Ludlow Library - your comments

A selection of comments made about Ludlow Library during adult and children's surveys appear below. All suggestions and complaints are carefully considered and action is taken to make improvements where these are possible within physical and budgetary constraints. Do you agree with these views? Is there anything you would like to add? If so, please do tell library staff or comment online.

A selection of comments made about Ludlow Library during the junior (under 16) survey undertaken in October 2007.

I think it is a good place already.
• I thought for children aged 5 to 10 you could have a game for them to play you describe a character in a book and the children had 1 minute to find the book.
• More computers.
• Longer opening hours.
• A returns book accessible when library closed. Leominster has no fines for children.
• Picket fence and gate round children’s book area to prevent children fleeing!
• If we could get more computer space!
• Use of msn, on bebo your pictures don’t get blocked out.
• More books and choice of things.
• Even more books (+ drawing of picture book).
• More children’s books.
• A café.
• More decorations. Cosy corner. More books on nature.
• More cassette tapes and CDs, much much more. More decorations. Cosy corner.
• Child’s parent – if it was open on a Thursday.
• Child’s parent – if it was open on a Thursday.
• More fun posters.
• Egyptian artefacts. More choice of books.
• Games.
• Open longer on week days.
• I think the library is fine as it is.

A selection of comments made about Ludlow Library during the adult survey undertaken in October 2006.

Customer Service

• A pleasant and educational place with good staff.
• Staff are always polite and helpful.
• During our month stay in Ludlow we found the library and staff to be top notch.
• I think the library is an important asset to the town and offers an excellent range of facilities.
• Staff very helpful and friendly. Computers too (over-popular) – especially in school holidays.
• The staff are very helpful and well-informed.
• I come here quite regularly and I have always found the staff really helpful and polite! The facilities are really good too!
• Helpful and friendly.
• Thank you for being here.
• Excellent facility and staff service.
• Staff are always very accommodating to young children and the children’s section always looks great!
• I think it is a wonderful library for such a small town like Ludlow. Your staff are so helpful and friendly and very kind. Thank you.
• Also had very good service.
• Staff are always helpful and cheerful.
• Staff are excellent.
• Pleasant helpful staff. Nice friendly environment. Plenty of choice, good ordering service for books not on shelves. Library provides an excellent service. Thank you.
• The staff are always most helpful – a well lit building and a good choice of books, children’s corner is most welcoming. Lots of advertising of interesting meetings, groups etc. So much going on in Ludlow.
• I find the library staff very friendly and helpful. My one criticism is the opening hours, although fine for people in the daytime hours, I would like to see the library open at least 3 evenings a week.
• I find staff helpful and genial.
• Very pleasing visit. Excellent help from staff.
• Excellent help and cheerful staff.
• Excellent library wonderful staff.
• Very good library and helpful staff. Poor information on ‘Business’. Thank you.
• You rock!
• I usually find a book to read. Staff will always be helpful in finding a book or ordering one. Staff are always friendly.
• My wife and I are extremely happy with the service provided at this library.
• Very helpful staff, but seem short staffed. More choice children’s books would be appreciated. Overall a really good library. Thank you.
• Excellent in every way.
• Extremely good atmosphere, very friendly, good range of subjects.
• Excellent, very helpful staff..
• Excellent – bright, cheerful, welcoming building and superb attitude of staff a credit to the library. Well done..
• Very helpful..
• Good helpful assistants nice selection of books, always a pleasure to come here.
• Very pleased with the service and help.

The Building

• Pleasant and comfortable environment.
• Always feel very relaxed and usually spend more time than I intended in the library!
• An excellent facility.
• The reference library could be greatly improved. I feel that the opportunity to have an amazing library: Hereford city library had a committee formed some years ago which produced a plan for a new library. Read a copy if you can or contact one of the members. This library is OK, staff very friendly but as a library an opportunity has been missed.
• Architectural awful and totally out of context with the area. But super service provided by staff.
• Light and airy with plenty of space to access shelves. Friendly and helpful staff.
• Why do we have a triangular building for rectangular books?
• Inside is fine outside horrendous. Access would be better from car park than having to walk all around front.
• You need to electrify the bench out-side to stop the vandals loitering about!
• Only comment is another door nearer the car park would be very helpful. Very difficult for elderly people to walk all the way round the building.
• It’s a good place, does it’s job well.
• I object to noise in this library. Children should have separate provision – storytime is irritating. Bottom shelves are difficult to see and access.
• Light pleasant to use.
• I thoroughly enjoy my visits to Ludlow Library. It has a lovely atmosphere, with a great selection of books and resources on offer. It is set out in a way which makes things easy to find – and also the use of work top displays draws one’s attention to a range of publications, local information and topical themes.I think the children’s area is excellent – bright, colourful and with easy access to an amazing range of ever changing books (and in very good condition). There is even a nice selection of board books to suit the very youngest of children. But what makes this library stand out is the staff who run it. They are really lovely – always welcoming and exceptionally helpful. Last week one of the librarians showed me how to order a list of study books ‘online’ – an impressive service which I know I will use again. Well done Ludlow library.
• The outside area is much maligned by the citizens of Ludlow – rubbish, bottles, chewing gum etc..
• As a modern library building it is pleasant to use. I welcome the provision of foreign language books and use them frequently.
• I used to enjoy libraries when they were really quiet places. This is no longer the case due to ‘special activities’ particularly during school holidays.

Opening Hours

• Please stay open on Thursdays.
• Inadequate closing on Thursday and Sunday. Children’s area should be properly enclosed. Nappy changing facilities not adequate.
• Needs to be open on Thursdays.
• Please change opening hours. Thurs please.
• Thursday opening would be good?
• I mainly use the internet. Longer opening hours on Fridays are useful as I work full time. The staff are always helpful and on occasions have ordered in books for me that aren’t in stock. Overall very pleased with our library.
• I wish it opened on Thursday.
• It would be helpful if the library opened on Thursdays both for locals and visitors.
• Closing on Thursdays is a real pain and half-a-century out of date.
• Needs to be open on Thursdays.
• Annoying closed Thursday.
• Please open on Thursdays..

Stock

• I’m very happy with it as I use it a lot for borrowing books. Only came in today to return a book and didn’t take any more out because I already have some at home.
• More books needed.
• Could do with more books. (All local libraries seem a bit short of them.) Should have all the classics of literature and better art books. More reference of all kinds.
• Very good range of materials. Staff excellent – knowledgeable and makes a positive effort to meet requests.
• Lack of reference books except in some subject areas. (I’m comparing it to the small – but larger – town in S Wales where I used to live which had a staffed reference room – medium –sized – and a tiny local history room.) Didn’t know about your on-line reference system till I read your yellow form on “Finding Information”. Is it advertised by the reference books?
• Could be more choice of DVDs a useful service. Could separate DVD listing on computer/DVD sourcing.
• Disappointed in the standard and choice of the talking books. The ones I have borrowed (CDs) have been badly scratched, - most annoying when you are half-way through a good story. A very poor choice, please can we have more up to date, well written novels. Some of the staff could be a bit more welcoming in their attitude towards the customers.
• Lack of good literature in the new talking books.
• The choice of more ‘serious’ books non-fiction is somewhat limited and somewhat popularised, but I suppose that meets majority needs. Library and staff very good and helpful.
• This is a library – more books please. Biography, Eng Lit – drama are especially weak. Les music and film please.
• I would like to see a section for music – written scores for musicals, operas, classics etc.
• Less pop music, more classical CDs and DVDs please.
• More books please. I thought that was what libraries were for.
• A huge amount seems to have been spent creating a large volume of empty space in the building – but very little on books/periodicals/newspapers but especially serious non-fiction.
• Very grateful for it being here. I know books can be borrowed/ordered from other Shropshire libraries, but what about other counties? I sometimes feel the stock of books/videos/DVDs at Leominster is better than in Ludlow.Would also like to see a wider selection of newspapers e.g. The Guardian, The Week.
• Of the authors I enjoy, only a small percentage of books written appear on the shelves. Perhaps more inter library rotation.
• More paperbacks.
• Great need for additional books in specialist areas (i.e sections). Very limited at present time. (It’s too bad if you don’t read novels).
• I wish the computer books were more up-to-date.
• I think the resources are very helpful for all ages.
• More books both fiction and non fiction. And please extend the craft section. For instance knitting is very in at the moment but this is not reflected on the shelves. More just released or mention on TV/Radio/Media books.
• Would be better if sections of book types displayed i.e. sci-fi, drama, crime etc. More choice of up to date books. Computer and science section is very limited.
• Videos and DVDs. This leaves much to be desired concerning the range of choice. I would like to see more foreign films, also more choice of memorable productions of the past 60 years. This seems to be almost non-existent. In fact the range of choice is no better that that offered by the local video shop – Choices. We need more films on cultural and educational topics. As such it seems to me that the library has set itself the task of competing with Choices, rather that providing a qualitative alternative..
• An excellent library, I travel 15 miles to come here. Although I didn’t use any of the other facilities other than borrowing books today, I frequently do so and find them good.
• More large print cowboys please. Larger selection of DVDs please..
• There is a very poor selection of mystery, thriller, crime novels in the large print section, many of which seem to be romantic novels, or pulp fiction. Not enough British novelists, too many American with bad language.Also, someone in Ludlow defaces the text of large print books, by either correcting, in ink, bad spelling and punctuation, or by adding question and exclamation marks to indicate a difference of opinion. I wish they’d stop it..
• An improvement on the old site. Fiction books seem weighted towards mainstream, not very thought provoking titles.I accept the library will be limited in what it can offer immediately for all the obvious reasons.
• The service at this library is excellent. I particularly appreciate being able to ask for and to receive books and CDs which are not on the shelves.

Computers

• So far as I am aware, the library does not adequately (or obviously) advertise its on-line services. For example, I had to enquire (and chivvy) to get the on-line DNB service arranged. I have also (2005) asked about the Times on-line service (as provided free to all Bedfordshire libraries), and have still not received any adequate response about this. And how many other similar on-line services might be offered and provided, about which I know nothing?
• Excellent. Think you should charge for use of computers (which I do use myself) since after all you charge for reserving books even though now you don’t use the post to notify of arrival. The computers surely cost more than a few phone calls. Say 25p an hour?
• The IT provision is hugely under-resourced both in the number of screens and in staff training to support customers.
• The only comment I have to make is I feel the computers ought to have longer time at the end of the day, at the moment you can have 45 minutes (4 p.m. – 4.45 p.m.) before close. I did not feel this is a lot of time for children who do not have access to a computer simply for homework purposes. My children do not get home until 4 p.m. if they have a next day piece of work, where do they go to get the information needed if they don’t get to the library.
• On one occasion when I sought help in using computer for web search the guidance was barely adequate.I support a continued high proportion of printed material and would not want to see space or resources shifted any further to electronic media.
• Please can computers be increased and in a different area on their own. Church Stretton library have a different room for computers.

Services for Children

• Baby bounce is very very good.

General

• I came in to fax and at £1 per sheet it’s very expensive for a public service!
• I wish there was more information available – or better displayed about facilities available – especially catalogue information regarding CDs and DVDs for/from van.Also about range of facilities available on PCs – I think they are difficult to use for academic purposes. Also range of prospectuses for WIA colleges and universities and O.U. seem to have decreased.
• These annual questionnaires are a complete waste of money and resources. They are only there to satisfy some faceless bureaucrat and fill in irrelevant targets. Surely we should be able to trust to the training and professionalism of our local staff to offer the range of services the local population want and need.
• First visit for 2 years. Will come more regularly.
• I have used the library as a good source of information several times.
• I think the fines for late returns are too steep. In my previous town library pensioners were given some leeway over return dates..
• Where is the museum
• A wonderful facility: great selection of books. Helpful and knowledgeable staff.
Just needs the opening hours tweaking? Thursdays?Congratulations on an excellent service – a credit to the town.
• Very enjoyable experience.
• I used to enjoy libraries when they were really quiet places. This is no longer the case due to ‘special activities’ particularly during school holidays.
• Pleasant helpful staff. Good selection of fiction. Unchanging small collection of true crime books. Could have better selection of IT training books. Pity library still closes on Thursdays.
• Very helpful staff. Comfortable library – only one grouse – the printers need re-positioning – I have to lean over someone else to get my print-outs. Computers and seats a bit too close to neighbours.
• I appreciate it is very difficult to try and please such a wide range of people, but when you consider the problem, you succeed. Well done.