If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher

It is a pleasure and a privilege to be a party to this afternoon's Library Efficiencies Strategic Meeting.

I sit through the three-hour cavalcade in slack-jawed awe and wonder. The depth of knowledge. The attention to detail. The apparently chance happenstances of the past year that turn out to have been covert manoeuvrings designed to temper the characters of key players in the game. Each piece on the board honed and polished to within an inch of perfection. The broad majestic sweep of the vision. The clarity of the goals. The ruthless efficiency of the machine that is the library service. Each player knows their part and has learned their marks. Each move has been rehearsed until it is the very stuff of primal instinct. Confidence abounds. The feints and counterfeints are delicately crafted, each one an exquisite tribute to the best of the arts of the contingency planner.

Like shimmering minnows or starlings in the Autumn dusk the library service can jink and dart avoiding each unexpected danger with an effortless grace and delicacy of movement, turning on a sixpence to avoid any chance of disaster.

It is breath taking.

It is inspiring.

It is just so... so... so...

so...

My God. I actually do wish that T.Aldous were back at the helm.