The National Public Libraries Festival

Aaaaaaaaand.....it's gone.

We failed to raise our Crowdfunder target - all your cash doesn't belong to us. We amplified, but not loudly enough. We pushed, but not hard enough. We cajoled, but not sweetly enough. And for all that we're sorry. Apologies to all of you who were kind enough to sponsor or support us. We do feel like we let you and ourselves down. Most frustrating is that we know (and we know that you know) that the idea is a good one, that there is a clear and present interest in a National Public Libraries Festival. 

Which is also the reason that we do not think we failed, or that your contribution was wasted. LibraryCamp, together with you, did more and tried harder than ANYONE else to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Public Libraries & Museums Act. No one else stepped up; governmental body, library authority, professional (pphhht) organisation or grassroots campaign. It is a sad indictment of the state of the public library service that such an anniversary has gone ignored.

I stress that we failed to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Act. As we have said, we fully intend to get our way and to host a Public Libraries Festival as soon as possible. We've learnt many lessons, gained support from many more friends and received invaluable feedback about why institutions and organisations are reluctant to engage with the Act.

To sum up I'd like to take a quote from that most illustrious modern philosopher: as Arnie said "If it bleeds, we can kill it".

(Photo credit: smaedli via photopin cc)