That said John, you dont need to spend years studying to loan out books and shelve them. The majority of staff here are pretty much "check-out chicks" for want of a better term. Public libraries, thanks to the likes of John Stanley are more like department stores at the moment and have lost thier original purpose. "if a book doesnt go out, then what use is it?" our manager once said. We are becoming les and less the custodians of knowledge and more and more a Dymocks where you have to return the item after you finish with it...
theres good and bad though. We use statistics to justify our existance, and by incorporating retail themes to our library we have doubled loans statistics. Our budget rose a little from this and it makes getting outside funding easier..
