Tim Coates
@coates_tim
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Tim Coates, former ceo, Waterstones, is a consultant in publishing and library industries in the US and Europe. He is the author of 'The Freckle Report 2021'
Joined May 2014
Missing from public library strategy everywhere, is how to make digital technology provide an even better service for the public. That is the topic that is most important and is absent from all discussions
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This is a story about quite small but specific reductions in US public library funding where the funds had been coming from central (federal) government. Most of public library revenue comes from local city or county authorities, with some from states.
Report From @EdSurge: Wi-Fi Hot Spot Lending Program Scrapped, Leaving #Libraries Scrambling https://t.co/vrJSdhLAa7
#funding #FCC
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2..a) Overall circulation has fallen by half- with a consequent impact on numbers of library visits b) The principal reduction is in the use of the library for non-fiction and reference works β and this is not made up for by digital material c)...Also a fall in reading of fiction
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Access to detailed data on US public libraries: "1. The advent of digital material has had very little effect on the library service to children 2. Digital material is predominantly used for recent adult fiction. It is very little used by children, or for adult non-fiction" ..1
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Public libraries: America: which is by far the largest service in the world. Pressure coming from the US administration because they detect money being spent on 'mission creep' - which is public service costs that don't provide genuine public service.
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@GenealogyBeech The first piece in this collection of songs for Yorkshire choir and brass is called "Pilgrimage of Grace" with words taken from the appeal to women in the opening part of the Bach St Matthew Passion - "Come you sisters come, let there not be a riot" https://t.co/cGPcfKqT8K
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Winning is temporary, but character is forever. Respect π
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You (probably) would never say to a child "You must watch more movies, and you must get to the end of them" So why would you do the same for reading a book?
If you read - your children will, too, whenever they get to it Don't fuss them (or yourself) It's like fishing - if you do it, they will know what it is - and if you enjoy it, they will see that.
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If you read - your children will, too, whenever they get to it Don't fuss them (or yourself) It's like fishing - if you do it, they will know what it is - and if you enjoy it, they will see that.
It's been my working (and home) life, but people worry at different ages that their children don't read (enough, anything, the 'right' things) Long experience says 'don't worry!' and don't worry them. Best thing is to have books in your house, and for them to see you read
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It's been my working (and home) life, but people worry at different ages that their children don't read (enough, anything, the 'right' things) Long experience says 'don't worry!' and don't worry them. Best thing is to have books in your house, and for them to see you read
@coates_tim @Mr_PaintPots I wish my firstborn enjoyed reading more... But as an excellent reader it's a weight off my mind to know that lack of reading ability will not be holding him back. I absolutely worked to get my children reading, btw, but acknowledge that for some kids it's a far harder slog.
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Klima's childhood was spent in a German wartime concentration camp, expecting to die. No one in his family had realised they were Jewish, until they were sent there. His writing is gentle, loving, brave and beautiful, and he became an important dissident who remained in Prague.
@dolphinsands I am very sorry to see that Ivan Klima, the Czech writer has died. He invited me to Prague in November 1989 and I saw the downfall of the communist government, caused by him and his friends. I wrote fiction about it in "Emil Zadek, writer" and in an article for you
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Itβs very important that we rebuild the public library service ( in the UK and the US) . But this is not to try to promote it (as we do) as a multi function community service - but rather one which treats books and reading as priority and seriously
The secret to getting kids to read is the same thing that worked in the nineties. Reading Rainbow. Pizzas. Shakespeare rom-coms & Austen adaptations. Movies where a guy gifts his beloved an enormous library. Dog who acts out the classics. Kids will read if they think books are
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It got the right answer on the second attempt. It also noticed the habit of awarding architectural prizes to awful library buildings.
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Tease : Grok thought for 2m 52 secs to try and work out which building I meant - and got the wrong one - although the one it found could almost have been as guilty
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There is a large central library in London, which was acclaimed round the world when it opened 25 years ago. There were no books to be seen except on remote floors. The publicity said that books were intimidating to children.
The idea that literature is elitist also pervades the book industry. It's sort of not surprising to find it in the neighbourhoods of Chelsea (London and NY). But astonishing to see the effect it has had among the senior library profession for 30 years. Libraries without books.
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@GenealogyBeech I know it's not quite your domain, but if any of your followers sing in a choir, and have access to some brass players, they might enjoy these. I can send scores ... tim https://t.co/cGPcfKqljc
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@coates_tim I am not often lost for words but this is one of those times.
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Last Thursday, a message forwarded to me from a senior retired US public library director told me 'Coates' idea that libraries in poor metropolitan areas need more books, is obviously wrong'. If I could have replied I would have said - 'but that's the job'
@coates_tim Very much so.
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The idea that literature is elitist also pervades the book industry. It's sort of not surprising to find it in the neighbourhoods of Chelsea (London and NY). But astonishing to see the effect it has had among the senior library profession for 30 years. Libraries without books.
Read this: excellent review by @kenanmalik of the excellent book by @amwilson_opera ! Buy the book! And somehow Hall/Stead A Peopleβs History of Classics had passed me by, so getting that too. https://t.co/zSRvj3r8Py
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Read this: excellent review by @kenanmalik of the excellent book by @amwilson_opera ! Buy the book! And somehow Hall/Stead A Peopleβs History of Classics had passed me by, so getting that too. https://t.co/zSRvj3r8Py
observer.co.uk
The myth that culture has not been for the masses is debunked in a new book
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