Surestart

One of the really fascinating things about London is how the rich and the poor live so close together yet seldom meet. Battersea Park was a classic in this regard although much was done to improve the Doddington estate. York was not so lucky as some blocks were left while others were refurbished. In fact when I went to Southfields there were "problem" families decanted there from the Doddington estate. Librarians were often left in difficult situations with children left by their parents at closing time. Should one accompany them home? York had other problems. The decision to close mental hospitals and decant everyone into the community meant that the mentally ill turned up. After several anxious staff meetings, I contacted Springfield hospital and the doctor gave me his number. There was a big man who appeared very threatening but if I phoned the doctor he would speak to him and make sure he took his medication. I also organised for the first time a meeting at the library of all council people working in the area - adventure playground, health workers, police, even GPs. Together we started to make a difference to the drugs culture. The best thing was the Surestart scheme to try and break the cycle of unemployed parents raising children to be unemployed by getting reading going at an early age with free books. This really worked and it was tragic that the Tories stopped this. Barry came to York from the mobile service. We had an assistant who had literally got on his bike to meet me (Norman Tebbit had recommended this behaviour!) He got the job. Longstanding staff was Jim Grainger - he had to be told politely to wash! I changed the arrangement of the library completely and put everything back into Dewey order. I designed it so I could see every corner from the desk. This stopped the drugs. I also worked hard on getting all the staff involved in welcoming people. They had been much neglected and needed lots of training. Meryl Jones once said "You want them to love you, you must gain their respect" and "Share your favours around so take tea with different people each day". After all I spent more time with the staff than I did at home so why not enjoy the job together! I relay felt I had a vocation to help people and e certainly did that by answering their questions and helping them to find jobs. Computers were gradually being introduced for staff and public. When I started at Balham, we had trays with pockets. An assistant dropped one in front of me and I recall saying "Don't cry we will sort it out" and we did!
Then there was photocharging (Mr Corbett's great idea) reading the film roll at the end of the day. Very slow process! Then we went to barcodes and scanners. Now nearly everybody self issues but people still like to talk to a librarian! I do! The hours we spent on processing books and changing to new systems!