by Ian Anstice on September 20, 2020 at 1:46 pm

Editorial Sorry to see that Hay on Wye, a place synonymous with books, will now have a library run by volunteers. Wales is notably less reliant on the unpaid than English libraries and so this represents a worrying development. Otherwise, the news continues to show a return to normal, although with one service amusingly reintroducing…

by Ian Anstice on September 13, 2020 at 6:09 pm

Editorial Windsor and Maidenhead, the” tax avoidance capital” and one of the wealthiest parts of the UK, is considering cutting library opening hours by a quarter in order to save money. Elsewhere, Kingston has also announced a consultation but it is avoids mentioning if this is simply cover to cut funding or not. A new…

by Ian Anstice on September 6, 2020 at 4:13 pm

Editorial Sometimes a thing comes along that crystallises your thinking and makes you realise things about your work. One of these for me was watching a recording of the “Promoting Diverse Content” webinar put on by Libraries Connected. The excellent panel made clear a few fundamental things wrong about libraries. Libraries too often treat non…

by Ian Anstice on August 30, 2020 at 4:51 pm

Editorial Recovery continues, although the latest Libraries Connected figures showing a far slower return to libraries than to shops. This is, however, honestly to be expected as still only a small fraction of branches are fully open, with most only offering partial services and many still closed, although Sandwell is now the only library service…

by Ian Anstice on August 23, 2020 at 2:02 pm

Editorial Generally, libraries are continuing to reopen and usage is slowly, so slowly, beginning to rise. It looks like that usage drops after the inevitable spike of opening and then slowly recovers. The question for all library services is when that recovery will reach pre-lockdown levels. And if it will reach pre-lockdown levels. After all,…

by Ian Anstice on August 16, 2020 at 5:09 pm

Editorial At time of writing, it has been 144 days since the official start of lockdown and things are continuing to open up. Holidays are being taken, relatives visited and shopping done. However, many places abroad are seeing the much-feared second wave and the curve for the UK itself is looking worryingly upward-turning. In public…

by Ian Anstice on August 9, 2020 at 4:55 pm

Another week of recovery and things gradually returning to normal. Only 6 out of 150 English public library services do not offer either a browsing or click and collect service at the moment, with services also reopening elsewhere in the British Isles. At least two mainland library services are also operating mobile libraries. In the…

by Ian Anstice on August 2, 2020 at 5:19 pm

For a guide to how each library service in the UK is approaching reopening, see this webpage. Editorial Physical public libraries are slowly coming back to life, with only 11 out of 150 English library services not physically open in some way. Many library services are offering at least a few open to freely borrow…

by Ian Anstice on July 26, 2020 at 3:46 pm

For the list of how libraries in the UK are reopening, see this page. Editorial Every now and again, a debate flares up about public library usage statistics. It has on one side those concerned about the (UK) decline in book issues and visits to public libraries over the last decade or so and on…

by Ian Anstice on July 19, 2020 at 4:16 pm

If you’re trying to find how your local library service is reopening, please see the list here. Editorial After digitally checking all of the services in the UK over the last week, it is possible to say that at least five-sixths of all English library services will have some sort of physical service to the…