.jpg?picon=1806)
It’s going to be an unashamedly political post today, folks; but before I begin here are a few pictures from my recent visit to Delhi for the Bookaroo festival:
Big thanks to Jo Williams and the Bookaroo team for inviting me and for organising such a great festival, and to the British School in Delhi for sponsoring my events!
But while I was having such a terrific time in India, hanging out with the 2 Steves and making some lovely new international author friends, events were moving on apace with the campaigns to save our libraries.
 |
| Campaigners on Judgement Day |
So, what’s the problem? Well, here in Gloucestershire the council’s statements about the High Court judgement have been somewhat austeritical with the truth.
On the day of the judgement, council leader Mark Hawthorne told Channel 4 news that the judge had ruled that the council had not breached its duties under the 1964 Libraries Act - an assertion he repeated on BBC local radio the next day. He has also been widely quoted as saying that “the most important thing here is that the judge said that there is nothing wrong with our plans to transfer some libraries over to communities”.Nice for the council if it were true. In fact, as explained here, this is based on a misreading. All the judge was saying was (a) it’s for the Secretary of State, not him, to decide whether the council’s plans comply with the act, and (b) since community libraries fall outside statutory provision, they’re not relevant to the act. You can have 100 libraries handed over to communities, or none: the question is, do the council’s own libraries meet the requirements?
Okay; but we can see how
5 Comments on Big Fat Fibs and the Big Fat Fibbers Who Tell Them* - John Dougherty, last added: 12/7/2011
Display Comments
Add a Comment
And besides, as we all know, "fib" is just an acronym for "Forgotten the Importance of Books".
You're just telling it like it is, John!
Good point, Cathy!
I do sometimes wonder who these public servants think they are serving. Us or themselves? Cathy just love the acromyn for 'fib.'
It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it? And yet these are probably the same people who were furious with the rioters and shouted about 'the rule of law.' Trashing a library is equivalent vandalism anyway. Well done for telling us about this anyway, John, however depressing. But in a country where cancer patients who haven't got better soon enough are to be told they are fit to work..if they weren't layabouts, they WOULD be better, after all. Ha! They could be sent to staff the community libraries.
Brilliant acronym, Cathy. And brilliant piece, John. The trouble is the majority of the good citizens of Gloucestershire are probably reading/listening to Cllr Hawthorne, and not this blogpost. 'Lies, damn lies and [political spin]' comes to mind (pace Stephen Jay Gould).