The things I do to keep this blog fresh! My PC at home didn't work this morning and so I drove to Reading University early and persuaded the helpful IT team to let me have use of one of their computers. Thanks Reading.

Last minute jitters before my speech as usual. Do you have to be controversial to be interesting? How many toes will I step on? Someone described my speech here would be like Joshua addressing the walls of Jericho. My biblical knowledge is too scant for me to understand fully what he meant but it sounds bad for me. More later if a) I survive and b) I can find a free computer terminal at Heathrow.

Incidentally here are the words of the British politician responsible for libraries, David Lammy. The bit I really like is his attack on self-appointed,unelected, unrepresentative groups. In other words he's sick of people who disagree with his vision. Aren't we all?

Books V Computers

Which brings me to another issue that is regularly kicked around in library circles. What are libraries for?

The Concise Oxford Dictionary describes a library as a “collection of books for use by the public …….or a similar collection of films, records, computer routines {sic}, etc”.

That’s a dry definition of course. What I really think libraries are about are people; both as individuals and as members of communities. And libraries are there to serve a multiplicity of people’s needs.

So I get heartily tired of self-appointed, un-elected, un-representative groups who dogmatically say that libraries are for this and not for that.

I love reading. Coming from a household where you could count the number of books on the figures of two hands, I celebrate libraries central mission of the promotion of the enjoyment of reading. Bookstart – great! Summer Reading Challenge – fantastic! Adult reading groups in public libraries – absolutely wonderful!

But libraries are not just about books. They never have been. And the digital resources at our disposal today have broadened immeasurably the kind of public services that they can provide.

Again, let’s look at this in a “House” context. The last time you wanted to check a reference in Hansard, did you wade through a 6 inch pile of paper copies? What you probably did is to search on a database capable of bringing up a series of matches in seconds. I repeat, why should the public want anything less efficient for their information needs.

Post script - I survived.