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Report: British Public Libraries NeglectedAn evaluation of public libraries in the United Kingdom by a House of Commons committee indicts 50% of library services as “persistently below standard” after decades of underfunding. The report by the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee criticized the lack of building maintenance and called on the government to provide national lottery funds to relieve the problem, the Guardian reported March 10.“Whether the buildings in question are [examples] of architectural splendour or of more humble design, the library building stock needs to be safeguarded—and refurbishment should have been planned, and provisions made, by its custodians before now,” the March 10 report concluded. “The state of many library buildings is a key factor in deterring potential users,” Museums, Libraries, and Archives Council Chairman Mark Wood told BBC News. “Some public libraries have had little more than a lick of paint in the last 30 years. It has been a problem of such magnitude that people have shied away from it.” The inquiry was sparked by criticism from business analyst Tim Coates, whose April 2004 report claimed that British libraries were facing a crisis that could make them unused and irrelevant by 2020. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals welcomed the committee’s evaluation and supported its call for an improvement in library services. “CILIP has argued for a long time that library buildings need substantial investment,” said CILIP Chief Executive Bob McKee. “This is not something that can be left to private finance initiative or the opportunism of local development deals. It needs a strategic approach and a three-way public funding partnership between central government, local authorities, and the lottery.” Posted March 11, 2005. |
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