Job Discussion Forums

[Moore]

Can't believe it, but they are closing down the British Council library in Madrid: a real shame

On the positive side, they are giving away some of their books and audio books on tape, so if you nip down there quickly at least you can get a few books out of it...

[CharlesTESOL]

That's awful news! Anyone know why? Barcelona's seems to be going strong. I just received an email from them the other day listing new books that English teachers might be interested in.

Can anyone suggest other good library resources for English teachers in Madrid?

I know in Barcelona the public libraries have small English language learning sections, which are really geared towards students. They also have small English fiction sections. However, they have great DVD, video and CD sections, which may be more useful personally than professionally.

Barcelona's North American Institute also has a library that sells memberships to the public. While it's a good library, it is smaller and doesn't have the wide variety of materials the British Council library does -- well, at least that was true the last time I checked it out, which was a few years ago.

[alexcase]

It's happening to BC libraries all over the world. The Tokyo one closed down years ago. Obviously their public service remit does not cover the teachers who paid for their subsidies with their taxes back in the UK...

You'll probably find they are doing it now so they can convert the space into something hi-tech and/or trendy for students' use, which is difficult to argue with I guess.

At least I won't have to feel guilty about never replacing the copy of "Video" I took out from BC Madrid library and lost...

[CharlesTESOL]

I spoke with the manager of the Barcelona British Council library and the good news is that the Barcelona library is not going to close. She said that Britsh Council libraries all over the world that were funded through the Study UK funding stream are closing down, but that the Barcelona library is funded as part of the English school and so is safe from this cutback. Phew!

The not so good news is that they are going to reduce the library's physical space and get rid of items that are not used frequently enough. She would not be specific about what items would be eliminated, although she did say that the English teaching/learning materials and the cinema/televison DVDs are popular, so would be remaining. That leads me to guess that the videos and perhaps some of the non-English teaching/learning related books (e.g., novels) are at risk. (By the way, the library had the new Harry Potter book right when it was released!)

Oh, well, at least there will still be a BC library in Barcelona. For those of you in Barcelona, if you have not visited the library, I suggest you do so when it re-opens after vacation. (It re-opens on Monday 3 Sept, but will not have Saturday hours again until 22 Sept.) You can use materials in the library for free, but if you want to check things out you need to pay an annual fee. I believe this year I paid 52 euros. Here's a link to information about the library: http://www.britishcouncil.org/spain-information-and-study-centre-barcelona.htm

It is located at C/ Amig�, 83. You can tke the Ferrocarril to the Muntaner station, which is just a few blocks away. Bus lines 14, 58 and 64 go nearby.

Regarding Madrid, she told me that the British Council there has two other libraries there that are currently available only to Bristish Council students, but that the school was looking into combining them in the future and making the new one available to the public for a 100 euro annual fee. That's about double the former library's fee!

[alexcase]

100 Euros??!! Seems a lot! You could buy a couple of books a month for that price.

[CharlesTESOL]

Yes, I thought it was pretty high, too -- and so did the Barcelona BC library manager! I'd have to think long and hard before paying that, but I might end up doing it if in addition to a good selection of materials for teachers (i.e., more than I could afford to buy or store at home) they would still have:

- a good selction of books for general reading.

- DVDs. Because of the local BC (and the public library) I never rent a DVD. In addition, since the BC gets DVDs from Britain, there are sometimes movies available there that haven't even been released to Spanish cinemas yet.

- CDs - both music and books.

- free computer use. Even though I have internet access at home, sometimes I like to do lesson planning at the British Council. Plus, on the computers there, you have access to the Internet AND the BCs Intranet.

Yes, it MIGHT be worth 100 euros a year for that. If they didn't enhance services in some way, however, I'd have to really think about it, though. Thank God I'm in Barcelona and won't have to make such a choice.

Meanwhile, for those of you in Madrid, I recently learned of another library there with English language books and movies:

International Institute http://www.iie.es/
Calle Miguel Angel, 8
Metro stops - Rub�n Dar�o (line 5) or Gregorio Mara��n (lines 7 & 10)].

Membership fees are available monthly (10 �), per semester (30 �) or annually (60 �). However, I understand that, like the BC library, it is free to enter and use materials there.

Sounds like it might be worth visiting.

[Moore]

Thanks for the tip Charles.

I just read an article about the British Council shifting its resources towards the Middle East and away from Europe...

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2141835,00.html

...all very worthy "hearts and minds" stuff and money far better spent than on dropping bombs, but I will still miss the Madrid BC library.