Books R Us
From Baroness Blackstone Sir: I read with interest Julia Lewis's article ('An axe to the roots of our national culture', 15/22 December). As a pre-Christmas knockabout piece, it was admirable. As a piece intended to inform readers of my department's policies towards libraries, it was wide of the mark.
What I want to see are public libraries that are effective and that offer the best possible service to the people that they serve. There are already some excellent library authorities around the country. My department introduced the National Library Standards last April to encourage all authorities to perform at the level of the best. They were introduced after consultation with the library sector and other interested bodies.
The standards cover a number of key public library services. The standard relating to the replenishing of book stock is intended to see that all library authorities have an effective policy to ensure that their stock does not become moribund or simply unfit for issue because of its state of repair. It was based on the policies of the top performing library authorities, taking into account the reasonable life-expectancy and currency of a book.
There is, of course, no question of an authority being required to dispose of a book which is still of interest and of serviceable quality after it has been held for eight and a half years. My department is not prescriptive about what books should be disposed of and when. That is a matter best left to the judgment of library authorities based on their knowledge of the communities they serve.
I believe that library users are entitled to reasonable expectations of being able to borrow a wide range of books, including those works which are enduring and of key importance to our literary heritage. Had she checked, Ms Lewis would have discovered that Merton has multiple copies of all of the classics to which she referred, as well as new, critically acclaimed, items. I suggest that to mislead people about my department's efforts to improve our libraries, and to belittle a library authority's efforts to serve a diverse community, is in nobody's interests.
Tessa Blackstone
Minister of State for the Arts, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, London SWI
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