Nick Johns Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 (edited) The IWM London is to close its world famous Library through lack of funds! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29966987 Edited November 8, 2014 by Nick Johns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_bish Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 I really don't understand why you would spend 40 million on a refurb and then close the library Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted November 8, 2014 Share Posted November 8, 2014 Sounds like bad management, someone should be accountable. The Library is the archives, without this it can no longer function as a museum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pzkpfw-e Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Old books and stuff are soooooo yesterday, today's yoof won't find them interesting cos they aren't interactive. :mad::argh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Farrant Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Old books and stuff are soooooo yesterday, today's yoof won't find them interesting cos they aren't interactive.:mad::argh: You cannot have interactive anything without the information to base it on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Degsy Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 If this goes ahead as I suppose it will since the lunatics are now running the asylum, they will live to regret it. These so called 'experts' will tell you that all documents are now superfluous, 'just look it up on the web' and in the next breath tell you to print out a document to keep a permanent record. Remember the so called Millennium Bug?, okay it didn't happen but one day it could all blow up and then the whole world will be in the sh1t.:computerrage: The drawback for old sods like me is that I don't expect to still be around to say I told you so.:argh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 The only part left in the bloody place worth visiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wally dugan Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 A archives library is the heart of any museum it is part of the condition of a museum been registered with the museum and galleries as a professionally run museum the news that IWMs library is to close is even more ironic as to day is the start of explore your local archives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Terrible!! and what about the picture library?? spent many happy hours there, and spent a fortune! Cheers, Lex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz48 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 I have a theory those now running museums are only interested in themselves and there pensions and not the artefacts or accessibility of them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 That's unfair. What they ARE interested in, because they're driven that way, is visitor numbers. How many people actually visit the library? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony B Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 I do at every chance. The librarians are knowledable, friendly and very helpful . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredkite Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 If you want to sign the petition opposing the closure, then you can do it here: https://www.change.org/p/rt-hon-george-osborne-mp-urgently-reverse-current-and-future-cuts-to-the-uk-imperial-war-museum-s-annual-operating-grant-in-aid-so-that-it-can-maintain-services-and-preserve-its-standing-as-an-international-centre-for-study-research-and-education Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andythesquirel Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Petition signed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utt61 Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Old books and stuff are soooooo yesterday, today's yoof won't find them interesting cos they aren't interactive.:mad::argh: Sadly today's youth won't find books interesting because the whole concept of reading, and in many cases the ability to read, is entirely absent. To them the idea of picking up a book and reading it is as alien as, say, the idea of playing some interactive virtual reality computer game would be to me. I think that it is their loss, and often despair at human "evolution". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welbike Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Me too! Lex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 petition signed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toner Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Signed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver99 Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 I really don't understand why you would spend 40 million on a refurb and then close the library Don't forget, these museums aren't generally run by people with an interest in Military history. They are admin and career museum staff. It could be the IWM one day, then the Tate the next. And the likes of Leicester University are churning out theoretical MA's in museum studies, not subject specialists. I never particularly thought the Holocaust exhibition in the IWM had anything to do with the main purpose of the IWM, but the holocaust is a sure fire way of bringing in school groups and publicity. Ten years ago I found the RE museum as bad regarding the library, no staff who had any background knowledge. Real shame.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeePig Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 While it may seem frustrating that other people, particularly younger people, do not share one's enthusiasm, it would be wrong to suggest that they are somehow less than us, much in the same way that we have made choices that many people from previous generations criticized. I mean, if I were reading some of this thread and I were still young or even a librarian, what I would be thinking now would be far from polite - and I might not even bother to read on, but leave to let these fossils rot in their own moaning. If we wish to have other people understand and respect our wishes, we ought first to consider that they may be reading our words and forming their opinions from them. trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz48 Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Signed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Ashby Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Signed, It seems ironic (as many things seem to be currently) that this issue should surface as we remember the 100th anniversary of the 'War to end all Wars' where the point is constantly being made that there are no surviving participants, ergo, all we have to remember it by are records and documents. It seems therefore incongruous that possibly the worlds best repository of these records is to be closed to public access. Policy makers may do well to dwell on the fact that another world war was proceeded by the removal and burning of books and records. Books and records and the public access to them are to my mind the corner stone of a civilized and democratic nation when we start to loose this right of access the fabric of our existence is threatened. sorry a if this is a bit heavy but it's something I feel very strongly about. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theredkite Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Well the campaign against the cuts is at least getting a fair bit of publicity, thanks no doubt in some part to those of us who have signed the petition. Even the FT has it on the home page of its website at the moment (the FT uses a paywall so you may not be able to read the article, but it includes a quote from a former Director-General of the IWM who has signed the petition!): http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2c1d49f8-6bfa-11e4-b939-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk#axzz3J3rK2BM9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted November 23, 2014 Share Posted November 23, 2014 I visited the IWM last week but I hadn't seen this thread until evening. However there were two people outside the main entrance gates handing out flyers to help promote the fact that the library was due to close and it did help highlight the fact to me. I've signed the petition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted March 17, 2015 Share Posted March 17, 2015 An update - it appears the library has been saved but with some cost-saving measures introduced. http://www.prospect.org.uk/news/id/2015/February/6/Campaigners-save-Imperial-War-Museum-library Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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