Inkerman Writers
a showcase of our work
Library survey
Hi guys - We have been asked to take part in this survey as the council makes the spending decisions surrounding the future of our libraries. If you cut and paste it, you can send the completed version to Joanne.scott@darlington.gov.uk
Thanks
John
Darlington Libraries Needs Assessment Survey
The Council is faced with a challenging budget situation as a result of the
Government led drive to cut public spending and reduce the national deficit. This
means that there will be less money to spend on library services.
Library services are valued as part of Darlington’s community and as a Council
we want to make sure we are providing the right kind of library service for our
communities.
The purpose of this questionnaire is to enable the Council service to find out;
•
What people want and need from their library service in the future
•
How libraries can be more accessible to communities
Please complete the questionnaire and return to Joanne Scott by Monday
24th January 2011 in the pre paid envelope.
Darlington Library Service Survey
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. Please answer
the following questions by putting an “X” in the box that represents your
answer or answers. We will keep your answers completely confidential.
1. Do you use Darlington’s library service?
Yes No (Please go to Question 9)
2. Which of the following Darlington library services do you use? (Please
mark all that apply.)
Crown Street
Library
Cockerton
Library
Mobile
Library
On-line
services
3. How often do you use the Darlington library services that you marked?
At least once
a week
At least once
a month
At least once
every three
months
Less often
than three
months
4. Which of the following library services do you use when you visit a
Darlington library? (Please mark all that apply)
Borrowing books
(Adult library)
Borrowing media,
CDs, DVDs or audio
books
Reading
newspapers or
magazines
Finding information
using reference
books,
encyclopaedias,
directories etc
Finding information
on-line (on-line
encyclopaedias,
directories etc)
Local and family
history
Study or
homework facilities
Computer and
internet facilities
Children’s activities,
Rhyme time, story
time, Children’s
Library
Reading groups,
author talks
Exhibition,
community meeting
or ward surgery
None
Other, please write in here.
5. Please indicate how good or poor you generally think the following
aspects are of the library/libraries that you visit? (Please mark one per
question)
Crown Street Library
Very
good Good Average Poor Very
poor
Not
Applicable
Opening
hours
Customer
care
Safe place
to visit
Overall
satisfaction
Choice of
books
Cockerton Library
Very
good Good Average Poor Very
poor
Not
Applicable
Opening
hours
Customer
care
Safe place
to visit
Overall
satisfaction
Choice of
books
Mobile Library
Very
good Good Average Poor Very
poor
Not
Applicable
Frequency
of stops
Location of
stops
Customer
care
Overall
satisfaction
Choice of
books
6. Which of the following on-line library services offered by Darlington
Library Service do you use? (Please mark all that apply)
Library Catalogue Renew books, CD’s
and DVD’s Online subscriptions
Search for
information None Other (please write
in below)
Other, please write in here.
7. Please choose three of the following Darlington library services that are
most valuable to you? (Please mark your top three)
Borrowing books Borrowing, CDs,
DVDs or audio books
Reading
newspapers or
magazines
Finding information
using reference
books,
encyclopaedias,
directories etc
Finding information
on-line (on-line
encyclopaedias,
directories etc)
Local and Family
history
Study or homework
facilities
Computer and
internet facilities
Children’s activities,
(rhyme time, story
time etc)
Reading groups,
author talks
Exhibition,
community meeting
or ward surgery
On-line services
Other, please write in here.
8. If you do not currently use the library service, are any of the following
the reasons why? (Please mark all that apply)
Lack of time Lack of interest I find everything I need
online or from other sources
I buy my own books,
audio books, music
CD’s and DVDs
Inconvenient
opening hours Location of library buildings
Overdue charges Poor facilities at
the library Not applicable
Other, please write in here.
9. If you do not use the library service, is there anything that would
encourage you to do so?
Yes No Not applicable
If you have indicated “Yes”, please write them here.
10. Given that the Council has reduced funds to spend on library services
in the future, which of the following possibilities appeals to you most?
(mark up to three)
More on-line
library services
Library buildings used
for a meeting place:
for example
community groups,
exhibitions
Sharing buildings with
other public services
Library
buildings with
coffee shops
Changes to opening
hours
e.g. reduced at
unpopular times and
extended at popular
times
Use of self- service
technology for issuing
and returning books etc.
Other, please write in here.
11. If library opening hours were to change, which would be the best times
for you to visit? (Please mark all that apply)
9-10am 10-12am 12-2pm 2-5pm 5-7pm 7pm-late
Weekdays
Saturday
Sunday
About You
12. Gender?
Male Female
13. Age?
0-10 11-16 17-24 25-34 35-44
45-54 55-64 65-74 75 and over
14. Do you consider yourself to have a disability or long term illness?
Yes No
15. To which of these ethnic groups do you consider yourself to belong?
White
British White Irish
White Gypsy
or Irish
Traveller
White
European
Any other
White
background
White and
Black
Caribbean
White and
Black
African
White and
Asian
Any other
mixed
background
Indian
Pakistani Bangladeshi Chinese
Any other
Asian
background
African
Caribbean
Any other
Black /
African /
Caribbean
background
Arab Any other
ethnic group Prefer not to
say
16. What is your post code?
THANK YOU FOR HELPING WITH THIS SURVEY
We have been asked to take part in this survey as the council makes the spending decisions surrounding the future of our libraries. If you cut and paste it, you can send the completed version to Joanne.scott@darlington.gov.uk
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About
DfC
The Inkerman Writers are members of Darlington for Culture (DfC), which was set up in 2010 to help save Darlington Arts Centre from closure.
Its members include representatives of arts and community groups.
DfC was established after the centre’s owner, Darlington Borough Council, announced that budget cuts meant that it would have to withdraw its subsidy from the Arts Centre.
Although the centre closed, the organisation remains active - more at www.darlingtonforculture.org
Publications
Welcome to the site created by the Inkerman Writers to showcase our work.
Based in Darlington, North East England, and having celebrated their tenth anniversary in 2013, members have enjoyed success in a variety of arenas, including winning, and being shortlisted and highly commended, in short story competitions, having novels published and publishing the short story anthology A Strawberry in Winter, which can be obtained by visiting the website www.blurb.com
The group's second anthology of short stories, Christophe's Farewell and Other Stories, can be obtained, cost £4.95 plus postage and packing, from
The Inkerman Writers’ latest book, Out of the Shadows, which was launched as part of the 2013 Darlington Arts Festival, is on sale. The book can be ordered direct from
http://www.blurb.co.uk/b/4204019-out-of-the-shadows
The group also produced The Last Waltz, a double CD of short stories, available by contacting deangriss@btinternet.com, cost £5 plus p and p.
Several of our writers wrote original one-act plays in a collaboration with the Green Theatre company, which were performed at Darlington Arts Centre early in February, 2012.
Darlington-based Inkerman Writers have produced their latest anthology of short stories, Inkerman Street, based on the demolition of a fictional northern street and the stories of the people who lived in it.
The book, which features a variety of stories ranging from horror to comedy, was launched to a large audience at the Darlington Arts Festival Literary Day on Saturday May 26 and begins like this:
“Inkerman Street is still and graveyard-hushed tonight, the terraced houses cold behind boarded-up windows, silent sentinels among a sea of wasteland. No one lives here now and tomorrow the bulldozers will move in to flatten the houses to make way for the Council’s Grand Plan.
“Although the people are long gone, the houses still have life. Peek into one of the bedrooms and see on the wall a painting of a seaside scene, brightly-coloured boats bobbing in the harbour, fishermen pipe-smoking in the noonday sun and seagulls wheeling high above the choppy waters. In the roaring silence of the night, you can hear the screeching of the birds and taste the salt air, acrid and herring-sharp at the back of your throat. It is an illusion; the bedroom is empty and the blooms on the faded wallpaper have long since wilted.
“The air in the houses is musty with neglect yet but a few months before, these were bustling homes filled with frying bacon and steaming irons, whistling kettles and playing children. The houses witnessed all these scenes for more than 150 years. Behind their curtains were enacted a thousand stories but tomorrow they will be destroyed because Inkerman Street is the last of its ilk.
“Now, on the eve of the street’s death, the people who once lived here have returned, gathering solemn and silent in the mist, the ghosts of the past come to pay final tribute….”
The anthology can be purchased at http://www.blurb.co.uk/bookstore/invited/7524452/bae89c993c98ec8c8b37b12d6b9b37ecced5dec3
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