Candid Cameras

 

Smile: London Adding Fifteen Red Light Camera

   It was announced about a month ago that London was increasing the number of red light cameras to 25. The purpose is to make our roads safer and statistically a sound case can be made for doing so. 

  At about the same time it was reported that in Washington, D.C., the 477 speed cameras reduced the number of those who were speeding. The money collected from the fines charged is substantial: "The Office of the Chief Financial Officer expects the cameras to bring in more than $1 billion in revenue over the next four fiscal years, though revenue is expected to plateau and then decline as people adjust their driving behaviors."

  Although those living in Washington requested even more cameras, city councillors here should be cautious before they go shopping for more. I vaguely remembered a photo radar issue from years ago and was able to find this related article: "The Politics That Brought Photo Radar to a Halt in Ontario in 1995: Enough Drivers Disapproved of System for PC Party to Promise to Kill It -- Which It Did," CBC, Archives, July 5, 2019. 

"The police liked photo radar, but some drivers in Ontario didn't.

And those disapproving motorists provided the impetus for Premier Mike Harris and his government to scrap its use in the province back in the summer of 1995...

Harris had led the Ontario Progressive Conservatives to a majority win at the polls the previous month, on a platform that included ending the use of photo radar.

And less than a month after that election, the PCs killed it, as they promised to do."

   Although red light and speed cameras achieve the purposes for which they are installed, and even can be profitable, politicians will probably pause a bit before buying any more.

The New Locations:
   The fine for running a red light is $325, so slow down at these locations.
(These are from one of the sources, but they are presented here in alpha order for MM readers.)

Commissioners Road and Wonderland Road South.
Fanshawe Park Road East and Adelaide Street North.
Fanshawe Park Road West and Aldersbrook Gate.
Hamilton Road at Highbury Ave North.
Oxford Street at Richmond Street.
Oxford Street East at Talbot Street.
Richmond Street and Fanshawe Park Road.
Sarnia Road at Wonderland Road North.
Southdale Road West at Wonderland Road South.
Veterans Memorial Parkway and Dundas Street.
Wellington Road South and Exeter Road
Western Road and Sarnia Road.
Wharncliffe Road North and Oxford Street West.
Wharncliffe Road South and Commissioners Road.
Wharncliffe Road South and Southdale Road East.

Sources: 
   "London Is Getting 15 More Red Light Cameras at Most Major Intersections: As Many as Five Drivers Per Day Are Issued a Fine For Running a Red Light in London at Each Camera," CBC News, June 11, 2024.
  "London About to Add 15 Red Light Cameras," Beatriz Baleeiro, London Free Press, June 12, 2024

   "D.C. Traffic Cameras Have Led to a Sharp Decline in Speeding, Data Shows,"
Washington Post, June 16, 2024. 

The Library Business

  

   I worked in some libraries and in the "About This Blog" section of this blog, promised that I would write about them.  Making such a promise indicates I wouldn't have done well in a career in Marketing. Realizing that libraries are not the most marketable of subjects is the reason I put the alluring photo at the top to lure you in.  Having checked to see why I am blogging, I also learned that I am not good at keeping promises since I promised a post a day and now owe you 1,350, a deficit unlikely to be overcome. I have even fallen behind in posting about libraries, so here goes. If you would rather read about more interesting things, my first post was about SEX and I did write about the DIRTY BOOKS sometimes found in libraries. 

   Although you have become used to not paying for information and are aggrieved when obstructed by the increasing number of firewalls, you should know that information is not free. Libraries have to pay a lot for it.  I thought about this recently when I received a couple of library-related emails from a market research firm offering advice about how do deal with the fact that there is not enough in the budget to purchase all of the material requested by  those who can be very demanding, even though they are not paying directly for the book or magazine they wish to borrow.

The Library Business is Tougher Than You Think - The University Library

  In this case, the emails had to do with the very big problem faced by academic institutions which have to purchase subscriptions to journals with very big price tags covering a wide variety of disciplines, all of which are supremely important, if only to the enraged faculty member who thinks the periodical absolutely essential to the mission of the university. The first market research report has the title - "Survey of Academic & Research Library Plans for Journal Subscription Cancellations".  It noted that: "These subscriptions are the heart of a research library’s scholarly services and often constitute the majority of materials spending, making them particularly vulnerable in an economic downturn." The second report was for those librarians who have to deal with the the serial cancellations: "Survey of Academic & Research Library Plans for Ala Carte Purchases of Scholarly Journal Articles." Among the few things revealed is that the libraries will have to pay thousands of dollars to retrieve the articles required by faculty that were in the journals to which they no longer have subscriptions. To learn more, the librarian will have to pay $129 for the 52 page report.

The Public Ones

    The budgets for public libraries are limited as well and the demands of the tax-paying citizen are likely just as tough to deal with as those of the faculty member. The decisions that need to be made are also tough ones. I thought of this recently when I looked at some recent purchases made by our local public library system (London Public Library) - purchases I am not criticizing. I suppose it is simply a question of supply and demand and definitely not quality. I would think, however, that some of the librarians who had to make these decisions, wish they could have bought more books rather than more copies of some books. Still even when multiple copies of some books were purchased, the demand outstripped the supply and I am sure the complaints outstripped the compliments. 

   The authors of those books which were purchased in large quantities are likely happy, although not as happy as they would be if consumers bought rather than borrowed the books. It is also good to be able to provide books to those who can't afford them, particularly during a pandemic. On the other hand, it might be better to have more good books on the shelves than lots of copies of mediocre ones.  That there are not is not because of the librarian. 

   For those interested, here are some numbers based on searches of the catalogue of the London Public Library. About the billionaire author, James Patterson, who often does not write 'his' books I will only offer a summary.  I just looked at the first fifteen of his titles (there would be many, many more) and there were 462 copies of those fifteen books. It looks like usually about 30 copies of each title are purchased.  Here are some more examples and in all of them you will see that the demand still far exceeds the supply:

Troubled Blood - Robert Galbraith - 78 holds on first copy returned of 47 copies.

One by One - Ruth Ware - 207 holds on first copy returned of 70 copies.

Invisible Girl - Lisa Jewell - 184 holds on first copy returned of 70 copies.

A Song For the Dark Times, Ian Rankin, 54 holds of first copy returned of 38 copies.

Daylight, David Baldacci,  211 holds on first copy returned of 25 copies. 

  These are just numbers and others could have been chosen. They do indicate that the demand is high for some titles and there is no reason to blame the librarian for ordering them or the reader who has chosen them, unless one wants to tackle the larger issues related to the purpose of the public library.

The Marketing of Library Services - The Public Ones

   Apparently public libraries have been busier than usual because of the pandemic and the few statistics above offer some support for that notion. Although the libraries are closed right now, one can sit at home and order a book from any library in the city and it will be delivered to the one closest to you. I have no doubt that those employed within them have plenty to do.

  That has not prevented them from offering to do more.  In the last email a new "Pick" service was offered as were the services of a staff member who will assist you in finding more books in the category you choose and then deliver them to you.  Also promoted was a new magazine platform and one can use it to get popular magazines that are behind firewalls erected to keep out non-subscribers.

 Other services are offered and apart from ordering films and music one will soon be able to borrow an Ontario Parks pass, the demand for which is likely to be high if spring ever comes.

   

The Academic Ones

   It is more difficult to determine what is going on in university libraries. The few libraries still remaining at Western are closed, but they were well-positioned for the pandemic. For the past few years the library leaders have been deemphasizing the libraries as places to study or facilities in which to store printed matter, in favour of making the material available online. The digital books and periodicals still have to be purchased and some of the packaged digital products costs thousands of dollars - for annual subscriptions.  That there is not much time left for promotion and marketing is understandable. They are also likely spending a lot of time explaining to a student or faculty member why they can't order a particular book or journal and pointing out that good information is expensive.

Post Script:

   When I did work in libraries, I often took positions that were contrary to those held by colleagues, a tendency which can probably be explained by the facts that what I lacked in proper training was made worse by poor judgement.  And, perhaps even before I grew old, I was old-fashioned about some things. For example, I like libraries that are vast edifices full of books and magazines (see, for example, my series - "Periodical Ramblings.")

   Among public librarians there is now floating, what appears to be a contagious idea, with which I do not agree. I am old fashioned and think that, given that books are expensive, one should have to sign them out of the library. As well, one should have to return them on time and be penalized for not doing so. I addressed the first issue in a very long post which you can read here: The Mystery of the Missing Books.  I understand the sentiment behind the elimination of fines - poor people can't afford them - but I am not convinced eliminating them is a good idea. I will leave it up to you to debate the issue and come up with a better alternative.

The Mystery of the Missing Books

   
     I read an old review of a book that appeared to be very interesting so I went searching for it and found a copy in the local London Public Library system which, I should mention, is a good one. During the search I learned that the book was out-of-print, but apparently  still much in demand since the price for used copies was in the three figure range. I then found the book in the stacks which is not the same as finding it listed on the online library catalogue. I was somewhat surprised since I noticed a while back that the public library system here does not have either a machine or a person to check to see if you have any library material as you exit. That is, I did not have to sign out the book; I simply could have walked out with it. The book I wanted was there, so there is no mystery involved with it, but still I wondered - What books are not there and are many being stolen?

     Last year the central branch of the public library system in London was undergoing major renovations and I noticed that one could wander from the stacks into the adjacent shopping mall without going through any security. When I asked a staff member about it I was told that I could walk directly out without signing out a book and that that was the case in the branch libraries as well. She trusted the patrons and I felt a little guilty about implying that some of them might not be so trustworthy. Needless to say, her conception of human nature was more positive than mine. That is the reason I did not reveal the title of the book above, since I figured that once you saw how valuable it was and how easy it would be to steal it, you would do so.

     Surely it must be somewhat tempting to forego signing out one of those high-demand books which you happened to see resting very temporarily on the shelf. Or, to perhaps keep a little longer one of those short-loan XXX For Dummies books that you may need for more than seven days. Apart from those hypothetical scenarios I could present some real ones from academic libraries where the security alarms often sounded as forgetful students simply forgot to sign out the books that were hidden in their coats.

     As for the mystery about what is missing I will say that I am sure that the library system here is well-managed. I am also sure the volumes that have gone missing which have been checked out have been tracked, due diligence done and fines levied. I am also certain the costs of machines or people to  prevent theft have been considered. I am not so sure that one can know what is missing until one goes looking for it since it is highly likely that there are not enough staff to do a thorough inventory.

      I have gone on long enough about this and will say only that I do hope that material is not being stolen from our public libraries and that the librarian is a better judge of character than I. As some of the sources below indicate, there may be cause for concern.

Sources:
     It should be remembered that this post is written out of concern and not as a critique. I did not, for example, ask anyone in the LPL system about the security procedures. As well, this is a rather perfunctory search. I went looking for information about public library thefts and, unsurprisingly, found some. I am sure a more thorough search of the library literature would have uncovered many articles  about the steps and methods uses to protect the inventory.
    The items are presented in reverse chronological order. A couple relate to Canada.

I wrote about The Great British Book Burglary last year.

This year there was a big one in Pittsburgh, but perhaps our citizens are more solid:"The Pittsburgh Case  an Inside Job: ‘Greed Came Over Me’: $8 Million in Rarities Stolen From Pittsburgh Library,” Sarah Mervosh, New York Times, July 21, 2018.
“The archivist who oversaw a special collection of rare books at the central library in Pittsburgh walked out of the building with these and other items — sometimes in plain sight — and sold them to a local bookstore owner, the authorities said, in a scheme that lasted nearly 20 years.

“Unsolved Mystery: The Case of 100,000 Missing Library Books,” The Daily Gleaner/Telegraph-Journal, Fredericton NB, Mar 21, 2017
[I was unable to access this complete article.]
“Nearly 100,000 books were marked missing from New Brunswick's public libraries from 2007 to 2016, according to data obtained through a …”

“Thousands of Items Taken from Edmonton Public Library in Past 3 years,” Julie Wong, Global News,
“More than 3,000 items have gone missing from the Edmonton Public Library (EPL) system from 2014 to 2017, according to data obtained by Global News.”

This library even has security: “The library takes some measures to prevent items from being taken, including security tags on items, security gates at entrances and a tracking system that alerts EPL when an item is not returned. The user is contacted and reminded about the missing item; if it is not returned, the user is then charged for the replacement.”

[The next few are about the same British 'issue'. There is a slight sub-text which relates to the loss of library staff and funding, not just the loss of books.]

“25 Million Books are Missing From UK libraries – But Who's Counting? Librarians Call for a National Audit after Inventory Count of Suffolk libraries Reveals 10,000 Books are Missing, Despite Computer Records Saying Otherwise,” Danuta Kean, The Guardian,, Feb 23, 2017,
“The decline in books stocked by public libraries may be far worse than official figures indicate, with industry sources claiming that it may be many millions higher than the 25 million books recorded as missing, meaning that the number of books available to borrowers has plummeted by more than 50% since 1996.
Official figures from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (Cipfa) for library books stood at 52.3 million at the end of 2016, a drop of almost 25 million since 1996. But that number reflects computer records rather than physical stock checks made by librarians. Earlier this week, it emerged that libraries in Suffolk had 10,000 fewer books than listed on its database after an inventory count by librarians. Insiders said similar disparities were likely to be reflected across the 151 library authorities in England and Wales because cutbacks had reduced librarians’ ability to do shelf counts.”

“Thousands of Books Misplaced, Lost or Stolen from Suffolk’s Libraries Between 2014 and 2017,”Emily Townsend, East Anglian Daily Times, Feb, 20, 2017
“Nearly 10,000 books, CDs and DVDs have gone missing from Suffolk libraries in three years, new figures show.”

“Libraries Are Missing 25m Overdue Books,” Caroline Argyropulo-Palmer, The Times,
24 February 2017
"Public libraries are missing 25 million books, official figures show but the true number could be much higher.
At the end of last year libraries held 52.3 million books, a fall of 25 million from 1996. That reflects the number of books logged in library computer records, however, and there are concerns that stock checks would find that many more books are off the shelves.
It emerged this week that an inventory held in Suffolk had found that there were 10,000 fewer books, CDs and DVDs in the county's libraries than listed on its database.
Tim Coates, a library campaigner and former head of Waterstones, told The Guardian that similar disparities were likely to be found in libraries across the country.
"It's not just Suffolk that has this problem," he said. "This is a national issue because librarians are not doing enough stock checks because cuts mean they can't do their job properly."
Since 2010 about 8,000 librarians have been made redundant in England and Wales while funding for public libraries fell by £25 million from 2014-2015 to 2015-2016. The stock has vanished.”

“20,000 Books Missing From Libraries,” Bilal Kuchay, Kashmir Monitor, Jan.28, 2013.
By Bilal Kuchay

“284,000 Library Books Stolen / Pilfered Texts Worth More Than 400 mil. Yen, Local Govts Say in Survey, Daily Yomiuri, Nov. 11, 2008.

“Stealing Beats Borrowing: Selfishness is Trumping Sharing as Pounds 150m Worth of Books are Filched from Local Libraries Every Year,” Rose George, The Guardian, April 4, 2006.

Libraries Take Aim at Theft, Vandalism,”by Gail Swainson, Toronto Star, Aug. 28, 1996.
“Public libraries in Metro have launched a campaign in the hopes of reducing the more than $1 million a year lost to vandalism and theft.
``Unfortunately, there appears to be a real disrespect out there for public property,'' said Mario Bernardi, manager of communications and development for the Metro Toronto Reference Library.
Reference library losses include valuable reference books, recipe books, atlases, art books and encyclopedias, which routinely have pages torn out or are covered in scribbled graffiti, Bernardi said.
At Metro's lending libraries, videocassettes, CDs and books are signed out but never returned.
It all adds up to an estimated $1 million-a-year loss to the system, so six Metropolitan public library systems - East York, North York, Scarborough, Toronto, York, and the reference library - have decided to fight back by asking users to respect library property - or report those who don't.
``We really can't afford these kinds of losses,'' Bernardi said. ``When we're cutting left and right, the last thing we need is to have this happen.''

“Libraries Suffer From Thefts,” The Windsor Star, July 1994 (article by Rachel Gordon San Francisco Examiner)
SAN FRANCISCO - "Paul John Smith isn't a household name - but he's the San Francisco Public Library's most wanted man.
Smith has more overdue library items - 238 - than any other San Franciscan, and owes $6,331 in overdue book fines and replacement costs, more than anyone else.
While Smith leads the pack of library scofflaws, he is far from alone. Thirteen people owe the library more than $1,000, accounting for 1,175 lost or stolen items - books, videos, records, tapes, periodicals and sheet music worth nearly $30,000, according to a records search conducted for The San Francisco Examiner.
In addition, 225 patrons each owe $300 or more for 4,503 lost and stolen library items worth $123,886 - money and materials the city is not counting on collecting.”


Theft and Loss From UK Libraries: A National Survey, John Burrows, Diane Cooper. 1992 Study
From the Foreward:
“While the problems of theft and of the mutilation of books and other materials in our libraries seldom attract national headlines, they represent a growing concern to those responsible for the provision of library services. This report details the findings of the first comprehensive survey of the financial loss borne by the main sectors of the library service, and the actions they are taking to combat these problems (previous, smaller, surveys have been more broadly focused on crimes committed in libraries). It concludes that libraries are indeed suffering substantially and estimates that losses of books alone exceed £150 million each year. Book mutilation, too, is widespread.These losses to the public purse are occurring despite a sizeable, and burgeoning, investment by libraries in measures to prevent theft and retrieve material not returned from loan. The report documents librarians’ views of these various countermeasures. But, above all, it makes the point that count and inventory practices in libraries are often sadly deficient, and that this severely hinders many institutions from directing their efforts at targetting the type of material, particular borrowers, or circumstances that give rise to the greatest loss.”