 this figure suggests that the whole of the value of the books, CDs, DVDs, Playstation games, etc in Ramsgate Library when it burnt down was less than £25,000 at £10 per item this would mean that Ramsgate library had less than 2,500 items to borrow, well there are about 1,000 shelves in my bookshop meaning that there would be less than 3 items per shelf or a value per shelf of £25 if you put all of the stuff from the library in it.

I suppose I have reached a stage where I expect local government to be somewhat economical with the truth and produce statements and accounts that don’t make sense, any one got any ideas how they could have come up with this one?

Ramsgate library reconstruction works

As some of you will know KCC have banned photography of the construction work at Ramsgate Library, so here is a rare picture of the construction work.

Pictures of this type are invaluable to historians in years to come, without them major events on Ramsgate’s history like the rebuilding of the library go unrecorded and eventually forgotten.

There are some old pictures of Ramsgate Library the bottom of one of my web pages click here to go there

Photographing Ramsgate Library

I was talking to a prominent local figure who has done a lot of work with the save Ramsgate Library group yesterday, he visited the library last week with other prominent local figures for a meeting and viewing of the restoration’s progress.

What he said beggars belief. “The developers and Kent County Council’s representatives said we were under no circumstances to take photographs, a lady journalist had already started photographing the work and they stopped her.”

“What reason did they give?” I asked.

“You’re not going to believe this one.” He said.

They said. “Because the library is next to Clarendon House School any photographs taken in or of the library have to be approved by the head teacher to ensure none of the pupils appear in them.”

“What even the pictures taken inside the library.” I asked.

“Yes,” he said, “and the funniest part of all was that the meeting was at 4 pm and all of the pupils hade gone home.”

I have published a few pictures of Ramsgate school children click here to view them and I await with interest to see if Kent Count Council, or anyone else asks me to remove them.

Old photographs of Ramsgate

After my altercation during my attempt to photograph Ramsgate library I went through the photographs on the computer looking for old pictures of the library. I have found 3 so far click here to look at them I also have put a few other ones up that may interest you all. I am sorry to say that I have rather lost track of which photographs I have published so apologies for any repetitions. The sailing ship leaving the harbour is the Bounty, built in Sunderland in 1875 and originally named Alastor she arrived in Ramsgate in 1946. the buildings by the west pier are part of Moses shipyard. You will also note in the two pictures of the inside of the library that the people shown are reading, something I hope we will still be able to there when the council and tourist information office move in.

Ramsgate library

This Friday April 4th 2008 from 9am to 5pm in Waitrose supermarket, there is to be a consultation to seek local peoples views on the rebuilt Ramsgate library, due to open in the autumn.

My greatest concern has been that we would get a “Thanet Gateway” like Margate library, so we would have to struggle through people doing their council business in order to get to the books. I have been assured by the library staff that this won’t happen and that there will only one TDC enquiry desk staffed by one person.

Ex Libris

One Margate had a library but after refurbishment it has a thing called Thanet Gateway, when you go in the entrance you will find queues of people paying their council tax and complaining about their houses, drains etc. once you have battled through all this, yes there is a library in there. I really despair of this stupid arrangement that must be as difficult for the council staff as the librarians. So why not two separate entrances and why waste our money in this way?
If the same thing is going to happen in Ramsgate library when it reopens they could well be best off staying in the temporary accommodation in Cannon Road car park.