I always think of Tim Coates as the man librarians love to hate. I worked with him on a review of library services when I worked at the Audit Commission and I saw it first hand. (A bit about that here.) But the reason he draws ire is because he pulls no punches in saying what libraries need to do to deliver top rate service at the lowest possible price. He used to be the MD of Waterstones and he brings a hard nosed sensibility to his work on improving libraries.
Although his work with local government has focused on library services, he draws some pretty sweeping conclusions about the way that local public services are managed as a whole. They are provocative comments, but maybe that’s what we need in these hard financial times.
You can find out more about his work on improving library services at lower costs, like his recent work in Hillingdon or you can challenge him on his views during the Efficiency Exchange’s first hot seat on 21 June 2010. Tim will be answering questions from 10am to 12pm on 21 June, but you can start posing questions now (sign-in required).
Ingrid Koehler
gordonmurray