What Goes On in Brent Libraries

I was interested in the recent post by Public Libraries News on volunteer libraries.  it argues that the new volunteer libraries are not very effective as libraries on the crucial measure of book loans.  Some of them, such as Blackheath, have nonetheless had quite substantial amounts of public money.  Arguably, this is the worst of both worlds.  The volunteer libraries continue to get financial and other kinds of support from Councils, but don't work all that effectively as libraries.

Defenders of this approach often seem to argue that the volunteer libraries do more things than municipal libraries.  In some ways this is true.  Our libraries certainly don't have a computer recycling service, as in Lewisham, but there appears to be an outdated understanding of what modern libraries can do.  Brent libraries for example have:

1) A number of literacy activities such as reading sessions for children and adults, the reading challenges, help with people who are learning English, and events for people who want to speak minority languages.
2) A huge number of training courses often to help people get into work, as well as opportunities for networking such as the Library Lab.
3) A large number of arts events.  For instance, many of the Brent Dance month events take place in libraries, and it is unlikely that the Council could support a dance festival on such a scale if it did not have such a set of seven day a week venues available.  We are currently working on other ways to promote arts in Brent using the library service's resources.
4) Basic information and advice on various services as well as reference sources.
5) the traditional library core of books, periodicals and various IT.

I find it difficult to imagine this kind of scale of activities being managed without paid staff with proper training and systems.

Incidentally, the Public Libraries News post also has a rather grudging reference to the Brent library usage figures, which show lending and visits up at each of our "remaining open libraries".  In fact the figures for loans and visits to Brent Library service as a whole are almost the same with six libraries as they were in the previous year with twelve.