Grow Your Own… discontent

Published: 24 June, 2010

• THE way Mike Clarke, head of Camden libraries, has treated staff during the Grow Your Library scheme has been unjust.

Time after time he has piled pressure on people who have served Camden with pride for many years.

Staff have been undermined with management speak and pointless reallocation of staff to branches they are not suited to and have no desire to work in.

A good manager looks for a staff member’s skills and enthusiasms and helps them apply these to their role.

Consistently seeking to break the link between staff and public has isolated both and degraded the service.

Libraries have been “retooled” so they are no longer fit for purpose.

Counters are destroyed and recreated in miniature; only for them to pile high with books because they simply don’t serve the purposes of a functioning library.

You cut down staff computers so staff are forced to queue or traipse readers around in search of one.

Self-service should be an aid to our jobs but, as with all aspects of Grow Your Library, the planning has been abysmal.

Rather than saving time the machines mean staff have to spend longer transporting books in a less efficient way.

On top of this the proposed improvements in stock management and security have failed to materialise because of last-minute cost cutting.

I am ashamed to work for this service in its current state.

Mike Clarke should be too.

A CAMDEN LIBRARIES STAFF MEMBER
Name and address supplied