Recognising Value
On Saturday we went to visit our brand new library; we love libraries and we've been really looking forward to this one opening. It also happens to be our nearest library now and it has a great maker space too.
It's a beautiful place and a great addition to the many libraries in Barcelona.
I took a photo of the library (the one above) and shared it on Instagram; one of my friends commented, "at least some people recognise the value of libraries". They're referring to the state of libraries in the UK, where I used to live. In sharp contrast to Barcelona the British government have, for some years, been taking money away from libraries and forcing many of them to close.
On the face of it I suppose it does seem like the British government don't really see the value in libraries, but I can't really accept that anyone could fail to see the value and importance of public libraries; it's hard to argue against free, universal access to knowledge (and so much more). In the UK at the moment a lot of services are getting cut because of what they're calling "austerity": the country is tightening its belt to help get the economy back on track (that's the theory, anyway).
The general narrative is that whatever gets cut just simply isn't seen as valuable. But maybe it's something else altogether: maybe some of those things that get cut are seen as very valuable indeed, it's just that the people who make the funding decisions really don't like the values they represent. Maybe by framing our perspective this way we can better understand what a government really wants to discourage, and start thinking about why.
I love my local library and am very pleased they have expanded their services to allow for online renewal and ebook/audiobook and online magazines. I have also been impressed with the maker space and now a free seed library and exchange! My biggest complaint is the loss of some great literature as popular taste takes over the selection of books available.
If it's anything like a library I know well (Exeter Library in the UK) then there's probably a huge amount of books they have but don't have the room to display. See if you can get a tour of the "stack" at some point. :)
I did some field research on libraries in the UK about twenty years ago. The main thing I remember is that the most frequently asked question at almost all enquiry desks was "Is there a toilet here I can use?"
I occasionally try to work in Guildford library. But the main study area is next to the enquiry desk, which, as one of the only presences in the the town for the County Council, is where bus passes are given out. I listened the other day to a family of elderly Belgians trying to get their passes, but being stymied by the fact that they did not have a UK National Insurance number. They could not understand why reeling off their social security numbers from Belgium wouldn't work. Only one of them could speak English and was interpreting for the others. You can imagine. I could hardly go and shush them, but...
I'm pretty sure that it's the same thing with art galleries in the UK. One of the main reasons for people visiting the National Gallery was "to get out of the rain". Makes me wonder if there's some cultural issue around libraries in the UK. Perhaps as a population the Brits don't value them enough and so not enough people fight for them.
I got a library card in Barcelona with my passport, by the way, and I was wondering how they'd chase up the fines with that information. But now I've discovered they don't have fines.