Sir, – Diarmaid Ferriter argues vehemently against the idea of keeping libraries open during unstaffed hours ("Self-service libraries are not true libraries", Opinion & Analysis, September 24th).
One of his central arguments is that such opening would restrict access to members and to those who have the technological resources to use self-service machines. However, your columnist does not seem to appreciate that having extra hours unstaffed does not restrict access to anyone, since, as he duly notes, it has been affirmed by the Local Government Management Agency that current staff hours will not be reduced.
By allowing after-hours access, libraries become accessible for workers, mothers and students who need place to read or study but cannot fit this in during normal working hours.
Moreover, it could be a community hub for those living alone, for whom loneliness does not only occur during working hours, Monday to Saturday.
All this, without forcing staff to work unsociable hours, adding extra costs to local government in the form of overtime pay or reducing the already excellent staffed library service. It seems like a win-win to me. – Yours, etc,
STEPHANIE BRUCE-SMITH,
Stillorgan, Co Dublin.
Sir, – George Orwell would have been proud to have invented such a Newspeak expression as an “Open Libraries” scheme that appears to be designed to exclude people. – Yours, etc,
GUY STEPHENSON,
Letterkenny, Co Donegal.
Sir, – The astonishing decision by Dún Laoghaire library service to change the Lexicon to a virtual library “on a trial basis” leaves one astonished. The notion that readers, young and old, should now be expected to ramble around untrammelled by the presence of qualified librarians, albeit with an increased security involvement, almost defies comment. Have we arrived in an alternate universe where hundreds of years of cultural, educational and social interaction are now about to be reversed in favour of something totally alien? Do we really want a society where readers visit libraries for a cup of coffee before tapping a screen? We owe it to future lovers of books and libraries to ensure the stamp “Withdrawn” is applied to the Lexicon’s very unwise proposal. – Yours, etc,
PATRICK JUDGE,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.