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Tim Coates

@tim-coates1.bsky.social
31 followers 27 following 149 posts

Tim Coates is a former head of Waterstones and other major book companies. He is a consultant for public and academic libraries in the US and the UK and the author of the Freckle reports on public libraries. He is a published writer of English history.

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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 14h
Oh ! Thank you - sorry to have been slow to answer, I got caught up in some other things - but I will
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22h
Yes of course - and thank you - but what does K&WV stand for ? And where are they ? . The photos of the new station look very good, though
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 23h
Do you know if there are any images of the 1847 station? It will have been from there that Charlotte and Anne Bronte travelled to London to explain that they were not really Currer and Acton Bell (and nor was their sister, Emily 'Ellis') - they were not three young men.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
You are a Brigand (so am I)
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Fine - but what on earth has this got to do with public libraries? They have neither the places nor the competence to give such performers the venues they might need It is just yet another waste of money in the name of the public library service.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Matthew - then, my apologies - tim
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Libraries might have been 'transformative' in the 1980's but they aren't any longer.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Libraries might have been 'transformative' in the 1980's but they aren't any longer.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
It has a wonderful long history- a character all on its own
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Here is more vulgar music for Yorkshire ears (Words and scores, free and available!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xRt...
youtube.com
The Moors and the Sea Tim Coates
YouTube video by Henry Kilgannon
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Honestly, the idea that public libraries have anything useful or of any kind to contribute to 'AI literacy' (whatever that might be) is very silly indeed. This is yet another plea to be allowed a share in a pot of government funding and it will be another waste of public money.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
At the same time - how much was paid to Sheffield University for a report on public library book procurement, and what has become of what they said? Have any councils taken notice?
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Who is going to receive the £65,770? for what, specifically?
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Thank you! .. Mostly my research is of North Yorkshire, and I will come looking for some maps of there soon. But this (Port Eliot) came up in a small piece of work!
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
Please - do you have a map for the area around Port Eliot? My email is tim@freckle.us
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
How much has this cost, of public money? And how many users has it had? Is it really worthwhile public bodies spending more time on it? Has there been some analysis and scrutiny? Where is that?
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
I have played at Bradford Park Avenue ! It's a very special place to play
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
I might be wrong, but I think that photo of Jim Laker is from Old Trafford in 1956 ....
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 23/05/2026
My library is closed on Bank Holiday Sunday and gives no information about Monday (these are student revision days) Before you post advertisements like this you should make sure that they are actually true. Mostly they aren't.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
I wish you, your CEO, your president, your chair, all your trustees and whomever funds you, would tell you that this is not what public libraries are for.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
I wish you, your CEO, your president, your chair, all your trustees and whomever funds you, would tell you that this is not what public libraries are for.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
No, no - this would be yet another waste of money. We did this 20 years ago and called ‘reader development’. It’s pointless. The priority for public libraries is to improve book collections
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
No, no - this would be yet another waste of money. We did this 20 years ago and called ‘reader development’. It’s pointless. The priority for public libraries is to improve book collections
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
How many years will it take you to realise .... if you manage a public library: fill it with loads of interesting books; make plenty of spaces that people can read; and treat everybody with the dignity you would like for yourself That's what people, quite sensibly, expect a public library to offer
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
How many years will it take you to realise .... if you manage a public library: fill it with loads of interesting books; make plenty of spaces that people can read; and treat everybody with the dignity you would like for yourself That's what people, quite sensibly, expect a public library to offer
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
We lived nearby and my very first school (Mrs Wilson's) was in the church hall almost under the viaduct. I wonder if any of your readers remember Aline's fish and chip shop in the high street. Anthony Wilson had a little toy cannon that fired matchsticks.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Unless the report shows clearly otherwise, the presumption is that these grants were a waste of money and that could have been anticipated and, consequently this type of small grant giving should cease.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
Unless the report shows clearly otherwise, the presumption is that these grants were a waste of money and that could have been anticipated and, consequently this type of small grant giving should cease.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
The four questions for which numerical evidence is needed in this report are 1. How much time and money were spent applying for and awarding these grants? 2. What measure of value was applied? 3. What value was achieved? 4. How this ties to the 'LibraryOn' and 'Single Digital Presence' projects?
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
UK public libraries figures from the Arts Council 2025 -Number of adult active library users % population = 6% -Non library users % adult population = 94% -Events as % all library visits = 8% -Print books % all loans = 84% -eBook % all loans = 8% -audio % all loans = 8%
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Oh really! What a silly post
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I hope the new chair will be more realistic about public libraries than his predecessors. The library service is not wonderful or 'transformative'. The truth is that it has come to the point that very few people use it. It has lost direction and reputation and that is a problem that has to be faced
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Magic! There is a new biography by Graham Watson - it looks really interesting!
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Complete important truth from a bookseller in America
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Hello - I sent you a direct message in 'Chat' .. tim
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Reposted by Tim Coates
Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Forgive me, but this is not what libraries are for, not what librarians ought to be doing and not what public money for libraries should be spent upon.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Forgive me, but this is not what libraries are for, not what librarians ought to be doing and not what public money for libraries should be spent upon.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
The last reported figures (by the US Institute of Museums and Library Services, for 2023) show that federal funding of US public libraries was 0.86% of the total funding. ($135m of $15.6bn) It's important for the library community, above all others, to be honest with their figures
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
If you know of any choirs or brass bands who would like to sing these, please pass them on.... words and scores available www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xRt... www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdQ1...
youtube.com
The Moors and the Sea Tim Coates
YouTube video by Henry Kilgannon
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
You're right - that church is really astonishing.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Yes- but in modern terms, it must - it would be - one of the most expensive projects in the world. So, 'practical', and 'remote' don't seem to explain it. Perhaps that's what I need to be taught ?
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
That's such a wonderful post !! Thank you (again!) - absolutely fascinating - and I bet it precedes Rievaulx by another 1,000 years - My question (not directly from this) is 'Why is Rievaulx where it is? (it can't be just because it is so beautiful!)
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I watched for about 4 minutes and gave up. At that point I had no idea what this presentation is about or why I, or anyone, would want to listen to it. It would help if someone could give presenters a simple objective lesson in how to speak clearly and how to talk about their subject.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
I watched for about 4 minutes and gave up. At that point I had no idea what this presentation is about or why I, or anyone, would want to listen to it. It would help if someone could give presenters a simple objective lesson in how to speak clearly and how to talk about their subject.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
It would be much more helpful if @librariesconnected.bsky.social reported figures meaningfully and had a way of talking to councils about what they can do. (Aside from asking for money - which councils clearly don't want to or can't provide). There are many possibilities.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
It would be much more helpful if @librariesconnected.bsky.social reported figures meaningfully and had a way of talking to councils about what they can do. (Aside from asking for money - which councils clearly don't want to or can't provide). There are many possibilities.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Covid had a significant and lasting impact on the use of libraries. In the UK there was very little provision of digital material and that has meant that use of the libraries fell and has remained low. Regular adult use is now well below 6% of the population. The big question now is how to rebuild.
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
An extra thank you for all the things you post: you can tell they make my day! (as I think many would say) What fascinates me is that for most of our history urban and city life didn't exist. Nowadays our economy and our politics are about cities but mostly we are field and hill people
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Very often - ‘it is there’ because there was already a foundation before it, sometimes many hundreds of years when someone was faced with the same problem
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Tim Coates @tim-coates1.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
I always think the interesting questions with these castles ( there are so many ) are ‘why is it there?’ Who was defending whom against what?’ …. And then ‘who took the stones and for what? ‘ !!
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