Public Libraries News: Suffolk — campaigning works OR too good to be true?
Public Libraries News has a series of links today about the decision of Suffolk County Council not to go ahead with the divestment of libraries to individual community groups under the heading: Suffolk — campaigning works OR too good to be true
As the announcement, of a plan for a community interest company to run libraries, continues to be absorbed and debated, traffic on the internet is very firmly agreed that the library staff are hugely important to a successful future and that they need to be consulted and involved in the next stage.
Mark Bee, the council’s leader-elect has said that one of his tasks is to improve morale of council staff. I trust he is working on this in the library service where a lot of staff are dispirited at present.
Every library user can also help by letting the staff how much they are valued. Give them a metaphoric hug if you don’t think the real thing would be appropriate in a library!
- Will you join me in saying ‘No’ to the ‘feudal concept’ of adding a gratuity?One of the nice things about eating in pubs is that you do not have to worry about the awkward moment at the end when your card is put into the machine to pay. They do not ask for a tip in pubs, do they? Well, if it is the Plough and Sail at Snape […]
- Blog launched to defend Southwold High StreetWelcome to the new blog, Look After Southwold, which launched yesterday in the wake of Waveney District Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a Costa coffee shop in the High Street. I fear that once one of the chains gets in others see that as their research done and follow. Look After Southwold will […]
- @ben4ipswich MP tweets a lot but fails to update websiteIpswich Spy is having a go at Ipswich MP, Ben Gummer, for not updating his web site with sufficient frequency. “Mr Gummer is, once again, failing to communicate,” it says of the lack of post on his blog since January. Failing to communicate through his web site is certainly true but there are other ways […]
- The Costa wars: Battles for individuality from Southwold to TotnesApocalyptic stories in the papers today. “Anger spilled onto the streets of Southwold after a national coffee chain was allowed to open in the town centre,” according to the East Anglian Daily Times. “The locals of Totnes have gone to war,” says the Guardian. Can the Costa riots be far away? In both towns there […]
- Seckford boss resigns from Suffolk libraries boardSeckford Foundation boss Graham Watson has resigned from the board of Suffolk Libraries. He was one of the directors nominated by community groups. One of the foundation directors appointed by the County Council, Clive Fox from Aldeburgh, resigned as chairman of Suffolk’s Libraries Industrial and Provident Society in March but said he would remain on […]
- Archant sacks circulation boss for fiddling figuresThe circulation director of Archant newspapers in Norfolk has been sacked for gross misconduct — falsifying sales figures. Don Williamson was about to retire and had enjoyed his farewell party before going on holiday. On his return, presumably to clear his desk, he was called in by chief executive Adrian Jeakings and fired. Advertising […]
- County council failed to heed warning before pursuing bloggerA senior officer of Suffolk County Council did not follow internal advice which would have avoided it being accused of trying to “censor the free media“, a Freedom of Information response has revealed. The incident arose from a Downfall video parody posted on his blog by James Hargrave who is both a governor of […]
- How social media brought Trayvon’s shooting to world attentionThe fascinating story of how the shooting of a teenager in Florida became an international news story, is told by Kelly McBride, a journalist working for the Poynter Institute. She writes: Ten years ago Trayvon Martin’s family would have had a hard time getting the national media’s attention. But with the help of a […]
- Blogger told ‘we are monitoring you for defamation’For any journalist to get a message from an organisation he or she is writing about saying they monitoring what is written about them for defamation, is an endorsement. It usually means the journalist is getting things right and the organisation has poor media relations advice. And now it has happened to Suffolk “citizen […]