Changes by local authority

National news

  • CBE for Strensall librarian – Press. “Caroline Brazier will step down as the British Library’s Chief Librarian at the end of this month. She was awarded a CBE in the Birthday Honours in recognition of her work with books and printed matter over 35 years, 15 of them at the British Library.”
  • ‘He looks a bit like a bear’ Bernese Mountain Dog Oscar to help children learn to read – Express. “Pilot projects elsewhere in the UK have shown that pupils who are falling behind their peers can improve their skills by reading to dogs. The pets have proved to be an attentive audience with no fear of judgment, criticism or sniggering at those who are struggling to boost their confidence and reading ability.”
  • Library rights laws extended to cover e-books – Public Technology.net. “From 1 July, authors of e-books and e-audiobooks stocked in UK libraries will be eligible to receive remuneration paid at the same rate as for physical books. The first payments will be made in February 2020, when the British Library publishes its annual lending and payment statistics for the previous year.”
Libraries Week

Libraries Week

  • Libraries Week – “Libraries Week takes place between the 8–13 October to celebrate the nation’s much-loved libraries.  This year, with a focus on wellbeing, libraries across the country will showcase how they bring communities together, combat loneliness, provide a space for reading and creativity and support people with their mental health. It’s not just public libraries – libraries of all kinds in schools, workplaces and universities have amazing services that improve our wellbeing.”
  • Library Lion – Untied Artists. Contact if you’re a library service and can afford £100 per show (preferably 2 on one day for £200). Please send in interest before 8th July. “An interactive theatre show for 4-7 year olds. Performed in Libraries, Studio theatres, schools, village halls. Min Space required – 6m wide x 7m deep (to include audience). Running time 50mins. Audience capacity – 2 classes per show for schools. Up to 80 (children and adults) for family shows. Self contained tech, no power required.”
  • Public libraries: working in partnership to meet local needs – CILIP. “In a briefing for the event we set out the benefits of libraries and profile of library users, the impact of new technologies and funding pressures, examples of library partnerships and our work with the Society of Chief Librarians to provide ethical support for partnerships.”. Good overview / summary of the key points of the sector.
  • Single Sign On – Access to eResources for libraries – Libraries Taskforce. “Jisc and SCL have developed a really strong working relationship and, with the helpful cooperation of the LMS suppliers, it feels like there are more possibilities for Single Sign On than originally anticipated. The LMS suppliers and publishers like that there’s a central strategy for eResources – it saves them time and money developing different types of solutions for different authorities.”
  • Tory austerity strips more than 3,000 computers with internet from libraries – Mirror. “Tory austerity has seen more than 3,000 computers with internet access stripped from libraries, Labour reveals today. Hard-up families and the elderly are likely to be harder hit by the loss as they rely on publicly-available terminals and are less likely to have the world wide web at home.”

An online bookclub from Axiell
International news

  • New Zealand – 1000 people apply for positions at Christchurch’s new central library – Press. “Demand for jobs at Christchurch’s new $92 million central library has surpassed expectations after 1000 people applied for 45 positions. Tūranga, the Christchurch Central Library, will employ 108 people or 85 full-time equivalents. Seventy-four of the positions would be new and 34 staff would transfer from the temporary Peterborough and Manchester streets libraries. “

Local news by authority

  • Barnet – Barnet’s youth assembly wants better libraries Times Series. “Barnet’s youth assembly backed the provision of more study spaces and communal areas in libraries and called for restrictions on the times during which youngsters can use them to be scrapped. The assembly, which currently has 39 members, was set up three years ago to promote change on issues that affect young people. Its motion to improve libraries was passed with eight votes in favour, none against and one abstention.”
  • Brent – Malorees School and Kensal Rise Library fundraisers join forces for Blenheim Palace Triathlon – Kilburn Times. “More than 60 Malorees Infant & Junior School parents and children, Kensal Rise Library fundraisers and a team from Orchard House School in Acton joined forces to make up the largest group at the Blenheim Palace Triathlon. The team drummed up more than £14,000 for Malorees, with the Kensal Rise crew raising nearly £2,000 as they seek to complete the fitting of the renovated library on Bathurst Gardens.”
  • Derby – End of an era as Derby’s first public library closes after 139 years – Derby Telegraph. “The iconic building in The Wardwick which opened almost 139 years ago to house Derby’s first free library will close its doors to users for the last time on Saturday afternoon. Central Library is closing as part of an overhaul of library services in the city to save Derby City Council in the region of £700,000 a year.”
  • Lambeth – Lambeth Council wants to spend an extra £1M+ on the Carnegie book-ish gym at Herne Hill – Brixton Buzz. “Lambeth Council is proposing to spend an extra £1,073,000 on the Carnegie book-ish gym at Herne Hill. This is in addition to the £1,255,130 that has been spent [pdf] on digging out a basement in the Grade II listed building for a ‘healthy living centre.’” 
  • Leicester – Rushey Mead library closure put on hold at 11th hour – Leicestershire Live. “Leicester City Council was poised to start work on Monday relocating Rushey Mead’s library service from its current building, in Lockerbie Avenue, to a nearby recreation centre in a move designed to save £14,000 a year. The council made the decision to shut the existing library in January 2017, but campaigners have never accepted it.”
  • Lincolnshire – Former Allington village surgery transformed into library – Grantham Journal. “The Old Surgery, which was based in an annexe on the side of Allington Village Hall, closed two years ago after opening in 1986 and serving residents in the village for 30 years. Determined to see the room be put to good use again, the village hall management committee asked local residents about what they would like the room to be used for. Chairman David Smedley said: “We lost the pre-school and toddler group at the same time that the doctors’ surgery closed.We tried to re-let the room but to no avail. We didn’t want it to remain empty for much longer so we distributed leaflets to all the local residents to ask for their ideas. “The majority of responses that we received said that they would like to see it turned into a community library.”
  • Lincolnshire – More flexibility with library expansion – Spalding Today. “Donington’s volunteer-run library is likely to expand, opening up a back room. Coun Jane King said the room – which has a kitchen – will lend more flexibility to the current services on offer. She said the expansion could create dedicated space for children’s crafts, such as painting and working with clay, be the base for PCSO Colin Abbotts when he holds his police surgery and also be hired out to groups, generating income for the library.”
  • Northamptonshire – Under threat libraries in Northants valued at more than £3m – Northants Telegraph. “The authority owns 12 of the 21 libraries it proposes to close and could bank the millions if campaign groups currently fighting to buy and save the libraries cannot find the funds. The under-threat libraries which are owned by NCC are: Abington, Desborough, Earls Barton, Higham Ferrers, Irchester, Long Buckby, Middleton Cheney, Raunds, Roade, Rothwell, Thrapston and Wollaston. A Freedom of Information request by campaigner Marion Collyer from Deanshanger library has revealed the value of the assets.”
  • North Tyneside – Libraries: We share the concerns – News Guardian / Letters. “It’s important that people of all ages have good access to libraries, and to have them all shut on Saturday afternoons is dreadful. When the council’s budget was being discussed earlier this year Conservatives proposed that there should be no reduction in library hours, that weekly bin collections should be kept, and that council tax should not rise.”
  • Somerset – Last chance to have your say: Highbridge Library consultation to end – Burnham on Sea.com.
  • Suffolk – New figures reveal rapid rise in digital borrowing in Suffolk’s libraries – EADT. “More than half a million digital items have been borrowed from Suffolk’s libraries in just four years – illustrating a rapid rise in interest in internet borrowing for reading and listening.” … “Suffolk Libraries now has 12 libraries with iPads available for lending and two libraries with iPads to use in the library. The devices have been borrowed 450 times.”
  • Wigan – Uncertain future for Atherton library building – Leigh Journal. “Wigan Council said a decision has not been made on what will happen to Atherton’s York Street library building once a new facility opens later this year. The old Atherton Town Hall building on Bolton Road is in the process of being refurbished and turned into a Life Centre which will provide health, employment and customer services to residents.”
  • Worcestershire – Labour leader slams county over planned closure of school library service – Redditch Standard. “Leader of the Labour Group Robin Lunn (Redditch North), said: “This is a declaration of guilt by the County Council. “Rather than closing the service and impacting those children who most need it, a greater link should have been forged with schools and a greater understanding of why the county services were no longer being used should have been sought.”