The Letters Page – what’s a library?

1. [Multiple choice]

This letter is in response to

(At the start of the recording there is a reference to a ‘comment’. It is useful to realise that a newspaper prints ‘news’, and also ‘opinions’. The fact that this is a ‘comment’ shows it was written by a journalist who has commented on some aspect of public or private life. Notice that the writer of the letter has mentioned the name of the journalist, and also given the date of the column. This is usual practice.

An editorial stand is not made on a matter as general or trivial as this. An editorial stand would be made on a matter of considerable national importance.

Vocabulary:
to put a sock in sth is informal and humorous, and used to tell / ask people to be quiet, or to stop making a noise.
Eg “Put a sock in it, John!”
“It was after twelve at night –and I asked them to put a sock in it.” i.e. to stop making such a noise.
This is an example of an editor or journalist making something an amusing headline – the original article probably had this as its title.
)

Answers for Quiz [1].

• 1. an article written by a journalist.
  (correct)
• 2. a reader who has written in to the editor.
• 3. a column which has expressed an editorial stand on a matter.

2. [Multiple choice]

Michael Howe wants his local library

(Vocabulary: A hub is a central or main part of a machine, organisation or society where there is most activity.)

Answers for Quiz [2].

• 1. to be a quiet place to work. (correct)
• 2. to be a friendly place.
• 3. to have good internet facilities.
• 4. to be a hub of his community.

3. [Multiple choice]

Mr Howe sounds as if he might have been

Answers for Quiz [3].

• 1. wondering why there were so many rooms in the library set aside for people to use for private research.
• 2. pleased to notice his library being used by lots of parents and children.
• 3. irritated by parents and children talking, or even singing in his local library. (correct)
• 4. asking what libraries had spent all their resources on, because it clearly wasn’t on books.

4. [Multiple choice]

The sort of library Michael Howe must have described

(Jane Brown maintains that the sort of libraries Michael Howe describes would require too much finance to be viable, and would in any case not be what most people want of a library.
Vocabulary: to recoup a cost is to get the cost of sth back)

Answers for Quiz [4].

• 1. is the sort of library everyone would want to use.
• 2. would not be costly to provide.
• 3. would soon recoup what it cost to set up.
• 4. is a thing of the past, according to Jane Brown. (correct)

5. [Multiple choice]

Jane Brown considers local libraries should aspire to

(She considers a library should be some sort of a ‘sanctuary’ – i.e. a safe and peaceful place
The British Library is the national library of Britain. The Bodleian Library in Oxford, Cambridge University Library and the British Library are among the top three largest libraries in Great Britain. It is said that these 3 libraries house every book published in English.
)

Answers for Quiz [5].

• 1. have the sort of resources academics need.
• 2. be quiet and provide top-class facilities for research students.
• 3. provide a range of facilities for a cross-section of users. (correct)
• 4. be a home from home for foreigners who are lonely.
• 5. have a drop-in centre where people can socialise and have a snack.
• 6. imitate the British Library.

6. [Multiple choice]

Michael Howe is

(He may be one of these – a parent, for instance, or a lecturer – but all that is clear is that he is defninitely a journalist – because Jane Brown referred to ‘Comment’ which is a term used for journalists expressing views.)

Answers for Quiz [6].

• 1. a researcher.
• 2. a librarian.
• 3. a parent.
• 4. a student.
• 5. a foreign student.
• 6. a university lecturer.
• 7. a schoolteacher.
• 8. none of the above.
  (correct)

7. [Multiple choice]

Jane Brown

(Jane Brown ‘works for Norfolk library service’. She may be a parent who appreciates going to the library with her children – but we can’t tell from what we hear.
Language: “What do I know?” is a comment people sometimes use to say they know very little about some matter, but still have an opinion about it.
eg “I think pop music is nothing but noise – but what do I know?” = perhaps it is very musical, but I have missed its qualities / I do not know enough to have an informed judgement about it / I am wrong in thinking that. Sometimes we use this phrase to be open about our ignorance, or to pre-empt a criticism we expect people to level at us telling us we are uninformed or ignorant – or both, and more….
Here it is used as a rhetorical device – by asking the question, Jane Brown can then answer it! A similar version of this might be “How do I know? Because he told me so, last night!!” “What do I think? I think he lied from the start, that’s what I think!”
)

Answers for Quiz [7].

• 1. is a parent who appreciates going to the library with her children.
• 2. knows nothing about running libraries.
• 3. is involved professionally with organising libraries. (correct)
• 4. admits she is ignorant by saying “what do I know?”