Happy New Year!
Some great news from us this autumn: in October our middle son, Victor Rikowski, obtained a full-time permanent position as an ‘Idea Store Co-Coordinator’ at the Idea Store, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
More information about that, and some other news items, are below.
1. VICTOR RIKOWSKI OBTAINED A PERMANENT POSITION AT THE ‘IDEA STORE’ IN THE LONDON BOROUGH OF TOWER HAMLETS, AS AN ‘IDEA STORE CO-ORDINATOR’ IN OCTOBER 2011
Very exciting – our middle son, Victor, obtaining a full-time permanent position at
The Idea Store, a public library/community resource in the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets. He started working there as a temp in the early summer (shortly
before he got his degree results), loved it from day one, and really wanted to
work there permanently.
Victor was very determined about it all, and now he has succeeded. He has already set up a Creative Writing workshop there (leading on from his degree). Many different workshops and courses take place on a wide range of subjects at the Idea Stores, (e.g. fitness, cooking, I.T., fashion, business and finance), all at very affordable prices. To enrol or for more information about all these courses call 0207364 5665, or visit the website.
Victor has taken an Ancestry work shop and he regularly takes the ‘Rhyme Time’ session with children – playing his guitar and singing, telling stories, colouring, helping children with their homework etc. Furthermore, he also now participates with the sessions for the over 50’s – again, playing his guitar and singing etc. He does all that and much more at the Idea Store.
For more information about the Idea Store see - http://www.ideastore.co.uk/
So, onwards and upwards, as they say!
2. A ‘MARXISM AND EDUCATION: RENEWING DIALOGUES’ SEMINAR
IN PRAISE AND CELEBRATION OF PAULA ALLMAN’S WORK – TO BE
HELD AT THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON,
Some great news from us this autumn: in October our middle son, Victor Rikowski, obtained a full-time permanent position as an ‘Idea Store Co-Coordinator’ at the Idea Store, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
More information about that, and some other news items, are below.
1. VICTOR RIKOWSKI OBTAINED A PERMANENT POSITION AT THE ‘IDEA STORE’ IN THE LONDON BOROUGH OF TOWER HAMLETS, AS AN ‘IDEA STORE CO-ORDINATOR’ IN OCTOBER 2011
Very exciting – our middle son, Victor, obtaining a full-time permanent position at
The Idea Store, a public library/community resource in the London Borough of
Tower Hamlets. He started working there as a temp in the early summer (shortly
before he got his degree results), loved it from day one, and really wanted to
work there permanently.
Victor was very determined about it all, and now he has succeeded. He has already set up a Creative Writing workshop there (leading on from his degree). Many different workshops and courses take place on a wide range of subjects at the Idea Stores, (e.g. fitness, cooking, I.T., fashion, business and finance), all at very affordable prices. To enrol or for more information about all these courses call 0207364 5665, or visit the website.
Victor has taken an Ancestry work shop and he regularly takes the ‘Rhyme Time’ session with children – playing his guitar and singing, telling stories, colouring, helping children with their homework etc. Furthermore, he also now participates with the sessions for the over 50’s – again, playing his guitar and singing etc. He does all that and much more at the Idea Store.
For more information about the Idea Store see - http://www.ideastore.co.uk/
So, onwards and upwards, as they say!
2. A ‘MARXISM AND EDUCATION: RENEWING DIALOGUES’ SEMINAR
IN PRAISE AND CELEBRATION OF PAULA ALLMAN’S WORK – TO BE
HELD AT THE INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON,
ON 4th FEBRUARY 2012
In celebration of Paula Allman’s work (Glenn holds the view that Paula has written the best books ever on Marxism and Education), Glenn is organising (with Tony Green and Alpesh Maisuria) a free one-day seminar at the Institute of Education, University of London, to be held on 4th February 2012. This will be held under the ‘MERD (‘Marxism and Education: Renewing Dialogues’) banner’. Sadly, whilst in the process of organising this event, Paula passed on (we knew that she was living on borrowed time). But it is lovely that this seminar is being organised, in praise, celebration and appreciation of her work. The following people will be speaking:
Sarah Carpenter, Helen Colley, Margaret Ledwith, Peter Mayo, Mike Neary, and Glenn Rikowski.
3. WOODBERRY DOWN COMMUNITY LIBRARY IN LONDON BOROUGH OF
In celebration of Paula Allman’s work (Glenn holds the view that Paula has written the best books ever on Marxism and Education), Glenn is organising (with Tony Green and Alpesh Maisuria) a free one-day seminar at the Institute of Education, University of London, to be held on 4th February 2012. This will be held under the ‘MERD (‘Marxism and Education: Renewing Dialogues’) banner’. Sadly, whilst in the process of organising this event, Paula passed on (we knew that she was living on borrowed time). But it is lovely that this seminar is being organised, in praise, celebration and appreciation of her work. The following people will be speaking:
Sarah Carpenter, Helen Colley, Margaret Ledwith, Peter Mayo, Mike Neary, and Glenn Rikowski.
3. WOODBERRY DOWN COMMUNITY LIBRARY IN LONDON BOROUGH OF
HACKNEY RUN BY VOLUNTEERS
David Marzella, a union rep in Greenwich Public Libraries informed me about a library in the London Borough of Hackney that is solely run by volunteers. The library is called Woodberry Down Community Library.
For an interesting article about it all, see ‘An image of the ‘big society’?: a report from Woodberry Down Community Library’ by ‘Lady Stardust’.
http://thecommune.co.uk/2010/11/29/an-image-of-the-big-society-a-report-from-woodberry-down-community-library/#more-6215
This model fits in well with David Cameron and his ‘Big Society’ picture, and is perhaps paving the way for more to come - library volunteering is certainly on the increase of course.
The article written on 29th November 2010 is interesting and informative. Woodberry Down is a large run-down estate in Hackney with a population of 280,000. Woodberry Down Library used to be a large library in a very impressive building apparently. It was in the middle of the estate and was popular with the local community.
But then, the council had financial problems which resulted in closure of the library in 1996. The community occupied the building in protest, but were unable to stop the closure. Some other libraries were also closed at the time, leaving only 7 branches open in Hackney.
The building was turned into the Robin Redmond Community Centre. Then, in 2006, after some regeneration funding, a survey of the local people was conducted, and it was established that there was a need for some kind of library. A group of council officers came up with the idea of: “a community-led library, run by volunteers, owned by the community and only requiring low revenue expenditure.”
In March 2007 a small room in the community centre was opened – this was now to be the library. It was to be staffed solely by volunteers and funding for the room was to come from regeneration money. ‘Lady Starling’ says:
“…it is a library run by the council, but just with unpaid workers. It has all the support and infrastructure of the council library service such as new stock and the linked IT system; but also the constraints. The volunteers are employees in the hierarchy of the council with the same lack of autonomy, but just without the pay. The books, equipment and IT are centrally ordered…”
‘Lady Starling’ concluded that there was a good community atmosphere in the library but that it still felt “like a library run on the cheap”.
At the end of October 2011 I decided to go and visit the library with 2 of my sons, Alexander and Gregory, and see it all for ourselves. A friendly and helpful volunteer spoke to us and showed us round. She explained that the library had gone into a new building just 8 weeks before, so there was still much work to do in regard to publicising the new location etc. The library was indeed very small. Having said that, there were actual books in it (thank goodness!) and there was a children’s section, which apparently was well used. Groups of children (from nurseries etc.) go and use the library on a regular basis.
Having said all that, when we were there, there were no other users there at all and it did seem to be tucked away, and difficult to find (we certainly had some difficulty in finding it). Neither did it really have the feel of a library, but felt more like a resource centre housed within a big complex.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Woodberry Down Community Library and where the future of library volunteering is going in general. Apparently, Hackney Libraries are, yet again, currently being restructured.
4. ‘LIBRARY SYSTEMS CONSORTIA: A STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT AND
David Marzella, a union rep in Greenwich Public Libraries informed me about a library in the London Borough of Hackney that is solely run by volunteers. The library is called Woodberry Down Community Library.
For an interesting article about it all, see ‘An image of the ‘big society’?: a report from Woodberry Down Community Library’ by ‘Lady Stardust’.
http://thecommune.co.uk/2010/11/29/an-image-of-the-big-society-a-report-from-woodberry-down-community-library/#more-6215
This model fits in well with David Cameron and his ‘Big Society’ picture, and is perhaps paving the way for more to come - library volunteering is certainly on the increase of course.
The article written on 29th November 2010 is interesting and informative. Woodberry Down is a large run-down estate in Hackney with a population of 280,000. Woodberry Down Library used to be a large library in a very impressive building apparently. It was in the middle of the estate and was popular with the local community.
But then, the council had financial problems which resulted in closure of the library in 1996. The community occupied the building in protest, but were unable to stop the closure. Some other libraries were also closed at the time, leaving only 7 branches open in Hackney.
The building was turned into the Robin Redmond Community Centre. Then, in 2006, after some regeneration funding, a survey of the local people was conducted, and it was established that there was a need for some kind of library. A group of council officers came up with the idea of: “a community-led library, run by volunteers, owned by the community and only requiring low revenue expenditure.”
In March 2007 a small room in the community centre was opened – this was now to be the library. It was to be staffed solely by volunteers and funding for the room was to come from regeneration money. ‘Lady Starling’ says:
“…it is a library run by the council, but just with unpaid workers. It has all the support and infrastructure of the council library service such as new stock and the linked IT system; but also the constraints. The volunteers are employees in the hierarchy of the council with the same lack of autonomy, but just without the pay. The books, equipment and IT are centrally ordered…”
‘Lady Starling’ concluded that there was a good community atmosphere in the library but that it still felt “like a library run on the cheap”.
At the end of October 2011 I decided to go and visit the library with 2 of my sons, Alexander and Gregory, and see it all for ourselves. A friendly and helpful volunteer spoke to us and showed us round. She explained that the library had gone into a new building just 8 weeks before, so there was still much work to do in regard to publicising the new location etc. The library was indeed very small. Having said that, there were actual books in it (thank goodness!) and there was a children’s section, which apparently was well used. Groups of children (from nurseries etc.) go and use the library on a regular basis.
Having said all that, when we were there, there were no other users there at all and it did seem to be tucked away, and difficult to find (we certainly had some difficulty in finding it). Neither did it really have the feel of a library, but felt more like a resource centre housed within a big complex.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Woodberry Down Community Library and where the future of library volunteering is going in general. Apparently, Hackney Libraries are, yet again, currently being restructured.
4. ‘LIBRARY SYSTEMS CONSORTIA: A STRATEGY FOR DEVELOPMENT AND
SURVIVAL?’ – TALK GIVEN BY WILL BLACKBURN AT A CILIP IN LONDON MEETING ON 10TH October 2011
I had not been to a CILIP in London meeting for quite some time, so decided to
go along to this one, with my youngest son, Gregory. The talk was about
libraries joining consortias “to cut costs, streamline operations…”
However, Will Blackburn frequently used language and vocabulary in a way that
it was difficult to decipher, we thought; it seemed to be more a process of
camouflage. If people are in the process of cutting back our libraries I think they
should be honest about it.
Instead, Will said, for example, that the consortia can ‘strengthen the library
position’ and enable libraries to ‘fight the good fight’.
Even the definition of the consortia, and what it was actually about, remained
somewhat elusive. Will Blackburn also emphasised the need to continually change
and evolve and the ‘lack of sovereignty’ in the consortia.
So, anyway, this is the way in which many things are drifting in the library and information profession. We need to take stock and re-assess.
Still, it is good that CILIP in London continue to hold these meetings (given the cutbacks etc) and alert people to these important happenings and developments.
5. LATEST ISSUE OF ISC NOW OUT, No. 31, Summer 2011
http://libr.org/isc/toc.html or
http://www.libr.org/isc/issues/ISC31/ISC31.pdf
The latest issue of ‘Information for Social Change’, No 31, Summer 2011, edited by Martyn Lowe is now out. Contributors include: Martyn Lowe, John Pateman, Jeff Cloves and Julie Biando Edwards.
ISC are also currently undergoing some changes, particularly in regard to social networking tools – so watch this space!
I had not been to a CILIP in London meeting for quite some time, so decided to
go along to this one, with my youngest son, Gregory. The talk was about
libraries joining consortias “to cut costs, streamline operations…”
However, Will Blackburn frequently used language and vocabulary in a way that
it was difficult to decipher, we thought; it seemed to be more a process of
camouflage. If people are in the process of cutting back our libraries I think they
should be honest about it.
Instead, Will said, for example, that the consortia can ‘strengthen the library
position’ and enable libraries to ‘fight the good fight’.
Even the definition of the consortia, and what it was actually about, remained
somewhat elusive. Will Blackburn also emphasised the need to continually change
and evolve and the ‘lack of sovereignty’ in the consortia.
So, anyway, this is the way in which many things are drifting in the library and information profession. We need to take stock and re-assess.
Still, it is good that CILIP in London continue to hold these meetings (given the cutbacks etc) and alert people to these important happenings and developments.
5. LATEST ISSUE OF ISC NOW OUT, No. 31, Summer 2011
http://libr.org/isc/toc.html or
http://www.libr.org/isc/issues/ISC31/ISC31.pdf
The latest issue of ‘Information for Social Change’, No 31, Summer 2011, edited by Martyn Lowe is now out. Contributors include: Martyn Lowe, John Pateman, Jeff Cloves and Julie Biando Edwards.
ISC are also currently undergoing some changes, particularly in regard to social networking tools – so watch this space!
6. PIECE ON ‘MULTICULTURALISM’ BY DAVID KAGOTHO NDERITU NOW AVAILABLE ON OUR ‘FLOW OF IDEAS’ WEBSITE
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/print.php?page=401&slink=yes
David Kagotho Nderitu was someone that we connected with a few years ago, who then, at my suggestion, wrote some material for Information for Social Change.
David recently told me about an article that he was writing about ‘Multicultural Britain’ and wondered if it might be something that ISC would be interested in. ISC still, as yet, have to make a decision but meanwhile, David was happy for it to be inserted on our website, so here it is. The title of the piece is ‘Multicultural Britain: what does it mean for black people?’
7. ALEXANDER RIKOWSKI’S ESSAY ON DESCARTES ACCOUNT OF THE MIND AND THE BODY IS NOW ON OUR ‘FLOW OF IDEAS’ WEBSITE
http://www.flowideas.co.uk/print.php?page=398&slink=yes
Another essay that Alexander Rikowski wrote whilst he was a Philosophy undergraduate student at King’s College London (in his 2nd year) is now available on our website. This is on the topic of Descartes account of the mind and the body. This became an important topic for us this autumn, because of the interest that our youngest son Gregory is currently taking in Descartes philosophy. See also item 7 below, which refers to my entry about Descartes on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog.
8. 7 NEW ITEMS UP ON MY ‘SERENDIPITOUS MOMENTS’ BLOG
http://ruthrikowskiim.blogspot.com/
There are 7 new items up on my ‘Serendipitous Moments’ blog. 2 items about
workshops that Victor Rikowski has been involved with and organised at the
Idea Store – Ancestry and Creative Writing Workshops; a piece about Industries
for Females (with ‘tongue in cheek’); ‘The Wise Man and the Foolish Man’; some
brief thoughts about the philosopher Descartes, a news item about Diana
Edmonds, becoming Head of Libraries Division within Greenwich Leisure Ltd. and
an item about Social Dancing at the Guild Hall.
9. ‘CHEERFUL SIN’ VIDEO – SONG WRITTEN, PRODUCED AND SANG BY
VICTOR RIKOWSKI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8
With the money that Victor has been earning, he decided to buy himself some new musical instruments and musical equipment. One of the results of this has been that he has made a video of a song that he has written, entitled ‘Cheerful Sin’, which is now on YouTube. We think that this is a very beautiful song, and hope that you agree!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8
With the money that Victor has been earning, he decided to buy himself some new musical instruments and musical equipment. One of the results of this has been that he has made a video of a song that he has written, entitled ‘Cheerful Sin’, which is now on YouTube. We think that this is a very beautiful song, and hope that you agree!
10. GREAT REVIEW OF MY BOOK, ‘DIGITISATION PERSPECTIVES’ IS NOW AVAILABLE IN ‘THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACADEMY’ - REVIEW BY ERIC JUKES
http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/publications/book_reviews/full_review.php?id=729
A great review of my book ‘Digitisation Perspectives’, Sense Publishers, 2011, is now available on the ‘Higher Education Academy’ website. The reviewer, Eric Jukes (who was also at the book launch), outlines the areas covered in the book, gives the book a 5/5 rating and ends by saying:
http://www.ics.heacademy.ac.uk/publications/book_reviews/full_review.php?id=729
A great review of my book ‘Digitisation Perspectives’, Sense Publishers, 2011, is now available on the ‘Higher Education Academy’ website. The reviewer, Eric Jukes (who was also at the book launch), outlines the areas covered in the book, gives the book a 5/5 rating and ends by saying:
“This is an excellent work and one which is well recommended, firstly for those involved, or embarking on, a digitisation project, for librarians, knowledge and information professionals, academics and, even those who might want to probe into the ethics of digitisation…”
That’s all for now. The next newsletter will be distributed at end March 2012.
Best wishes
Ruth
1st January 2012
N.B. Many thanks to David Marzella and Eric Jukes for providing information for items 3 and 10 respectively.
Ruth
1st January 2012
N.B. Many thanks to David Marzella and Eric Jukes for providing information for items 3 and 10 respectively.
