From Tony Badall

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

As a frequent user of our library I was disconcerted to note a glaring gap in the reference section upsatains where theasarus and dictionaries live.

The first member of staff I spoke to said she had'nt noticed, then it was suggested they'd been booked out - not possible as they are reference items - then perhaps been stolen.

When urged to urged to contact a senior colleague that person told me the books were removed because nobody uses them. Well I do, as does my acquaintance who just happens to be a published author of some standing. In any case, how do they know nobody uses them and how can we have a reference library without such fundamental resources? And yes I use online dictionaries, but still revert to the printed page for word usage, history, etymology, cross-referencing and sheer joy of flipping through the pages.

Not everybody of course can access online resources.

Can we have them back please? "Erm ... highly unlikely" came the reply. Or is it just me, older, out of touch and less wise? ....

PS our regular library staff are wonderful.