Books for Beginners (Local Library)

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Carl
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Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by Carl »

We've been in recent discussion with our local library and they mentioned an interest in purchasing books to add to their collection currently they have spread across 11 libraries in the county:
  • Growing cacti and other succulents in the garden / Shirley-Anne Bell.
  • Cacti and succulents / Charles, Graham
  • The ultimate book of cacti and succulents / Miles Anderson ; consultant, Terry Hewitt.
  • Cacti and succulents / Gideon Smith ; consultant, Tony Mace.
  • A gardener's directory of cacti & succulents : an illustrated a-z guide to over 400 varieties / Miles Anderson ; consultant, Terry Hewitt.
  • The complete book of cacti & succulents / Terry Hewitt.
What would you suggest to complement their current selection? my feelings are there isn't enough specific books they are mostly books of miscellaneous collections.

were also probably going to donate a subscription to the journal pending committee approval.

Carl Bullock (Isle of Wight Branch Treasurer, Webmaster)
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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by ralphrmartin »

In my opinion, these are the wrong sort of books for the library to hold. These are low-cost books anyone interested in cacti can buy for themselves. Libraries, if buying anything, should be buying books like Lodé's new taxonomic tome, which is outside the price bracket most want to pay.

I love books, but I think public libraries have had their day. They were set up when a book cost a week's wages. Now books cost a couple of hour's work, even for people on a minimum wage. Public money is better spent on other services, if you ask me. Paperbacks can be bought from a charity shop for the cost of 10 minute's work.

Perhaps, (like cactus societies?) public libraries have outlived their useful purpose.
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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by Stuart »

The three books with different titles by Miles Anderson/Terry Hewitt are different printings of the same book written by Miles Anderson. Libraries may have more up to date uses nowadays but I haven't been in ours for years.
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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by IainS »

I hope that Ralph's words that libraries "have had their day" are proved wrong - but I fear they are realistic, though not yet, based on my latest PLR returns (Public Lending Rights). As a child, I benefited from using public libraries. As an author, I have made sure that - in addition to sales - libraries have received a number of donated copies of each title.

Despite being a lover of books, my knowledge of those about cacti/succulents is limited. But the criteria should be obvious. Beautifully presented and designed, with lots of top-quality photographic images, plus written advice on basic cultivation.

There is certainly no shortage of stunning subject matter for illustrating these plants, both flowering and non-flowering. But is there such a book? It's 2016 and the standard of coffee-table books in general is high - although books on gardening have traditionally been knocked out by publishers at a lower standard. Anything less than excellent will likely fail to inspire young people.
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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by topsy »

Hi Carl,

I was a little concerned to see that Tony Mace was listed as consultant on the Gideon Smith book, is this correct, can you check as Tony has never been consulted on anyone elses' book?

Regards, Suzanne Mace
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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by DaveW »

I agree with Ralph, most council libraries are full of cheap fiction by well known authors and usually the latest one in vogue which the borrowers could easily afford to buy themselves. Originally public libraries purpose was to be a reference library and to educate and provide books usually out of the financial reach of the borrowers. That to me means certainly not using Council Taxpayers money to reward the producers of cheap "bodice ripper" paperbacks and subsidising those who read them.

Libraries also use public funds to buy newspapers for people who just come in and read for free, but how many people these days cannot afford to buy a newspaper themselves? Publicly subsidised libraries should concentrate on purchasing books beyond the means of most to buy and fulfil their original purpose of being reference libraries through concentrating on factual works rather than fiction.

As to most general books on cacti and succulents, or photography come to that, you can often pick them up at a fraction of their original price at the surplus or discount book sellers in most cities. The places where publishers dump their remaining copies at the end of the print run, or even buy them second-hand at charity shops. Why don't libraries buy them there also rather than pay full market price for them with taxpayers money?

Whilst a library may need one or two basic books on a subject the rest on it's shelves should be filled with more authorative works on the subject. Perhaps the problem is those entering and running the public library service were educated with a head full of so called classics and works of fiction rather than having a more scientific or factual education more relevant to the modern age. Therefore the library service should now be recruiting a different type or graduate with a more scientific education? That is also probably the fault of teaching in our education system compared to more go ahead countries. Britain has a habit of living in the past and reading outdated fiction now called classics to escape from the realities of modern life.

I used to use the public library service but gave up when I found there was so few factual books of use in it and about three quarters of the shelves were filled with "penny dreadful" fiction. The contrast was obvious when I did a night school course on photography and we were allowed to use the college library where 80% of the shelves were filled with more advanced factual works and obviously no cheap "bodice rippers". To me the council tax subsidised libraries ought to be more akin the college libraries in this day and age, not depositories of publicly subsidised cheap fiction.

As Ralph says though, the Internet is making the public library redundant as more books are copied online. I am often amazed in this day and age that people ask questions which a couple of key strokes using Google can instantly bring up the answer to and often an illustrated one at that.
Nottingham Branch BCSS. Joined the then NCSS in 1961, Membership number 11944. Cactus only collection.
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Carl
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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by Carl »

topsy wrote:Hi Carl,

I was a little concerned to see that Tony Mace was listed as consultant on the Gideon Smith book, is this correct, can you check as Tony has never been consulted on anyone elses' book?

Regards, Suzanne Mace
Hi Suzanne,

I've not seen a copy of the book myself but it does clearly mention that Tony was a consultant on the Amazon description as well....
Author Gideon Smith is Chief Director: Research and Scientific Services at the South African National Biodiversity Institute, and holds the John Acocks professorial chair at the University of Pretoria. As a past president of the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study, and chairman of the World Flora Project, he also holds various positions on the steering committees of international botanical initiatives. His work on succulents has been widely recognized and he is the recipient of the prestigious Cactus d'Or (Monaco/IOS), a Fellowship from the American Cactus and Succulent Society and the Allen Dyer Medal (South African Succulent Society). He has published numerous books, scientific and popular papers on succulent plants. Consultant Dr Tony Mace has been involved in the management of the British Cactus and Succulent Society for many years and is currently publications manager and webmaster. He and his wife have authored a book on cacti and succulents, and regularly lecture on the subject both nationally and internationally. They have a personal collection of some 5,000 plants which has featured in a number of TV gardening programmes. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Carl Bullock (Isle of Wight Branch Treasurer, Webmaster)
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Carl
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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by Carl »

As for libraries being on the way out I do feel that you are all probably right but out in what sense? The smart libraries have been diversifying for the last decade at least, they're meeting places and local hubs where information can be found on local events, they have free Internet access via computers and wifi as well as printing and scanning facilities as well as rent both music and movies and certain libraries still have access to very expensive scientific journal subscriptions via there online services.

The main hope of talking with the library is to get people to "see us" I'll bet most parents with young children still have library cards because they borrow childrens books, one of the main libraries on the Island had a refit not long a ago and the children's section is just huge mainly because a lot of borrowers are young children.

But they also have leaflets and noticeboards about local things so every little helps.

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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by IainS »

Carl wrote:But they also have leaflets and noticeboards about local things so every little helps.
Exactly, Carl. So every local library should have a BCSS branch leaflet on the noticeboard. Well designed, colourful, with immediate impact.
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Re: Books for Beginners (Local Library)

Post by The Tunn »

As a retired Chartered Librarian (Librarianship is a profession) I should declare an interest.

Unfortunately public libraries in the UK are in a massive decline caused, IMHO, by political indifference by all parties at all levels. Although a statutory service, what they should do has never been satisfactorily defined and indicators are all quantity – you will get brownie points for issuing an Agatha Christie but not for inspiring a Hawking or an Einstein.

Ideally they should be a neutral source of information accessible by all. Google isn’t the answer to everything; it isn’t even the only search engine. (The height of Nelson’s column is a recent, famous example of something that should have a clearly defined answer– when it was cleaned most of the values quoted on the internet and in many books were found to be wrong – and there were quite a few different heights given varying by nearly 30ft! Even now you’ll find some variation on different sites) The internet is a great tool but you need even more caution using it than when using books.

Libraries should provide information for the beginner as well as more detailed, and often expensive, sources for those who want to dig deeper into a subject and librarians should be able to provide a guide to these sources – authority of the author, alternative views in different sources, etc. I suspect cuts and de professionalisation are the cause of a lot of “dumbing down”.

But to end my rant and get back on topic :smile: Yes, get the leaflets into the library and why not offer to give talks in the library to adults and to children? Most libraries will (or were) happy to host talks and it is a way of connecting with a public who may not otherwise see anything about the hobby.
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