The FastDay Forum

Hmmm! The earliest 'Big Brother' is back is the 20th of this month from either of the two libraries in the county that have it. So a Kindle purchase is on the cards.
Its shocking to think that there are only 11 libraries in our whole county and they have cut the mobile library service completely.

Julie - unfortunately Herefordshire libraries seem to have suffered severely with the cuts recently.

Marybeth - thanks for your support and advocacy, really appreciated from so far away.

If any of you want to find out from a reputable source what is happening to your library service in the UK, go to this link http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/ - this is a blog by a librarian from Cheshire done over the last year or two - it's become so well known for it's evenhandedness and accuracy that it's now used as source of info and quoted by the media and by government departments alike. Although it will be obvious to anyone reading it where the blog owner's heart lies, he maintains an impartial approach, and will present opposing arguments. Worth bookmarking if you're interested, but prepare to be shocked.

Just read ,The
road between us by Nigel Farmdale
Excellent read

Oh I'm in, going to down load it but I am reading a book at the moment and have one lined up for my holiday but will have to cram it in for a September discussion.
My book of the year is J.R. WARD Black dagger brotherhood stories, there are 11 books and i just read one after the other and never got bored, really well written, 50 shades of mills and boon compared to Miss Wards heated moments , also her fallen angels series is fantastic and I was reading that series along with the brothers. I really love her engaging writing style

SilverDarling, thank you so much for that link. It's enough to make one wonder what is the underlying purpose of government cuts to libraries and other community services? As a devout Keynesian, I don't believe for one minute that "there's no money".

This sort of thing is rampant in the US, too. I happen to be lucky enough to live in community dominated by and supported by a major Ivy League university. The community-minded populace uses and supports its cultural institutions, especially the public library.

Those with money enough to buy their own books and while away their time at the country club used to feel proud of their community's public services, even if they never used them themselves. Seems so different now.

An uneducated populace is an unthinking populace. The peasants need to know just enough to read instructions and press the right buttons in factories, but not enough to question their lords and masters. Politically I think the UK and maybe the USA now have the kind of government and acceptability of everything that's imposed on us, in the name of security and 'saving the children', that Stalin at his best could only hope for.

Another book I really enjoyed last week was 'The gift of Rain' by Tan Twan Eng

Ooh, I read that too and found it quite unsettling. Can't say I enjoyed it, but I couldn't put it down.

Here in Tasmania I can order any book from anywhere in the state library online, and it is sent to my local library. It's great. I'm in for the book club so will see if we have 'Big Brother' here yet and order it.
Thank you this is a great thread!

I love my local library here in Victoria too. I was able to reserve Big Brother on line. My local is very well patronised. There are always community and educational events going on. The littlies love the story reading sessions and the computers are always busy. The only thing I'm not too keen on is the self-service as I liked to chat with the librarian on the desk. I guess it frees them for more scholarly pursuits.

Thank you, Julie, you said what I was thinking.

May I add that the device of the self-fulfilling prophecy is very much alive and well? Starve public services (schools, universities, transportation, libraries, health care, etc.); then when those services start to falter because of insufficient funding, you can point gleefully and cry, "See, we told you the public sector is inefficient, ineffectual, etc., etc.!"

Never mind that it was the insufficiently regulated private sector that brought about the financial debacle of 2007/2008 and caused the recession/depression that we are still living through.

Agree with all your comments and thanks for making them. Chook, self service machines won't be freeing librarians for 'more scholarly pursuits' sadly, but probably allowing for the library service to be run 'more efficiently', ie with less staff overheads ...
However, I have heard lots of good things about Australian libraries in general, from friends and acquaintances, and from fellow professionals - they seem to have been invested in and developed more thoroughly and consistently - up to the last few years at least - and that's better than services in many parts of the UK.

Just reminding everyone on this thread that the 5:2 book club is up and running - see this post if you haven't already...

chat-f12/5-2-book-club-nominations-for-october-s-book-t7465.html
It is for nominations for the October book - and also repeats the info about September's book, Big Brother.

So if you've thought of a book - please go over and nominate it before Sunday 17th August. After this, the Gang of Three (dhana, Minsmum and I ) will choose a shortlist, and you will then be invited to vote for your favourite before the end of the month.

(And thank you Ballerina for the first nomination )

You are welcome xx

What am I reading? Well, I usually have more than one book on the go at any one time. This morning I am ploughing through "The Epigenetics Revolution" by Nessa Carey, strewth, it's hard going, good, but as I am not a scientist I am plodding a little. Hubs is waiting to read it and he will have a much easier time than me as he IS a scientist.

Ballerina x

I'm reading Cuckoo's Calling as well. Borrowed it off a friend who'd bought it prior to the revelation so trying to get through it quickly as I think there's others waiting to read it too. So I'm neglecting all the other half dozen books I've started reading and not finished...

Will try to get hold of Big Brother in order to join in the book club fun! My local libraries in Greenwich are OK but Lewisham is surprisingly good, actually. I love libraries. When I was a child I was like Matilda and read ALL the book in the children's library and had to move on to the adult books by the time I was 10.

[janeg]

I've just finished Ken Follett's 'Pillar'sof the Earth' the second of three. Really enjoyed it. The continuing story of three (or maybe four) families from the end of the first world war until the end of the second. Lots of info and political stuff and a real eye opener with a very human basis.
Now getting into a real treat from Christopher Brookmyre ' Flesh Wounds'. I eagerly await his books in August each year. This one has Jasmine Tulloch in it again and the usual Glasgow polis characters. Warming up nicely and will keep me away from the ironing for a good while.

Am so thrilled that everyone likes the idea of big brother
I really enjoyed it and will be interested to hear comments from all
Just finished reading The river of no return ,by ridgeway
Good read ,only sorry it's finished so looking for sometime else
Might be a good one for the book club,its about time travel