We live in a world where shopping is seen as redemptive, "it provides job's" we are told, "it stimulates the ecnomomy," they say. And in a time when the economy is failing us all some say it needs stimulating more than ever.
What this means is the more invidiualistic we are the healthier our economy is. Because individuals don't share resources, they buy them privately. The more private we are the more we have to buy stuff the healthier the economy is.
The trouble is sharing makes for healthy communities. And libraries are all about sharing instead of privately buying.
So if sharing is healthy for communities and not-sharing is healthier for capitalist economies what can we do to square the circle.
In Matson we experience alot of what's bad about the capitalist system. Many residents are in casual labour, because it suits capitalism to have a flexible workforce. Many residents have had their welfare privatised, because it suits capitalism to make money out of people's needs.
Many residents struggle to pay library book fines and so use of the library drops away. In conversation with Jo Grills the other day she suggested the idea of fine-amnesties (bring your books back with charges dropped) and I suggested text-reminders (like you might get from a dentist). Her idea is more practical and has that added virtue of being about forgiveness of debts, which, as someone who says several times each day, 'forgive us our debts as we forgive the debts of others', appeals to me!
We also talked about the difficult of using a library with chaotic opening ours and wondered if a multi-use building would allow the library to be open for longer and more regular hours. Why settle for what we've got when we could have something even better?
Libraries are as important and go against the wisdom of our times. So it takes a new kind of wisdom to see them through the difficult times ahead. I'm confident we can do it together.
What this means is the more invidiualistic we are the healthier our economy is. Because individuals don't share resources, they buy them privately. The more private we are the more we have to buy stuff the healthier the economy is.
The trouble is sharing makes for healthy communities. And libraries are all about sharing instead of privately buying.
So if sharing is healthy for communities and not-sharing is healthier for capitalist economies what can we do to square the circle.
In Matson we experience alot of what's bad about the capitalist system. Many residents are in casual labour, because it suits capitalism to have a flexible workforce. Many residents have had their welfare privatised, because it suits capitalism to make money out of people's needs.
Many residents struggle to pay library book fines and so use of the library drops away. In conversation with Jo Grills the other day she suggested the idea of fine-amnesties (bring your books back with charges dropped) and I suggested text-reminders (like you might get from a dentist). Her idea is more practical and has that added virtue of being about forgiveness of debts, which, as someone who says several times each day, 'forgive us our debts as we forgive the debts of others', appeals to me!
We also talked about the difficult of using a library with chaotic opening ours and wondered if a multi-use building would allow the library to be open for longer and more regular hours. Why settle for what we've got when we could have something even better?
Libraries are as important and go against the wisdom of our times. So it takes a new kind of wisdom to see them through the difficult times ahead. I'm confident we can do it together.
Surrey County Council libraries operate an e-mail reminder system.
ReplyDeleteManagers could be reminded to be lenient with fines if they believe the borrower is genuinely struggling to pay. Sometimes we halve them, sometimes we waive them all. If someone has been ill or in hospital they don't have to pay.
I didn't know managers could do that, it's good to know. Email reminders won't work in Matson as the people who are most likely to be put off by fines are least likely to have access to the internet.
ReplyDeleteBut if it can be done in Surrey with email it can't be much of a stretch to do it with text messages here.
Part of it is perception too, if people don't know there's grace they'll assume there isn't. I owe my library about a tenner at the moment! Oops.
We can send text messages to say reserved books have arrived, but I'm guessing it might cost a bit more than e-mail.
ReplyDeleteWhen I say we, I believe it is done centrally from somewhere in Nottingham.
We used to stop letting people use the library if they owed £10 or more, now it's £5, so it might be worth paying it. The trouble is libraries have to be seen to be paying their way and fines raise money.
They stop us at £20, apparently.
ReplyDeleteThat fines are considered an income strikes me as a fundamental problem. I suppose librarians have had this debate ad nauseum but it's a new thought in my own head.
Traffic police are not allowed to see speeding fines as an income for good reason.