We're taking a bit of a breather while the world rearranges its underpants. Meanwhile, the other blog is here.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Festooned with apathy

I suppose a quick update is called for. It's been a busy couple of weeks, most of the details of which escape me (by design, not accident: they were that sort of detail).

  • Salome and Doreen have engineered escapes out of Helminthdale by the cunning wheeze of looking in the small ads in the Library Association Record (incorporating Whizzer and Chips).
  • Salome's job is to be done, temporarily at least, by Thelma, with Thelma's job being done by Marie and Marie's job being done by whoever's seen to have some time on their hands at any given moment. (You'll notice that we aren't recruiting new people.)
  • Doreen's job is to be divvied up between Julia, Jack Harry and Milton, with bits going to Maybelle or Bella or Thelma or Posy or Lola, depending on the wind direction on the day.
Virtually every partner organisation that we deal with is either being wound up, cut to the bone or has been told that some time next summer there will be a decision to either wind up or cut to the bone. The only reason that we don't know for sure if/how we are going to be cut any further than we already know of is the council's stated objective not to close any libraries under any circumstances whatever. This should be an unalloyed joy but we know that this support hasn't ever extended to giving us the wherewithall to staff them properly so all bets are off as to what this actually will mean in practice.

Happy days...

7 comments:

Britta said...

Dear Kevin Musgrove,
that's what I like so very much: 'stiff upper lip' and biting humour - in front of nothing to laugh, because the facts behind that irony are awful. "Scunnered" is the only word for that! as I learned from Is the Wiz. I wish dearly that it will become better!
And I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Britta

Macy said...

I think the details of how all this is meant to work be in the Big Society Manifesto..no I don't have a copy either, but I'll keep looking for you

libby said...

Where are the bastards that are making us all live our lives in a constant anxious state? sloshing back expense account booze and quaffing posh food no doubt.....gggrrrrrrr...there...I feel much better now...I needed to vent 'cos I was getting a bit tightly wound just then! sorry!!

Tim Atkinson said...

Eh?

Kevin Musgrove said...

Britta: "Scunnered" is exactly right. Have a cool Yule!

Macy: you may have used it to de-worm Ned.

libby: no apologies necessary. The publicly-funded bar bill for the House of Commons would run three public library authorities.

Dotterel: precisely so.

Happy Frog and I said...

It is a sorry state of affairs but I think you are dealing with it all so well. Gawd bless us one and all. x

Pat said...

All this cutting to the bone must make it pretty bloody but I hope in spite of that you will have a happy Christmas and keep on rocking:)