What Do Libraries Do?

I remarked that people don't seem always aware of the full uses of public libraries.  This often struck me during the consultations over the Libraries Transformation Project where one would meet people who began by saying "I don't use libraries but..."  This would be followed by a highly imaginative description of what that person imagined a standard library user to be like.

For a more accurate account it is worth reading Chris Paling's "Reading Allowed" which is a short account of working in a public library service somewhere outside London.  A copy of this book is also available from Willesden Green Library.