Since its creation as one of 600 Carnegie libraries in the UK in the early 20th Century Forest Hill library has played a pivotal role in the community. As part of my Duke of Edinburgh award I volunteered at Forest Hill library, my local library. Because of the pandemic I was forced to cut my volunteering after four months. Late last year, with the world getting back to normal and my DofE still not completed I decided that it was time to fulfil the remaining two months I had left in my volunteering and come back to Forest Hill library. During this I time spent accomplishing the final part of my Duke of Edinburgh I became interested in the role that the library placed within my local community as well as how it was affected by the global pandemic. Having worked at Forest Hill library both before and after the pandemic I noticed little to no change around the library apart from the more stringent measures around sanitation which is par for the course for all businesses and public institutions. I reached out to Stephen Bruce the library manager of Forest Hill library in order to help me answer these questions as well as a few details around him and the important role that he plays in Forest Hill library.
Q: How long have you been working at Forest Hill library?
A: I began volunteering at the Library in November 2016 as a regular volunteer and after a period of six months, I was offered the position of Library Manager, as the previous Manager (Simon Higgs) moved over to Manor House Library when Lewisham Council offered us the opportunity to also run as a Community Library.
Q: How did you become a librarian?
A: Unfortunately, I’m not a Librarian. I’m merely a custodian of the books in the library. I manage the daily running of the library, deal directly with Librarians, Administration Staff at Lewisham Libraries and at other Community Libraries in Lewisham. I also ensure that we have enough volunteers to cover the seven days a week that we are open by maintaining the online Rotas and keeping in touch with regular and new volunteers, Duke of Edinburgh volunteers and Work Experience students from local schools.
Q: What been the biggest change to Forest Hill library or libraries as a whole (apart from the obvious being Covid 19)?
A: The largest change we are seeing is to do with technology, firstly in the way people are using the services we provide as demand increases for accessing the internet; and secondly for the book borrowing side - where audio books are being replaced with streaming services, and printed materials such as newspapers and magazines are available to download with your library card.
Q: What do you feel has been the biggest accomplishment of the library in the last few years?
A: The fact that we have still been able to remain open to the public for book borrowing, computer use and community activities seven days a week. In fact, we are the only community library in the country that is open seven days a week, which we and the volunteers are proud of.
Q: What is the most popular genre in the library, in your opinion?
A: Junior Fiction and Picture Books are the most popular in the Children’s Library. In the Adult section, New Fiction releases are very popular with Crime being the most popular of all with the fastest turnover. In fact, the fictional crime section in Forest Hill Library takes up the greatest amount of shelf space.
Q: What have been the biggest changes you have noticed in the library due to the pandemic?
A: We noticed an increase in the number of people wanting to use the library services in between lockdowns, as we provided Click & Collect and Lucky Dip services for library users to collect books during the 3 days a week that we were open. Since reopening back to seven days a week we have noticed an increase in parents and children at our Rhyme Time Sessions for under 5’s every Tuesday morning which runs from 10am till 10.30am. We have also seen an increase in visitors using the public computers due to most Council, Government and Job Search services only being accessible online.
Q: Do you feel that there has been a drop off in library attendance in recent years?
A: In many places there has been a drop-off in libraries, with services cut and hours and days shortened, the problem becomes self-fulfilling as it fuels lower attendances, but that drop off seems to have plateaued somewhat and visitor figures have levelled out apart from with the obvious exception of covid related decreases. The drop is again largely one that has been caused by technology - the best place to locate an unknown fact used to be in a library, be that from a local history section, an encyclopaedia or the wealth of knowledge contained in a non-fiction section; but now the quickest answer is to be found using the internet.
Q: How has the government/council helped Forest Hill library during the pandemic?
A: Support has come in two ways: There has been a great deal of information from local and national government for libraries in terms of guidance as we have gone in and out of various stages of lockdown. Sometimes that information has not come directly to us, and we have had to seek it out, but it has generally been useful. Secondly, in terms of financial support, the package of measures the government delivered for businesses was very useful for us and enabled us to keep running without worrying about the finances. Both the grants and the furlough scheme helped, although we did have to argue that we were entitled to some of the grant payments with the local authority, we were successful in obtaining that funding in the end.
Q: Do you think that libraries still hold a place in today’s society?
A: Yes. Libraries are more important than ever, especially for our young visitors using the Children’s Library to increase their reading abilities, learning, social skills and attending community/cultural events. As I’ve mentioned previously, the public computers are essential for a lot of people who are job searching, people on their laptops completing their own work or projects, also printing, and scanning facilities. Libraries are still one of the only free sources of information available to everyone, especially those who do not have access to the internet or Wi-Fi at home. Also, they provide a safe space for children and students to study after school, as they may not have the quiet space available to them.
Q: Are there any big changes on the horizon for forest hill library?
A: Again, this is likely to be centred around technology; addressing the digital divide is already something that we are aware of, but it will not be without its challenges as associated costs of machinery and support will be high, and without funding we will struggle to deliver these services. Other than that, we want to make the library eco-friendlier, with more efficient forms of heat and light and more opportunities for people to recycle and possibly access a wider range of things to borrow than just book.
