What's the Barbican? 6 July 2010

I have to admit that prior to my arrival, I had not heard of the Barbican. When we arrived at the site, I assumed that I was going to be a more specialized library serving a clientele of artists and performers. I was singularly delighted to find a thriving public library in the heart of the City of London.

We were met at the door by John Lake, Senior Librarian. Due to the size of our group, we split into two groups and rotated through the adult collection, children's section and the music collection. The Barbican library serves the approximately 300,000 commuters to the city in addition to the almost 9,000 actual residents of the City of London. Because most of the commuters working in the area are employed by corporations, the breakdown of male to female members is slightly skewed with more males which are not common among library patrons on either side of the pond. The majority of users, additionally, are white males. There is a Friends organization that was formed about two years ago to assist the library.

While, historically, libraries have been a part of the London community since around the fifteenth century, public libraries were not widely available until around 1964 under the auspices of the Public Libraries Act. The Barbican Library is one of the busiest libraries in London. A great many changes have taken place in the staff levels and orders of operation within the past 6 years. Since 2004, the library has seen a change in its operating hours and practices along with some technology upgrades, staffing changes and the addition of outreach programs. The RFID tagging was instituted in 2004 and a self service option was made available in 2006.

As you approach the library, there is a desk out front with three monitors and keyboards. One of these stations provides a self-service return for patrons, the other two stations provide catalog and internet access. All services are available until the building closes at 23:00. Additionally, a kiosk for self-check patrons for the music collection was added approximately two weeks ago for a trial basis. The reason for the second kiosk is that British rules require a charge for the audio/visual materials.

I addition to a large adult collection, the Barbican library has over 16,000 CDs available for loan alongside almost 9,000 musical scores, instructional videos, reference books and periodicals related to musical performance. The entryway to this collection is flanked by electronic pianos provided for patrons to play their selections without disturbing other patrons. There are carrels provided within the collection space which patrons can use.

Finally, the children's space provides a warm and inviting area for the newest readers to become acquainted with all a library has to offer. Due to size and funding, the local primary schools do not have their own libraries. For this reason, the Barbican Children's Library provides service to local schools in addition to a summer reading program, rhyme times for pre-school children, book services and Reading is Fundamental. The Children's Library serves patrons through the age of fourteen at which time they become eligible for an adult reading card.

I questions Mr. Lake privately regarding the practices of providing "adult" or explicit material to children of that age. I was informed that there are censorship rules in place that prohibits public libraries from offering such materials. There are also age limits on what material patrons under the ages of twelve, fifteen or eighteen depending upon content. This practice is rather opposite of the American Library Association's position of not acting in loco parentis and advocacy of providing free and open access to all materials. I was further informed that, in the instance a challenge is made to a work, the complaint is registered with the local police department at which time, the courts determine whether the work should be made illegal. It appears that collection development while ultimately dictated by the tastes of the patrons, the law of the land also has their part to play.

Overall, I left with a very positive impression of the library in particular and of public libraries in London in general. I was expecting a more pronounced difference between the local public libraries here and those at home. I am happy to be disappointed. The staff were delightful and very informative. The space was beautiful. More information including a calendar of activities and outreach available can be found at: www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/barbicanlibrary