The Government recently unveiled the first National Standards for Public Libraries. It is a wide-ranging consultation document, comprehensive and efficient.
The Government proposes that all libraries should have to meet core standards covering opening hours, the proximity of libraries to users, the number of new books bought every year, branches to open more than ten hours a week, and provide Internet access.
While this marks an historic moment in the development of public libraries in England (it is 150 years since the first Public Libraries Act) we have had little more than intuition to guide local authorities, libraries and users about what to reasonably expect from their services.
Library professionals and users have until July 3 to comment on the proposals, which will be the first ever instituted on a national basis.
Copies of the draft standards can be obtained from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, DCMS, website www.culture.gov.uk, or tel 020 7211 6128.
David Hughes,
Friends of York Libraries (FOYL),
Central Library,
Museum Street,
York.
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