CARMARTHENSHIRE RECORD OFFICE
You may be aware of the changes that are scheduled at the Record Office which will impact directly on the increasing numbers of readers who use the service. Briefly they are:
1. A limit of 10 readers only at any one time.
2. A requirement that readers book in advance (on a first come first served basis)
3. The closure of the Record Office during lunch hours
4. No food to be consumed on the premises.
Given that the RO is already closed on Mondays, the new arrangements will result in a significant reduction in the number of hours we can consult the records, and will also result in people who have traveled long distances being turned away at the door. I shall be writing as an individual, but I believe the Society (as a major depositor of records) should write very forcibly to complain. Some of the changes result from trying to balance archival standards with a insufficient number of staff. Modern standards of security, for example, mean that the search room should always have a member of staff present, which means that two people have to be on hand, one to watch and the other to fetch and carry from the stores. It has been intimated that if any member of staff were to leave, then that post would not be replaced. The staffing levels at present are 5, the same number as 20 years ago when Maureen Patch was archivist and the number of readers was 200 a year!
I hope this will cause a major influx of letters to the relevant council department calling for an increase in staffand funding or failing that reversal of the policy.
Ronald John SaundersC
