Who are we?

We are a group of concerned Members of the Library. Many of us have been Members for years or decades, and we all love this space for its functionality and what it represents. It is our hope that the Library develops sympathetically and in a considered fashion.

We are not naysayers.

Many Members who have come to this Campaign Group can find some aspect of the proposals for the Library that, in abstract, they might support. Hence the survey the management point to when they claim the majority of Members support the proposals, in which questions were vaguely phrased and proposals not adequately outlined.

Some Members who have come to the campaign group would like to see plans entirely scuttled; some have questions about the delivery of the proposals; some are ‘for’ certain aspects and ‘against’ others. Wherever you fit on this spectrum, our campaign group would welcome your voice and insight.

We have been prepared to give management the ‘benefit of the doubt’ in respect to ‘Part 1’ of the Capital Connections plan, which includes:

  • To create a new ‘Discovery Room’ for public meetings (meetings involving non-members) where the ground-floor catalogue hall used to be.
  • A new kitchen is to be built in the basement, large enough to cater for both public and private events.
  • The storage areas currently on the top floor will be moved to the basement, where, in addition to a kitchen, dedicated new areas will be set aside to store the Library’s extensive rare books and archive.

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  1. slowlyghostly57f6b82cde's avatar
  2. pac0c4ae2963a21's avatar

    I AGREE THAT A FEW MORE ARMCHAIRS IN THE READING ROOM WOULD BE DESIRABLE, BUT NOT IF THIS WOULD REDUCE…

  3. pac0c4ae2963a21's avatar

    I agree.we should build up the endowment fund and not engage in further building projects least of all a cafe,and…

  4. Tony Wells's avatar
  5. judithmarymartin's avatar

3 responses to “Who are we?”

  1. rennerjohn avatar
    rennerjohn

    Like many other members, no doubt, I have come to this website by way of the flyer I found on my desk in the Reading Room. I was expecting, though, to find out rather more about the Campaign Group than the mysterious “We are a group of concerned Members of the Library”. The concerns raised here seem serious and disturbing, but can we not have an open debate about them, rather than this cloak-and-dagger anonymity? Who are you, please?

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    1. Kitty Shaw avatar

      Hi John! Because there’s quite a few of us I don’t want to speak for everyone – but I’ve been a member of the library for about 5 years, and I intend to be a member for the rest of my life. As a librarian elsewhere I really appreciate the staff, atmosphere, and collection at the LL in my down time and my personal projects (mainly my PhD work) would be stymied without this space.

      Many of us use the library at different days, times, etc, for different purposes, and have different kinds of membership (Life, Distance etc) so we’re a bit of a cross-section of the membership.

      I think many of us will be at the AGM, so you’ll get more names and faces there, but it’s not so much cloak-and-dagger as we’re actually quite a large group with different interests. Hope to see you there!

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  2. lilian pizzichini avatar

    Glad to have a voice, finally. I trace my own path round the library, trying to avoid exciting new developments. The LL forgets that creativity can be embodied by quiet corners and obscure collections.

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