Tim Coates, former ceo, Waterstones, is a consultant in publishing and library industries in the US and Europe. He is the author of 'The Freckle Report 2021'
Joined May 2014
- Tweets9.3K
- Following358
- Followers462
- Likes1.7K
Tim Coates retweeted
This building could have been the big central public library for London (to be compared with the New York public library on 5th Avenue). But it isn't. It's a big empty clinical, municipal, uninteresting space with pathetic book collections and management who don't understand.
Tim Coates retweeted
But it's not a very good library - although it could be. My opinion is that it's a mistake to enthuse about public libraries by looking at their exterior architecture (as we very often do) - what matters is what's on the shelves.
The big mistake with public libraries is to regard them as a 'council service' and plan accordingly. They only thrive if each individual library is seen as a special resource, to help people find what they want to read, in its own small community. That's the starting point.
The council is proposing a library strategy and so am I. A people-first alternative starts from the people libraries serve, using the council’s own figures.
This is a separate piece to what I wrote previously because it offers suggestions.
joannab.substack.com/p/a-peo…
Still offering to help (I am) - we now have a number of library authorities in the US in which we have clear idea of what local people actually want from their libraries (as opposed to what local politicians would like to use them for). It makes a huge difference.
I would be interested to know what she thinks the current spend on 'arts and culture' is. When the last Conservative minister told us, it was less than, or near, £1bn already.
We will cut the arts & culture budget by £1bn in order to fund 50,000 prison places. Keeping rapists and other dangerous offenders locked up is a priority for the @Conservatives. We will always put community safety first.
@RichmoMusic If you need help understanding the numbers, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Always happy to talk you through.
thetimes.com/article/77bcee1…
This is so awful ( but so believable) . There comes a point at which we have to reverse the horrible and silly things that have happened to public libraries . I wish we could start here
Oh goodness - I so wish I could help with this ( I could!!) - it’s so obvious that the public library service in Bristol should be one of the best in the country
Bristol’s poorest libraries could lose out first .
Every few years, Bristol City Council destroys libraries just a little more and then proposes to reduce their functionality even further. Do they hope people will lose the will to keep protesting?
@wylie_alan
Somebody in Bristol council should ask for help - this is very very bad - and it’s time it was stopped
Bristol Draft Libraries Strategy
democracy.bristol.gov.uk/doc…
622 pages of doublespeak but let me translate it for you;
Short/lone staffed
De professionalised
Hollowed out
Volunteers
Staffless opening
Partnerships blah blah blah
😒
For choirs and brass groups looking for Christmas materials (the scores for these are freely available)
youtube.com/watch?v=3xRtMWff…
youtube.com/watch?v=NdQ1C5Cr…
youtube.com/watch?v=ft0sPaop…
Just to explain: any sales, from anywhere in the world of Sally Rooney's books go first to the international bookseller (Amazon, Waterstone's, independents, wholesalers). They take most. Then, an agreed share from each goes to Faber From Faber, a small share goes to Sally Rooney.
Of course, she doesn't (and Faber don't) want to come close to 'breaking UK law' (which nobody understands) - they don't need to - but it's an open door to sell more books
Tim Coates retweeted
You’ve got to give credit to the Faber publicity department- this is one of the best PR campaigns of the year - if not of all time ever - for their author - total admiration xxx
Tim Coates retweeted
With respect - you have to distinguish reading of fiction from non-fiction. Consumer research ( we conduct in the US) shows that in fact more people use books for nonfiction - but they often don’t call it ‘reading’ . ‘Ebooks ‘ are about one quarter of reading
It’s absolutely typical of the book trade press to say ‘sales rose by X% ‘ without saying ‘compared to what’ - but nevertheless this does not look like an industry in terminal decline
August showed a slimmer margin of increase in total publishing sales than earlier in the summer, as sales rose 8.9% compared to double-digit increases in July and July. buff.ly/r5AG0fg
Authors - very rich or very interesting; publishers very rich or very hopeful ; librarians - very well off, or nearly; or booksellers, very badly off- - we are all in the same industry - to help people find what they want to read . It matters we understand the common purpose