ABSTRACT
In an environment in which resources are forever in short supply and governments of whatever hue are committed to reducing monies available from the public purse while insisting on accountability and value for money, libraries can no longer offer services in a vacuum simply because they are ‘a good thing’. And accountability is a force acting in two directions: from above in the shape of governing bodies and local and national government; and from below in the form of reactions from library users. In preThatcherite days there was perhaps a tendency to justify the nonaccountable service using soft statements about the public good but in these harder times a more quantifiable approach is required to guarantee funding. This is usually tied up with governmentspeak ribbons emphasizing accountable services through charters or other policy documents. Irrespective of its feelings about the true usefulness of these indicators, a library service can no longer ignore the pressures from government and it must respond by making the right noises if it is to continue to be taken seriously. In this scenario, customer care means not only keeping the library users happy but making publicly available statements about the levels of service that can be expected.
