Buzzing Birmingham
I went to Birmingham last week, to find a city buzzing with energy. I don’t know where it gets it from, but I suspect it might be the Council leader, Mike Whitby. Mike talks at 100 miles an hour, and if we plugged him into the mains, we’d solve Britain’s energy problem overnight. In just three years, Mike has transformed the council, which presides over Europe’s younest city, and one of its most diverse. Mike was showing me around Birmingham’s central library, which he wants to demolish and replace with a new one that is more fit for purpose. With the debate on libraries in decline, it is good to see a local authority preparing to commit £200 million to a new one (incidentally Birmigham’s current library is Europe’s busiest). It’s also good news for those who care about archives - one of the reasons for the plan is to enable Birmingham to show off some of its amazing treasures, which include a first folio of Shakespeare’s plays (Birmingham has a huge Shakespeare collection) and a Caxton.
I also went to the Ikon gallery, the Birmingham Museum and the Birmingham Rep (Mike is planning a new theatre to add to the Rep’s two auditoria). The Ikon wants a new contemporary art gallery in Birmingham, a Tate for the Midlands if you will. Everywhere I went (and I have previously visited the Symphony Orchestra and the Dance School) I found a City that is full of confidence and putting culture of every kind at the heart of its regeneration.
canvas said on November 18th, 2007 at 7:46 pm:
The IKON do a really great job. I think Birmingham should have a Tate. Look what it did for Liverpool!
Tizzy said on November 18th, 2007 at 8:58 pm:
Can someone tell Mike that there have been quite a few cities created since Birmingham was given its letters patent in 1889 - eg Preston, created in 2002, the Queen’s Jubilee, along with one each in Wales, Scotland, and N Ireland. I haven’t bothered to look up the rest of Europe.
Or, perhaps he means that the city has the highest number of a particular age group. Not quite such a catchy soundbite, though, is it?
“Birmingham is Europe’s youngest city, with more students than any other UK city outside
London, more under 15’s than any other major European city, and 37% of the population under
the age of 24.”
http://capture.bhm.lon.world.net/upload/MBL_GB_1039_Marketing_Birmingham_trio.pdf
Even the above clip from their article is a bit ambiguous.
Continuing the theme of pedantry, perhaps it is time to firmly delineate between a library, an archive, and a learning resource centre. The responsibilities and expertise required are different in each one.
I would like to see more emphasis (and money spent) on transcribing/copying important works onto the internet for all to see. Birmingham is already clogged up and, though I understand the argument for beautifying the centre, I’m not at all convinced that the decision to build its new ‘library’ in the middle is a good one.