Self-service libraries (article)

Jenny

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/8031533.stm

"Free staff up for other work"? Such as .. ?

Jediya

Organising the books better? Oh wait, no, they don't know how to do that in libraries anymore. *is not bitter*

dorothyd

of course you're not.
We are afraid the time will come when 'libarary' will be an obsolete word. The buildings will turn into Internet centres.
Ours happens to have a bus stop situated outside so it makes a perfect place to shelter until the bus comes along ... which is what most people seem to do, rather than stand in the bus shelter. It makes the place look busier than it actually is.

Carol

All the self service system did for our main library in Nottingham was fewer visible staff...

josiehenley

I use self-service at the university library which is very useful, but there are always staff around anyway. There are people putting books back on shelves, people at their desks using computers and security guards making sure we don’t take books without checking them out first (it’s an alarm system). Not sure what ‘other work’ librarians do but I think it’s a lot because they always look busy. Plus you can get librarianship degrees so there must be something more than stamping books. There are probably all sorts of administrative tasks that go on behind the scenes of which we mere visitors are totally unaware!

I wonder whether it’s a case of cutting the hours and numbers of library staff and then finding out that they don’t have time to perform their duties. Same old story as in health service, local government etc. etc.

Jenny

As Josie says, it could just be an excuse to cut the number of qualified library staff.

Stirling

I use self-service at the Uni too Josie - the main reason is stroppy librarians . . .

josiehenley

They are sometimes stroppy aren’t they? What is it about librarians and doctors’ receptionists? I use self-service because it’s quicker, especially drop off. You have to scan the books on a conveyer belt, although I notice that there are staff still involved in that process because I looked through the hole to check the books had gone through and saw someone unloading at the other end. So what this had done wasn’t reducing the staff time required but taking out the human interaction element. Interesting.