Library Workshop

Picture Accreditation: Monika Bargmann

I went on an all day Library workshop yesterday at Grantham library. I was one of just three men there! The idea was to teach us librarians about the new RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system that is going to be installed throughout Lincolnshire Libraries later this year. The lady who held the seminar was raving about it as the system has already been tried and tested in libraries across the country and in Australia. RFID is basically a self issuing system so that people can take out books without having to stand in a queue at a counter. Apparently this will revolutionise our libraries and will get more people using them. Fiona (that was the lady's name) also talked about what we can do now to get more people borrowing. At the moment, libraries in Lincolnshire take on a very 1950s feel and they often have a stigma attached to them. People are put off going to libraries because they feel that they have to be quiet and must choose their books and get out. We are now trying to break this image. More of our shelves will be arranged in square shapes to create a living room type atmosphere. Bean bags and sofas will be strategically placed to make it more comfortable for readers to sit and read through books. All the notices such as 'No food and drink', 'No mobile phones' and 'Always stir your drink before drinking' (yes, that was up at one library in the county!) will be taken down, unwanted posters will be removed and leaflets will be given a thorough clear out. All of this should add up to a more spacious, more friendly feel when entering a library. these places are no longer the uptight, rule-crazy places they once were. The plan is to make the library the social hub of every community. However, there were some women on the course who were old fashioned librarians. They couldn't stand all the talk of change and would challenge Fiona about it at every opportunity. Fiona set them all straight though with one quote - 'If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always had.' With book issues being at an all time low in Lincolnshire (here the average library issues 10,000 books a month, in Australia its 80,000) and talk of the 1964 Libraries Act being revoked, now is the time for change. The old librarians are just going to have to get used to it!

Should Euthanasia be Legalised?

Picture accreditation: Lenneke Veerbeek

Should terminally ill have the right to die?

On the 27th February 2009, terminally ill couple Peter and Penelope Duff made the gruelling trip to Switzerland to humanely and legally end their lives. The husband and wife were both suffering from raging forms of cancer, they felt it would be better to die in peace rather than put their family through weeks of seeing them both in agonising pain. However, voluntary euthanasia is not legal in this country so the pair had to go to Switzerland. If euthanasia was legalised it would come as a welcome relief to many terminally ill people who would rather die in peace than wait to die in pain. Should terminally ill patients have the right to decide that they want to die? If it was legalised in the UK it would have to be very carefully regulated of course. Ethical questions would arise; for example, would a terminally ill child have the right to choose to die, would they know what they're agreeing to? Would this decision be down to the parents? What if the parents had chosen for the child to die, but the child doesn't want to, or vice versa? What if there is a chance that the patient could eventually get better? These questions probably make it impossible for suicide clinics to become legal in the UK. The point can be argued that if a terminally ill patient really had the willpower to go through with suicide then they should be willing to travel to Switzerland to do it. The case of voluntary euthanasia was brought up recently by the ITV drama 'A Short Stay in Switzerland'. This drama was based upon real life Dr. Ann Turner's last days before she decided to take the trip to Switzerland. In this drama the viewer was given a inside look on how this decision affects the surrounding family. Again another ethical question arises: Is it better for the family to see you die naturally but in pain, or for them to see a planned death but in peace?

In my opinion voluntary euthanasia should be legalised in the UK as long as it was specifically only for people who were definitely terminally ill and only for those over the age of 18 when they can be considered old enough to make their own decisions. The situation becomes far too complicated if children become involved.