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Library Of Birmingham 2013

Yes lyn, I wish we could have had the same sort of layout. When people are using the tables it's not easy to access the shelves behind them.
It seem so tiny in comparison or is that just me?!

Maurice, the shelves are like a concertina which is electronically locked together, you open one section at a time and people go in but if they don't come out you can't move the section or other sections until they do!

It's just awful, I was told to "Come back in an hour or two and try again"! Not good enough!!

Best wishes,
rosie.
 
I think there's some truth about the 'showstopper library' Lyn. It's certainly attracted architectural attention but won't win any prizes for its services. I think it's about time the Council produced an evidence backed explanation about how it came to make this massive investment on what must have been very woolly usage statistics. Or maybe I'm underestimating their stats predicting the value added by the tourists attracted to Brum to go and have a look at it. Think the likes of Priestley must be turning in their graves. Viv.
 
Lyn,

I couldn't agree more. Did the vast majority of the citizens of Birmingham want more visitors? I rather think not - more traffic, more queues. A few owners of specialist business might benefit slightly perhaps, but not many. If I want specialist items I now tend to use the internet. There are very few items that I would need to come into the city for today even if I lived in the UK. The Council has yet to realise what the majority of businesses realised several years ago. It's not necessary to have expensive shop premises on the High Street for most items - I don't think Archives are that very much different. And they really are going to struggle to provide a free service to the public. I rest my case!

Maurice
 
rosie said:
Yes lyn, I wish we could have had the same sort of layout. When people are using the tables it's not easy to access the shelves behind them.
It seem so tiny in comparison or is that just me?!

Maurice, the shelves are like a concertina which is electronically locked together, you open one section at a time and people go in but if they don't come out you can't move the section or other sections until they do!

It's just awful, I was told to "Come back in an hour or two and try again"! Not good enough!!

Best wishes,
rosie.
Click to expand...

hi rosie if you are talking about the room where the e rolls are then yes i agree with you it is very cramped...

viv and maurice agree with you both...

lyn
 
I have just come in and logged on to find people writing exactly what I was trying to explain to someone today about why I had stopped visiting the archives in the library. I spent longer waiting to get to the e rolls than I did using them - don't even get me started on the lack of space. I am not sure how it makes sense to have books, which may only be wanted for a short while to confirm an address, on shelves which have to be "opened" before you can access material. A member of staff did say they had no say in the type of shelving used.

Janice
 
pjmburns said:
I have just come in and logged on to find people writing exactly what I was trying to explain to someone today about why I had stopped visiting the archives in the library. I spent longer waiting to get to the e rolls than I did using them - don't even get me started on the lack of space. I am not sure how it makes sense to have books, which may only be wanted for a short while to confirm an address, on shelves which have to be "opened" before you can access material. A member of staff did say they had no say in the type of shelving used.

Janice
Click to expand...

hi janice thats what i was told by members of staff when the library first opened...they just did not want those contraptions that locked away the e roll books in the booths...i really dont think any of thought that things would turn out so bad...i spoke to lots of members of staff at the old library who seemed so excited at the prospect of a new library...they have also been let down as most lost their jobs

lyn
 
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As usual the down escalator from level 2 to 1 is out of action (what has it been now - 6 or more months?)

Took this photo going down the stairs of the part of Level 1 that is currently closed to the public.

 
well folks this is my first post on the new look forum and its a moan again....i am still waiting for a reply from the library to the enquiry i made on 24th of feb..:(
 
Vivienne14 said:
Library is to play a part in Shakespeare's 400th anniversary in 2016. Article link here. Viv.

Shakespeare's world brought to Library of Birmingham
https://www.birminghampost.co.uk/ne...res-world-brought-library-birmingham-10398718
Click to expand...

Went back to the Our Shakespeare exhibition in The Gallery on level 3 and took these photos of the First Folio.



On the page for The Tempest



The Actors Names



Also took this of the design of the set used by the REP in 1936 for a Midsummer Night's Dream

 
We have a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio here too, I only got it out for a reader to consult a few days ago. Ours has all the plays bound together in the one volume.

Simon
 
Did anyone else watch the 6.00pm news on BBC? I thought I was seeing a story about the Library of Birmingham, it was in fact The National Museum of African American History. The city council making a bit on the side selling copies of the building?
 
These are on Level 2 of the library.


150 years of the Birmingham Reference Library




An exhibition that has just ended called Our Libraries was on.

 
The new library is an abomination - yes it is a good word for it. It is enormous inside and not many people in there. Perhaps when the newness has worn off it will feel better. I did love the light, lots of windows, oh yes, and a roof garden, not since Lewis's has Brum had one of those. Sadly though, no pets or icecream!!
 
Should we be surprised if a crackpot project of a crackpot council has cracks in it?
 
I went past it on Saturday hoping to go in when I saw notices about being closed for unforeseen circumstances! Was many tourists around, especially when the Commonwealth Games celebration was on in Victoria Square!
 
Lyn
AT first when I saw your message I did check just to make sure it wasn't April 1st !!
 
pjmburns said:
Interestingly the library website simply refers to "maintenance ".
Click to expand...

yes jan..but maitenance after a check on friday night revealed a crack in the huge glass roof...its not the first time the library has had to close for repairs

lyn
 
I can cope with a building I don't like, in a location which is further away from the station but what I can't cope with is the drop in efficiency of the set-up in the Archives, or Woolfson Centre. Before, you could book a table and order some files, then, if necessary, you could search the indexes and order some more. Yes, there was sometimes a bit of a wait but that was OK. Now you have to book an appointment (which takes much longer to come through) and you can only have stuff you have pre-ordered. Sometimes I don't know exactly what I want as I don't know what there is to want! There must be a better way.
 
Employ more staff. That's the only way. After the blight went through the staff of the library, I'm surprised they can do anything
 
I'm not complaining about the staff. They seem permanently worried by threatened redundancies and reductions in their hours. It's the set up that's wrong and I'm sure the staff don't do the deciding. It seems that all the cash has gone into the building and not the services. It's all about appearances.

The Woolfson Centre is only open on Tuesday 11-7pm, Wednesday and Thursday 11-4.30 and one Saturday in 4. It's no wonder you have to wait for an appointment.
 
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