Chekhov in Southark libraries

[OutOfFocus]

WOuld you / do you all use your local libraries?

I hardly ever do. I went to one a few weeks ago - I think I mentioned it - and asked if they had a Chekov play book and the Librarian told me that in the whole of Southwark Libraries there is not one Chekov book.

A quick scan of the catalouge suggests otherwise

Chekhov : the early stories 1883-88 / chosen and translated by Patrick Miles Request this Item

Chekhov, A. P. (Anton Pavlovich), 1860-1904 Other titles by Author(s)

Publication Date: 1982

Collected works. - Vol.3 : Stories, 1888-1894 Request this Item

Chekhov, A. P., Anton Pavlovich, 1860-1904 Other titles by Author(s)

Collected works. - Vol.4 : Stories, 1895-1903 / translated by Olga Shartse and Ivy Litvinov Request this Item

Chekhov, A. P., Anton Pavlovich, 1860-1904 Other titles by Author(s)

[snorky]

No one ever learned anyfing from books as I was once told

[PeckhamRose]

Well done AndrewDBlack!

Interestingly the librarian in Nunhead Library could not find them and gave the information about there being none in the whole system.

So I wonder what happened!

Oh well, Cherner Books saved me in the end....

[Brendan]

Did the conversation go something like this:

?Do you have any Chekov??

?Yeah its here innit.?

?Anton Chekov??

??ere there aint no ants on my checkout.?

?The writer??

*Some tapping at a keyboard*

?Look ?ere there aint nufink on the system luv. orwright?

?Sheesh. Tracey! You ?ear that last nutter? Wots this place Office Angles sent us to today anyway??

[PeckhamRose]

Ahhahahahaahahahaahahahaha

No, nothing like that.

More,

"Let me check on the computer. Chekov, that's Anton, right?"

"Yes."

"Southwark got rid of a load of books several years ago that had had no readers, and just kept those that were popular, and maybe they were amongst those sold, because we hold no books by Chekov in Southwark Library."

(A bit like, "Computer says noooo")

"WOuld you like me to renew your library card for you whilst you're here?"

"What would be the point?"

"We got the new Westlife CD you could borrow" *

* That last line was a lie.

[MadWorld74]

what about asking for Michael Chekhov. That could give someone a brain tumour.

[PeckhamRose]

Or indeed his sister Senda

[louisiana]

So the librarian doesn't know how to spell Chekhov. You just can't get the staff these days.

But a more forgiving search tool would produce results that are 'near' the search term...

[PeckhamRose]

I do rather like the idea of some librarians or library staff being referred to as search tools.

[franglaisia]

About 20 years ago they had Chekhov in Russian in Dulwich library. Yes they did. They also had a wide selection of French, Spanish and Italian classic literature. And the entire works of Georges Simenon, which is what I read. I was going to get round to the other stuff, I blame Southwark for throwing it all out before I could borrow it. I was never able to get a consistent story out of them about where it all went and sometimes wonder if there is a big dusty cupboard somewhere...

[RosieH]

I've only been to Dulwich library once - it looked like all they had was Danielle Steel (and Westlife CDs!)

am I wrong? is it worth a revisit?

[Nero]

Right now they're getting in a lot classics and modern classics in Penguin. Dickens, Hemingway, Baldwin, Austen, Hardy etc. Nero

[mockney piers]

"But a more forgiving search tool would produce results that are 'near' the search term"

Aah, the good old soundex.

Chekhov = C210

Checkoff = C210

Hell even Cheque Oaf = C210!!

[franglaisia]

>

So if they're getting them in now, that means they have previously been lacking Dickens, Austen, Hardy, in an English public library in the middle of London. Libraries and book shops and street stalls in the most far flung corners of the world have these authors, and often in English. Don't tell me, there was a Southwark council ctte meeting at which some thieving lying useless grafter announced that they weren't modern enough for the modern library. Has anyone tried to borrow 1984?

[macker]

franglaisia Wrote:

> Has anyone tried to borrow 1984?

I did but was told that the book ration had been doubled to 2 purchases per year, and both of these had been used for Westlife CDs.

P.S. We are at war with Camberwellia, we have always been at war with Camberwellia.

[cdonline]

I was told, by a librarian, that a number of years ago, Southwark Libraries dumped/ got rid of 25% of its entire stock, without any public consultation.

I certainly remember when I was at school that Dulwich Library had quite a good drama section.

I'm curious where they all went.

[TillieTrotter]

You could always have called on our own Dear Mr Lush as he is a great Chekhov fan! A one man russian library is he!

[franglaisia]

That would be about right. The foreign language stock in Dulwich alone ran to hundreds of volumes. The usual thing would be to sell surplus stock off to the public but they certainly didn't do that, would have noticed.

Think books last seen by me about 1990. Was that the era of the oily Jeremy Fraser as "Labour" Council Leader? - now a PR consultant for JP Morgan and various other plagues on humanity.

Someone out there must know what happened, we demand the truth..

cdonline Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I was told, by a librarian, that a number of years

> ago, Southwark Libraries dumped/ got rid of 25% of

> its entire stock, without any public

> consultation.

>

> I certainly remember when I was at school that

> Dulwich Library had quite a good drama section.

>

> I'm curious where they all went.

[????]

Chekov - Posh, useless family thinking they are about to lose their home, vacilate and twitter whilst their trees are cut down THE END

[franglaisia]

There you go, how very now.

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Chekov - Posh, useless family thinking they are

> about to lose their home, vacilate and twitter

> whilst their trees are cut down THE END

[Cassius]

???? Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Chekov - Posh, useless family thinking they are

> about to lose their home, vacilate and twitter

> whilst their trees are cut down THE END

Yeah - lets all stick to Big Brother - the Memoirs shall we?