Update on the Caird Library opening hours
In August 2008 the National Maritime Museum announced the planned temporary closure of the Caird Library due to the move of the archive and library collections as part of a forthcoming £35 million redevelopment of the Museum’s South West Wing.
This capital project involves the complete refurbishment of the current South West Wing, upgrading its conservation, storage and library services. Over the longer term the new wing, which will include a new research and reading room, will offer a significantly improved customer service to its users.
Before construction work begins on the new wing, we need to move many of our collections to offsite storage. This involves packing, documenting and relocating over 3,000 linear metres of archive and library material – over 300,000 items – a considerable task. The work requires the specialist skills of archive and library staff, as well as our collections staff, and is a major undertaking for the Museum.
Over the past few weeks, the South West Wing Project’s anticipated work programme has been firmed up and this has given us some extra flexibility in regard to the Caird Library decant. The revised Library service provision will be as follows:
20 December 2008 – 4 January 2009
The Caird Library reading room will be open over the Christmas period on Saturday 20 December, Tuesday 30 December, Wednesday 31 December, Friday 2 January and Saturday 3 January 2009 10.00-16.45, with full access to all the Archive and Library’s collections.
On Saturdays 20 December and 3 January, material will be available by prior arrangement only and closed for an hour 13.00-14.00. Please request material via the request function on the Archive online catalogue or the Library online catalogue, or contact the E-Library during Library opening hours on (0)20 8312 6516 to make an appointment for either of these Saturdays, so material can be retrieved for you in advance of your visit.
5 January – 1 June 2009
From the week beginning Monday 5 January 2009 until the completion of
the move, by 1 June 2009 at the latest, the Caird Library reading room
will be open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10.00-16.45. Collections
available for consultation will be those held in the reading room,
namely printed books, journals and microfilm holdings. Rare books are
also available for consultation and should be ordered three days in
advance (please order via the Library’s online catalogue.
Direct research access to the manuscripts collections will not be possible during this period as they will be packed up and in transit to offsite storage. Nevertheless, the Library will continue to provide a copying service (digital scans) for master’s certificates and crew lists during this period. In accordance with the Museum’s obligation as a Place of Deposit for Public Records, access to information contained within the public records in our care will be maintained as required.
Access to online catalogues and electronic resources such as Ancestry Library will still be available from the E-Library, telephone (0)20 8312 6516. Throughout the period the Library will maintain its current enquiry service. Please contact library@nmm.ac.uk or manuscripts@nmm.ac.uk.
1 June 2009 – opening of Sammy Ofer Wing in 2012
From 1 June 2009 until the new Research Centre’s anticipated opening in early 2012, the Library will be open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and on the first Saturday of the month, for the consultation of all material in the archive and library collections. For readers requiring access to material held temporarily off site (as will be indicated by the online catalogues), the Library will operate a booking and appointments system to allow necessary time to retrieve such materials. Details on how to make an appointment and order material in advance will be communicated via our website as soon as possible.
Details on how to make an appointment post 1 June 2009 and order material in advance will be publicised in late January 2009. The appointment system is necessary to allow us time to retrieve the material for you from the offsite storage, and because of limited available seats in the reading room.
View the full Caird Library opening hours.
Eleanor (Head of Archive and Library)
It is good to see that the Museum has implemented its published policy on copying from the Archive and Library collection. That is most welcome, and is a huge step forward, thank you.
It is also good that the Museum belatedly recognises that it has an obligation as a Place of Deposit for Public Records. However, I am not qualified to comment on whether the legal obligation is met by opening for thirteen hours per week as opposed to the minimum of 40 hours per week promised in the Museum’s published Library Access policy.
It is very disappointing that, despite the numerous requests made to the Museum, there will still be no access to the Manuscripts collection for 5 months, and that from June 2009 to 2012 there will be no increase in opening hours from the 20 hours per week previously announced – half the minimum of 40 hours per week promised in the Museum’s published Library Access policy.
The attitude of the Museum’s management is amply demonstrated by the fact that already for months (or is it years?) the Library has opened for only 32 hours per week – in direct breach of its own policy.
Previously we were told that the Library had to close completely because the entire collection was being moved to off-site storage. Now we are told that the Library can open two days per week for access to the part of the collection that is held in the Reading room and is not being moved. What are we to believe? If the Library can open for two days per week for limited access to part of the collection, then why cannot it open for 5 days per week?
The library’s operating budget is funded by the taxpayer, and the funding agreement with the Government sets a strategic priority of maintaining the core services during the coming development projects. The Museum therefore should keep the Library open for the full 40 hours per week promised in its access policy. The reason for the previous planned closure, and now for the revised limited service was made clear in previous announcements. It is because library staff, paid out of the normal operating budget, are being used to move the collection off-site. This move is part of the development project for the Sammy Ofer Wing, and should be funded out of that project’s budget. The normal operating budget should be reserved for providing the fullest service possible.
It has also been announced previously that the Olympics and the wishes of a private donor have been among the reasons for the change to the schedule that has brought forward and extended the time needed for the move. The change to the schedule is detrimental to the core services offered to users. The Museum has sacrificed maritime and naval history to the Olympics, and perhaps worse, has followed the wishes of a private individual who has donated money – to the detriment of the Museum’s core public service funded by the taxpayer.
How much do I need to pay to get the decision reversed?
We are told that “direct research access of the manuscripts collections will not be possible during this time because they will be packed up and in transit to offsite storage”. Exactly how gullible do you think we are? Do we believe the entire collection will be in transit for five months? Of course it won’t. Most of it will be in one place or the other for most of the time. Let me make a suggestion. Instead of packing up the entire collection, pack up, move and unpack one fifth of it in the first month. During that time, keep access open to the other four fifths. Next month, do the same to the next fifth, but make access available again to the first fifth, and so on. Of course it won’t be that simple, there will be complications, so please can you put some thought into overcoming them?
We are also now told that there will be a “further closure period when we move the collections back onsite”. How long will that be? Can expect we another five months?
What is the explanation for the reduction in opening hours from 2009 to 2012? The service will be further limited by fewer document retrievals per day because of the retrieval from off-site storage, but there is no excuse for reducing opening hours at the same time. During that period, why are you not implementing your published policy of a minimum of 40 hours per week? Please will you reconsider?
We are very anxious to hear details of the service to be provided such as the number of documents that may be ordered or the number of retrievals per day.
Why have you not committed to increasing the opening hours when the new Research centre opens in 2012? Are you not willing to commit to implementing your published policy of a minimum of 40 hours per week?
When will the Museum implement its published objective of maximising access to its archives?
Will you commit now to engage in a meaningful public consultation with both users and potential users about service provision for researchers for the next four years and beyond?
Tony
Comment by Tony December 4, 2008 @ 12:19 pm
Can I just point out that the practice of editing previous blog entries plays havoc with the RSS feed?
Comment by Tony December 5, 2008 @ 8:25 pm