This week's Bookseller has a headline which may mark a turning point for the better in the sad saga of the decline of the British public library system: 'Tim Coates to save Hillingdon £260,000'.

Tim has reproduced the article in full on his Good Library blog but here is an extract:

Library campaigner Tim Coates has designed a major overhaul of Hillingdon libraries that is projected to increase opening hours and book stocks, and save £260,000.
The plans have been approved by the borough council and are expected to be implemented from September. They will see all 17 libraries in the borough entirely refurbished, Starbucks coffee made available in every branch, opening hours extended and the supply chain simplified.

Tim has made himself rather unpopular among the mandarins of the public library service by pointing out uncomfortable truths, by challenging politically correct but absurd views on the role of libraries, and by being consistently rude and abrasive. This unpopularity has from time to time set his campaign back. There are those in positions of power who would vote against absolutely anything Tim suggests.

However, perhaps his approach is correct. Perhaps campaigners need to be obnoxious from time to time. Perhaps civil servants and politicians need to be insulted. In any event I believe the tide may be turning for the public library service and that Tim's ideas will be seen to be sensible.

The objective is to have libraries better stocked with books (radical idea), open when people want them to be open (seems sensible), in a safe and clean environment (sound thinking), managed by front-line librarians ( they understand how libraries work) and at no extra cost to the taxpayer (phew). All pretty straightforward but there are those who want to see libraries as something else - as tools of social change, as outreach centres, as vehicles for diversity - just take a few minutes to scroll through some of the stories on the Good Library Guide and be horrified.

Here is a reminder of the simplistic but hard-hitting Occam's Razor version of his views which I originally wrote about in January:

-  The library service is for people and its only purpose is to respond to their needs  (currently it does not do this adequately)

-  It is essentially about reading  (currently it is not sufficiently so)

-  Its operation must be simple (because at present it is too complex)

-- Those responsible for providing the service are those who work in the libraries (currently they are not able to be).

-- Those accountable to the public are councillors  (currently they do not account).

I was in Surrey yesterday attending part of the brilliantly organised Palgrave Macmillan sales conference. Do click on the link which will take you to their US site which naturally enough has a slant towards books published originally in the USA but which are of global interest. The blandness of offerings from the much of the retail trade can sometimes undermine confidence in the publishing of high-quality, challenging and non-TV-related titles but a day at that sales conference and a trawl through the websites here and in the USA dispelled all that. And the surroundings were pretty palatial (but economic) too.

I used the opportunity to discuss with our sales and publishing people some of the concerns, threats and opportunities of the digital age. Of course, Palgrave Macmillan, being an academic publisher, has fewer concerns about territorial erosion than a general trade publisher would.

Nonetheless there are real challenges and the principal one in my opinion is the devaluation and commoditisation of information. 'Free' does not always (or often) mean better but somehow the Internet has encouraged the view that information should be free. The row over the Google heist showed that many people value physical objects such as laptop computers far more highly than the information, wisdom, entertainment the computer might contain. 

Another area where 'free' is considered ethically superior is within the open access debate which has been reignited recently by Yale University science libraries' decision not to continue funding BioMed Central's open-access publishing experiment on the basis that the business model was not viable in the long run. BMC have responded robustly and the debate will continue but it is just one example of the turbulent waters in which publishers are having to swim.

All this simply underscores the importance of the value of copyright, not just to authors and publishers, but to students, teachers, researchers, readers and to all developers of new ideas. Thank goodness there are powerful laws and organisations protecting creativity.

How many times does something have to happen for it to be an annual event? In September 2006 I wrote about the first SciFoo camp.  It's just happened again (which makes it a tradition in contemporary time scales) and Timo Hannay has blogged about it. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about just follow the link and be (a bit) enlightened and here is a para from Timo's blog with some more direct links:

'SciFoo '07 was wonderfully intense, mind-expanding and surreal. Organisationally, it was a bit less stressful than last year's inaugural event (at least for me), mainly because we knew it was going to work to some degree. Indeed, the success of SciFoo '06 lead to a fair amount of anticipation this year, best described in words by Jonathan Eisen and in pictures by Pierre Lindenbaum. (See also Pierre's cartoons from the event itself.)

Such is the variety and (relative) anarchy of the event that there's no such thing as one SciFoo experience, only 200+ personal experiences. To give a feel of the occasion, read Henry Gee's opening post and have a look at Bora's photos, photos, and more photos.'

On the other side of the world, everyone at Macmillan has been delighted for the Pan Macmillan team in South Africa who have just been voted International Publisher of the Year at the awards evening in spite of being one of the smaller operations. In particular, our team was commended for its commitment to children's books, excellent service and good pricing structures. I would offer an additional personal accolade. Pan Macmillan are the crew everyone wants to succeed because they are so professional and so pleasant too. Here they are, small in numbers, showing but perfect in performance, showing off their Oscars.

A propos of absolutely nothing, I am ashamed to admit that I have only just discovered (pointed to by a friend) Uncyclopedia, the content-free competitor to the ultra-serious reference websites. I particularly liked their definition of wiki:

The lottery has begun. Thirteen out of 110 entries have got through to the next round, the shortlist of six to be announced on September 6. Picador has one title on the list, Self Help by the youngest writer on the list, Edward Docx. Fingers crossed.

Of course the list can be interpreted any which way. The Bookseller's headline 'Indies shine on Booker's dozen' isn't really borne out by the facts. I'm not sure that two out of thirteen is a particularly high strike rate. And where are the darling 'indies' such as Faber, Canongate etc? A more appropriate headline might be 'Triumph for conglomerates as Random House bags four'. The Guardian went for the shock giant-killing story but I'm not sure that Ian McEwan and A.N.Wilson count as complete outsiders. The Chairman of the Judges, Sir Howard Davies, goes for the quick win approach by describing the list as 'diverse', which means absolutely nothing but wins political correctness brownie points for implying racial diversity.

The one thing I'm pretty sure about is that the dreadful shock as described in the Guardian article will soon pass and editors and literary agents wil be assuring each other that the literary manuscript in hand will definitely win next year's prize.

'The news will produce as much shock among literary agents as authors - and the editors who entered them with some confidence for yesterday's long list.'

You may have noticed the Google-supplied ads to the right of this column, although very few of you click on them to judge by my earnings from this source. I occasionally click if one catches my eye and I clicked on Manuscript Editor Online yesterday. It's a service offering scientists help with preparing their manuscripts for publication but it's a shame they can't spell 'ophthalmology' in their main catalogue. It makes you wonder. Grumpy old ex-copyeditor speaking - and I know this column is anything but literal-free, but still...

I am absolutely clear that I am incapable of writing a book. So are most people (incapable of writing a book that is). It is extremely difficult. It is even more clear that - and I know it - I couldn't write a great book. Great books are rare and wonderful and require a slice of genius. However, there are some books which I half-think I should have had a crack at writing. I've just read one such.

The book is about a team of (almost entirely) useless cricketers known as the Captain Scott XI, named after the (failed) great explorer and against whom the Baldons Cricket Club (for whom I have played for more than thirty years) battled annually. The author, Harry Thompson, tragically died before the book was published. I remember him as a highly competitive, irritating and rather untalented opening batsman (not unlike me). He has, however, written the book I would love to have had the talent to write.

It is not just about low-quality cricketers touring the world. As a producer and writer of, amongst other things, Have I got news for you, he knows how to put the boot into the likes of British Airways. However, he is also wise. In one scene, the team is enjoying the low cost of food and drink in Buenos Aires. A bottle of Malbec which would cost £20 in London was selling for £2. Rather than buy the £2 bottle they wondered how a £20 bottle of Malbec in BsAs would taste. Out of this world, of course. And a good strategy.

It's an excellent and funny book published by John Murray and I'm sure they won't mind my pointing out the mis-spelling of 'genius' in the blurb of the hardback.

PS on book prices. The average price of a meal for one in the new restaurants in London as recommended by food critic Fay Maschler is £41. Makes Harry Potter,even at full price, a real snip.

From left to right: Christopher West, Macmillan's Regional Director for Latin America; Zsolt Agardy, Chairman of Angel Estrada; and Richard Nathan, Macmillan's Strategy Director. They are formally signing off the documentation for the purchase of Editorial Estrada, Argentina's first domestic publishing company founded in 1869, the same year as Nature and only 26 years after Macmillan itself. The location is the dining room of Estrada's offices which they have occupied since the beginning.

If you're Spanish is up to it, here is the full press release:

Ángel Estrada y Compañía S.A formaliza la venta de

Editorial Estrada S.A.

La operación se realizó con Macmillan Publishers Limited.

Buenos Aires, julio de 2007.  Ángel Estrada y Cía. S.A, empresa con una trayectoria de 138 años al servicio de la educación, la cultura y la papelería escolar y comercial, dio a conocer la formalización de la venta de su división Editorial Estrada S.A a Macmillan Publishers Limited, anunciada oportunamente.

La operación concretada por parte de Ángel Estrada, se realiza en un momento de sólido crecimiento de su unidad de negocio editorial, manteniendo una significativa participación de mercado y buenos resultados.

La venta dará lugar a que Ángel Estrada y Cía. S.A incremente su posición de liderazgo en el negocio de papelería escolar y comercial a través de sus marcas Rivadavia, Arte, América y el Nene, tanto en el mercado local como en el internacional.

Zsolt T.J. Agárdy, presidente de Ángel Estrada y Compañía S.A manifestó: "Estamos satisfechos con la transacción, ya que permitirá una mayor focalización y crecimiento de Ángel Estrada en su negocio de papelería escolar y comercial, ampliando su oferta de productos al consumidor local y aumentando sus exportaciones. Estoy seguro de que el ingreso de Macmillan será positivo para la Editorial”.   

Christopher West, Director Regional de Macmillan para Latinoamérica comentó: “Estamos muy conformes de haber llegado a un acuerdo en la compra de una de las Editoriales argentinas más antiguas y prestigiosas.  Las publicaciones de gran calidad de Editorial Estrada complementan nuestras actividades existentes en Argentina y marcan un nuevo paso en nuestra expansión en uno de los mercados educativos más importantes de América Latina”.

Información para editores:

Ángel Estrada & Compañía S.A fue fundada en Buenos Aires en 1869. Con una trayectoria de 138 años comprometida con la cultura y la educación del país, Ángel Estrada es dueña de un sólido prestigio en el negocio de la papelería escolar y comercial. A través de sus marcas Rivadavia, Arte, América y El Nene, la empresa ha sido capaz de mantener intacta su firme vocación orientada hacia la calidad, el compromiso y la innovación permanente.

Macmillan Publishers Limited fue fundada en 1843 y es integrante del grupo editorial alemán Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH. Tiene presencia en la Argentina desde 1998 en el área de textos escolares y es líder en publicaciones para la enseñanza del idioma inglés.

This acquisiton is a further extension of our Ibero-American strategy reflected in Grupo Macmillan. Across Latin America and Spain we now have nearly one thousand employees and the businesses represent a substantial proportion of Macmillan's overall business. Exciting times.

I've been immersed in a fascinating newspaper aimed at ex-patriate Brits living in France - French News. The main story is, as you might expect, 'Traditional dinner keeps French slimmer.'

But there's plenty of other stuff. France's suicide rate is double that of Britain's. There is detailed analysis of the new President Nicolas Sarkozy's tax-reducing policies and how it affects British immigrants. I enjoyed this headline in the La Vie est Belle section: Supervising his erection in the Haute-Vienne, Barry Cornell finds he has to contend with tradesmen who speak French, Welsh, Yorkshire and Latin.' I was pleased to note Le parti du plaisir led by ex-stripper Miss Cindy Lee has promised to create a network of nudist camps across France if elected next time around.

However, I was most pleased to discover in the sports section that 'Et alors' is the equivalent of 'Howzat' and that on Sunday 26 August on the Damazan Cricket Club ground there will be the finals of Siddalls Cup between Tarn and Toulouse.

The main book review was, of course, Pardon my French.

Britain enjoys a zero rate of value-added tax on newspapers, magazines and books (and children's clothing). Elsewhere in the European Union varying rules apply but books are frequently taxed (e.g. Ireland - corrigendum - silly me, see comment below). The EU, in its predictable way, would like to simplify (i.e. dictate standard terms) tax rules across Europe and the European Commission has opened a political debate on the subject. Fortunately the British Government has promised to resist change to the current system and we can only hope this is a promise they intend to keep.

But I have a further question. If it is important not to tax reading (which I support) why does the Government think that taxing on-line reading makes sense? Readers have to pay VAT on on-line subscriptions and purchases of digital downloads. If we could liberate these from tax it could make a huge difference to the speed of adoption of digital information and make very little difference to budgetted tax revenues.

The Guardian reports that being a librarian is among the least stressful jobs (along with postmen and hairdressers). I can well believe it but perhaps a little bit more stress would improve the library service? It's worth checking out Katherine Rushton's blog about this (and other library matters in the future).