News
Writers Philip Pullman, Kate Mosse and Will Self criticise government cuts to library services
22 Nov 2010
Writers Philip Pullman, Kate Mosse and Will Self have criticised government cuts that could see up to a quarter of librarians lose their jobs over the next year.
Mosse said "frontline support for literacy" was being cut, while Pullman declared that the librarian "is not simply a checkout clerk", and Self condemned the "crude calculus of cost-benefit analysis" involved.
Among services facing cuts are those in North Yorkshire which is planning to reduce its 42 libraries to 18, while libraries in Buckinghamshire and Gloucestershire face closure without volunteer staff.
According to the Guardian newspaper, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy estimates the library service could lose up to 6,000 jobs over the next four years, while volunteer figures have risen 7.7% over the 12 months to March 2010.
Will Self says:
"Libraries are a cultural resource of universal benefit that shouldn't be subjected to the crude calculus of cost-benefit analysis." Author Philip Pullman said he was "greatly concerned" by developments.
"The librarian is not simply a checkout clerk whose simple task could be done by anyone and need not be paid for. The destruction of the library service is part of a wider malaise."
While Kate Mosse, author of The Winter Ghosts, says:
"Skilled librarians don't simply say, 'Go to the third aisle on the right'. They can show people where to start, and that is not the same as a volunteer saying, 'You might enjoy Danielle Steel'. "I do not understand how the government can talk on the one hand about the disgrace of adults whose reading is not at an appropriate level for their age, yet consider cutting this frontline support for literacy."
A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the use of volunteers was one of the "radical efficiency options" local authorities should be considering.
Read more at:
