Daily blogging squeezed out this week by struggle to keep up with Programme Executive Boards by day, preparing papers for CDG National Council by night. On my way home from work finally got round to flicking through today’s Scotsman - I only read it for the recruitment and review sections. Stumbled across a review of a comic book exhibition at the National Library of Scotland. Now, I haven’t attended this exhibition, so I can’t comment on how fair or otherwise the reviewer has been; I am sure it will have been professionaly put together as is everything done by the NLS. This reviewer didn’t like the exhibition, but what I found most interesting was his analysis of its shortcomings and his further comment on libraries in general (I quote from p11):
The design is the real problem; it completely loses the subject matter. I am afraid this reflects a failure of nerve, a loss of confidence in what the library should do and a feeling that it must find new audiences. You can just hear the designers’ pitch, can’t you? “Books and labels in glass cases are so boring. Comics will bring in the young and we will pitch it to them in a language they will understand.” This great library is part of our national infrastructure. It need no more justify its existence than our roads or bridges. It should not have to go out and tout for customers like any commercial enterprise. The audience will come when they need it. It is our collective memory. It is also very sad to see such an institution trying to second-guess the imagined ignorance of a target audience.
I ask myself what I think about these comments. I would like us to be considered as central as civil engineering works, but I know how badly we do need to go out and tour for customers. Earlier today some of us discussed e-book usage. How can we get students to read? How long can we justify spending on resources that aren’t used?
