Library Use Debate

Interesting blog here about library use by an Australian library user.  Her points apply just as well to the UK.  The post and subsequent comments give a flavour of how diverse library use can be.  It is also the kind of debate that we should have more of in the UK, rather than a succession of anecdotes about someone's childhood, or an evidence free series of assertions about the needs of people who haven't been asked.

She is right that libraries are only just catching up with the impact of the Internet, let alone the impact of wireless technologies.

I think she is also right that library services, including Brent still haven't really caught up with some fairly obvious marketing techniques.  As she says, why don't we do author recommendations to people?  The trend to a more informal reading environment of soft furnishings and a coffee, rather than desk bound and formalised reading is important too.

That said, I think Brent libraries have gone a long way towards meeting these demands in the past three years.