Friday 21 September 2012

Barnet library staff to be cut from 24.5 to 6

Is it a good day to bury bad news? Hm, don't know about that, but we hear that Barnet's library staff are to be cut from 24.5 to 6 in a planned restructure. All books will be issued by machine; the 6 remaining 'frontline' staff will no longer deal with borrowers.

Management numbers will remain the same.

I'm trying to find out some more details, such as, how volunteers will be used in place of qualified staff.

Read more about this shocking cut in this report from Barnet Unison.

4 comments:

David Duff said...

Who is the ".5" librarian? Is she very short or something?

Jest askin'!

Anonymous said...

Why do they complain the economy is shrinking and our youth do not communicate in real English when they are introducing machines in to cut locals out of jobs and the youth a chance to develop language skills and important for the future communication skills with strangers?

Citizen Barnet said...

Anonymous, that's an interesting point. I'm more and more struck by the fact that people do no talk to each other in public anymore and are losing the art of 'negotiating'. Even to the extent that you no longer have to politely ask someone for something.

You don't have to talk to the bus driver anymore, you just slap your oyster on the reader. You don't have to talk to people in the supermarket; hundreds of us just steer carefully around each other, lonely in a crowd.

Now we don't even have to say hello to the person who issues us a book, let alone ask them what they might recommend!

Even if one accepts that all of this use of technology makes things cheaper and more efficient, in the long run I think we are losing vital social interaction that makes for a healthier society.

David Duff: silliest but not most offensive remark you've ever made.

Vicki

David Duff said...

"most offensive"? No, no, I can do much bette rthan that if I really try.

And personally, I am deeply grateful that people do not speak to me, not least because mostly they have nothing interesting, witty or intelligent to say. By the way, how is Mrs. 'A' these days?