There was a really interesting, but rather short item on Radio 5 this morning about using volunteers in libraries. It centred around the strike in Southampton (more news from the local Daily Echo newspaper) by library staff who are opposed to the recruitment and training of volunteers. The Tory run council want to scrap funding for 6 librarians and replace them with volunteers.
The Radio 5 reporter went into the local park and asked local people what they thought about the idea. Very interestingly, everyone that he spoke to was totally against the idea - comments were along the lines of 'you can't trust a volunteer to turn up' 'why would I want to work in a library in lovely weather like this?' 'what if a volunteer doesn't turn up and people are relying on the library to open?' There wasn't a single voice in favour of the idea. Really very cheering indeed.
Unfortunately the programme isn't available to listen to again, so I can't point you to the actual report online, but I think I've reported it reasonably well.
The Radio 5 reporter went into the local park and asked local people what they thought about the idea. Very interestingly, everyone that he spoke to was totally against the idea - comments were along the lines of 'you can't trust a volunteer to turn up' 'why would I want to work in a library in lovely weather like this?' 'what if a volunteer doesn't turn up and people are relying on the library to open?' There wasn't a single voice in favour of the idea. Really very cheering indeed.
Unfortunately the programme isn't available to listen to again, so I can't point you to the actual report online, but I think I've reported it reasonably well.
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