Information Scotland

The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland

April 2004 Volume 2 (2)

President's perspective

Our big advantage

Moira Methven says we can overtake bookshops in the popularity stakes, and we should promote Scottish writing just like another of our traditional industries.

Hands up all those who have at least heard of Reader Development. Okay, a pretty good showing. There can be no doubt that Reader Development provides us with a great opportunity in our efforts to reverse the trend of falling issues. And it is, after all, in its simplest sense, merely the introduction of readers and potential readers to resources they will want to read/view/listen to. Hindsight is a marvellous thing and it’s pretty obvious that despite much agonising and well meaning locally introduced initiatives, libraries have done little over the past couple of decades to push, advertise, promote or otherwise bring to the public’s attention the wealth of resources on our shelves which we just know would bring a great deal of pleasure, enjoyment and information to a lot of people. We need to change the way we think. We have been too complacent, too traditional. Even that most traditional of Scottish industries, whisky, has learned that it needs to promote itself in order to survive in the marketplace. In his book Raw Spirit, Iain Banks highlights the fact that Ardbeg, which languished in the 1980s is now a best selling brand since new owners started to promote it. These owners now spend 35% of budget on promotion and obviously think the money well spent.

Let’s move from the distillery to the bookshop. Bookshops have beaten us hands down in attracting readers and it’s only recently that we have woken up to that fact. We are all going to have to work harder, not just at what we have been doing but at what we should have been doing. When did you last enter a dull bookshop? They are bright and attractive with good signage. If the bookshop looked dull to begin with would you have bothered entering it at all? Has that not been our problem? What is happening now in libraries is a well overdue attempt at catch-up. But if we can make our libraries as attractive, welcoming and, frankly, in your face as bookshops, then we can overtake them in the popularity stakes because our big idea, our big advantage, is back copies. Oh yes we have the new stuff too, but just think of the stock we hold in reserve.

So, libraries must change and are changing. More resources are displayed face out and strategically placed. Readers are invited to write brief reviews. There are book clubs in children’s libraries and school libraries. Signage is improving. Readers are encouraged to talk to each other. Books are being actively promoted. Psychology is being applied. There is lots going on, and there are several websites offering help and ideas (for example the Scottish Publishers’ Association website www.scottishbooks.org). It’s not just happening in public libraries either. The National Library of Scotland’s ‘Breaking Through the Walls’ is, if it can be carried forward, a bold and ambitious Reader Development exercise.

Now it may be that all this belated activity is coming just at the right time. In an article in Scotland on Sunday (1 February) Poet W.N. Herbert draws attention to the fact that Scottish literary prizes and the categories of writing they are awarded for are little known this side of the border never mind south of it. Perhaps, he suggests, it is time to re-think them and re-launch them nationally and in so doing promote the, as he puts it, “sheer quantity of stars in the Scottish firmament”. At no time in the past has there been so much good Scottish writing being published, and libraries are in a very strong position to bring this wonderful writing to the attention of the public. And we don’t just have to promote the current books, we can promote the recent, and the not so recent as well. That, as I have said, is our big advantage over bookshops.

There is a lot happening in the book world right now. Look at the Harry Potter phenomenon. Philip Pullman winning the Whitbread outright with a children’s book. This year’s winner The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time also started life as a book for older children. Philip Pullman did well in the BBC’s. Big Read too. Last year’s Booker winner The Life of Pi has been a runaway success. Children’s books are now simultaneously published with different covers for adults. These are all important developments, and there will be more to come, and we need to exploit them. We need to be part of the promotion and part of the buzz that is now being associated with books and reading. We need to be seen as the obvious place to go to get hold of these books that everyone is talking about.

Re-reading Brian Osborne and Michael C Taylor’s document A National Strategy for Scottish Material, they flag up the prominence Scottish interest material is given by the large chain booksellers in Scotland and note the fact that booksellers would not be doing this if the material was not in high demand. Another case of the bookseller leading the book lender? Incredibly this report came out in 1999. Go back and re-read it and then let’s start to take forward its recommendations. It needs commitment, and there are huge problems to overcome, not least catalogue inter-operability, but let’s get on and do something. Coincidentally, just after re-reading the National Strategy, the National Library of Scotland’s Corporate Plan 2004 – 2006 landed on my desk. Part of the plan (Action Point 1.2) is to “Develop a national strategy for Scottish material”. The National Library wants to work with SLIC and membership on this. All sectors need to follow through.

I’ll stick with the Scottish theme for my reading recommendations. First, check out anything published by Itchy Coo. They are all highly amusing and are clearly filling a gap in the Scots language market. The Hoose O Haivers had me laughing out loud. Second is Don Paterson’s Landing Light this year’s Whitbread winner in the poetry category. You’ll want to read these poems again and again. Try also his Nil Nil which won him the Faber award in 1993.

That’s it for now. Look forward to seeing you in Peebles.

Information Scotland Vol. 2 (2) April 2004

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Last updated: 10 May 2004