Ian Anstice

It’s not going well in North Yorkshire either. This from the Private Eye (Issue no.1309 9-22 March Library News p.28):

399 libraries (309 buildings and 90 mobiles) currently under threat or closed/left council control since 1/4/11 out of c.4612 in the UK, complete list below. Librarian professional body CILIP forecasts 600 libraries under threat (inc. 20% of English libraries).  The Public Libraries News figure is obtained from counting up all reports about public libraries in the media each day.

News

• Culture, Media and Sport Committee announces final evidence session on library closures – Parliament.uk – “Tuesday 13 March 2012. “Following the Comprehensive Spending Review, a number of local authorities announced plans to close one or more libraries in their areas, sparking campaigns and protests. The Committee is investigating what powers and obligations the Government has regarding these closures. For its final evidence session on library closures the Committee will take evidence from: At 10.30 am: Ed Vaizey MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries), Department for Culture, Media and Sport.“
• How to get ahead in … library services – Guardian.  “Local library staff are being trained to show customers how to access potentially life-changing advice and information online in a pilot scheme which could create a new national library service. Sixty libraries have been recruited to eight pilot projects looking at how libraries can direct library users to quality internet advice and information about finding a job, changing career or keeping healthy.”

• Returns sorter removes tedious library job – Hutt News (New Zealand).  “Books, CDs, DVDs and magazines put through the library’s returns slot will have their RFID (radio frequency identification) tags ‘read” by the automated sorter, which will update the library database to show the item has been returned. The machine will be pre-programmed to sort the books into five category bins using conveyor belts.” … “At Brisbane central library there is a large glass wall and people just stand there watching the sorter.”
• Shared service benefits at conference – Public Service.   “Personnel from local government and public libraries across the UK are expected to gain the knowledge needed to set up their own consortium – or to implement shared services or shared working on a smaller scale – when they attend a consortia conference organised by two of the largest public library consortia, the London Libraries Consortium and LibrariesWest.”

Local News

• Bath and Northeast Somerset – Recycle an ex-library book into a work of art and win a prize – This is Somerset.  “”The idea is for members to pick up one of the old books from their local library and ‘recycle’ it as a piece of art. We’ve have already had some members of staff attempt some quick pieces of their own to inspire people.”
• Devon – Campaigners to carry on Sidmouth Health Centre fight – Sidmouth Herald.  “The Herald reported last week how county council bosses said £600,000 allocated to Sidmouth Library – seen as the catalyst for the regeneration of both amenities in Blackmore Drive – will be spent across Devon.
• Doncaster – Volunteers could save the day for Denaby Library – South Yorkshire Times.   “At the meeting a Labour motion that 14 of the 26 libraries the council closed receive £382,000 to keep them open was passed. The decision included re-opening Denaby and Carcroft libraries. Many of the other sites have been taken over by volunteers. But yesterday Mr Davies said he would veto the spending. Under the borough’s governance procedures the mayor has the final decision on almost all policies.” … “Mr Davies said he had provided £110,000 additional funding to help libraries but Labour’s plan could send the “wrong message” leading to communities not supporting libraries.”
• Mayor defends decision to veto £380,000 libraries investment – Yorkshire Post.  ““As I understand it, I cannot spend the money on anything else, but I am not prepared to spend it on the libraries as suggested because my policy is already successful. So the money will be placed on one side. The Labour party spent years neglecting libraries in this borough and my policy was to close two and hand 12 over to the community to save money. We plan to go to town on the other 12 and make them much more welcoming and brighter, not the run down, dowdy places they were under previous Labour administrations.”

• Durham – Inspire, include, inform: library consultation – Durham Council.   “Our proposals are: to keep open all our library buildings, but reduce the opening hours funded by the council, to revise our criteria for the communities that are served by our mobile library service, to co-locate libraries wherever possible with other services and to invest to improve their appearance and facilities, to drive down our support and management costs, to move our library services into a not-for-profit Trust.”
• East Sussex – Give your view on libraries – Bexhill on Sea Observer.   “East Sussex County Council’s (ESCC) library and information service is looking at how it provides rural and mobile library services across the County and says it wants to ensure it is giving the best service at the best price – and in the right place at the right time. Once the survey has closed the results will be compiled and reports drawn up for councillors and senior managers. Any proposals for change will be opened to full public consultation before any decisions are made.”
• Hertfordshire – Waltham Cross Library – Hertfordshire Council.   Self-service on Mondays and Thursdays due to other non-library staff using library.  The council cut overall opening hours in its libraries by one third last year.

“We are extremely concerned about unstaffed opening – a small, short-term access gain risks future staff cuts and volunteer-run branches. We do not believe that library services should be reduced to the book stock, a photocopier and a few self-service machines. We do not believe that Hertfordshire’s library users are getting a fair deal from this arrangement.” We Heart Libraries on Twitter.

• Surrey – I won’t rule out standing for the leadership: that from sacked Surrey Councillor Denise Saliagopoulos – Eagle Radio.  “However, Standards Committee member Eber Kington said: “Any matter referred to the Standards Committee has to be taken seriously. “If two people have been asked to step down while that is going on, they must be issues which are probably more than just normal, ordinary concerns.” Mr Kington adds that this could be an opportunity for the council to reverse its plans to get volunteers to run some libraries: “He (David Hodge) is a very pragmatic politician. “He also listens when he realises things have gone wrong. “He will look for opportunities to make changes and I think the library one, where he could be looking at costs against the council, would be a good one to start changing.”
• Trafford – Report attacks Old Trafford library plans – Messenger.   “a spokesman for the Hands Off Old Trafford Library (HOOT) Campaign said: “One of our biggest concerns has been that the council doesn’t seem to have done any kind of feasibility study before publishing these proposals. It fell to the community to do the hard work of analysing the plans and we discovered that the council’s sums simply don’t add up.”

• Join library cult – Library Cult (USA).  “Hypathia, Casanova, Mao Zedong, David Hume, John Dee, Benjamin Franklin, Giacomo Casanova, J. Edgar Hoover. Why were these people librarians? Did it have something to do with their rise to power, their worldly success?”. 
• Public Library Standards – Good Library Blog.   Suggestions for library standards that would improve libraries are “1. Every library should have more books available than it did this time last year 2. Every library should be open longer hours than it was last year 3. Every library should be clean, with its windows washed and its light fittings working 4. Every public computer in a library should work properly 5. Every library should provide some private space for quiet study.” 
• Rewriting the book: public libraries for a new age – Information Today.   [A piece which is unfortunately very heavy on jargon and so immediately biases me against it, for which I apologise in advance.  When translated, it appears to say, amongst other things, that public libraries will move away from the lending of books towards helping people with computers and council queries – Ed.]. 

Your help needed

Doncaster And Surrey– Help fund the legal challenges. 

Local News

• Croydon – Upper Norwood Library – Croydon Council.  A suspiciously downbeat description of Upper Norwood Library by Croydon Council which is seeking to withdraw its funding for it.  The “consulation” link simply reloads the same page. “Upper Norwood Joint Library is jointly owned by Croydon and Lambeth Councils, situated within the borough of Lambeth. Up until recently it had been funded and managed by a joint committee of councillors from Lambeth and Croydon. The library still has its own membership procedures and circulation system and doesn’t accept Croydon or Lambeth library membership cards or accept/renew returned books or other items from Croydon or Lambeth libraries. See details below to contact the library for full details of joining/membership procedures and more information about all if its services.”.
• Pay fines for sake of library’s future – This is Croydon Today.  “users owe the borough’s 13 libraries almost £100,000 in penalties, with more than £45,000 owed to Central Library alone. But a council spokesman this week insisted no libraries were under threat of closure. A total of 38,766 items are currently overdue with £96,307.93 owed across all libraries. The figures also show the longest overdue item is DVD Some Like It Hot which has been due back for nearly six years.”
• Doncaster – We need your money.  And further information regarding DMBC’s true efforts – Save Doncaster Libraries.   “Edenthorpe are also realistic in their estimation regarding number of volunteers needed.  As they state Bawtry have over 70, this is close to sufficient it seems, Edenthorpe has thus far a generous estimate of one quarter of this, another threatened branch (Wheatley) has had merely 5 people come forward.  No doubt the Mayor will see this as proof of a community not wanting its library, in fact it is proof of what we at SDL have been saying all along – the majority of communities within Doncaster do not have the infrastructure to enable a library staffed by volunteers.”
• Edinburgh – Libraries under threat, say campaigners – Ekklesia.   “Edinburgh East Save Our Services says: “Though it has been pretty much unreported in the media, there have been big cutbacks in staffing over the last few months and now there is a ‘consultation’ over opening hours – which does not appear to be all that it seems.”The consultation leaflets talk about providing ‘a library service that meets the needs of its customers’. However, says Ms Menzies, “when you look closely at the suggested new opening hours and compare them with the previous ones, they typically represent a 20% cut.”
• Gloucestershire – Library budget cuts are double the amount admitted by GCC: letter to the press – FoGL.   “According to its own figures, Gloucestershire County Council is currently planning cuts to its Library Service of £1.8 million representing 25.7% of its budget, although £1 million of those savings were made last year (2011-12) mainly through the redundancy of qualified librarians. The council calls these savings “meeting the challenge”. This is bad enough. What the council won’t admit is that, prior to this £1.8 million cut, it has already taken a further similar amount  (£1,737,902) in cuts from the library service in the previous 3 years (2008-10). I have obtained these figures from CIPFA, the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, whose responsibility it is to compile figures on local government spending. This makes the total library cuts over £3.5 million.”
• Isle of Man – Alan Bennett backs Isle of Man library campaign – BBC.   Campaigner says “”If we lose the libraries we are potentially going to end up with less Alan Bennetts in the future. Our libraries provide a vital link to the elderly, housebound, disabled and least privileged in Manx society, they need books and they need free books.”

“An interview I did for Camden New Journal … says all I want to say about libraries – and which applies equally to the Isle of Man as to NW1. All good wishes and with every support, Alan Bennett.” Support for saving libraries campaign – Isle of Man Today.  

• Kent – Bereaved families in Kent suffer registrar delays – BBC.  Moving the registration of deaths into libraries has caused long delays and some distress.  “In January, Kent County Council (KCC) switched from registering deaths at register offices to local libraries, causing long waits for appointments.”.  January is the busiest month for Registrars and not all of the staff had been trained.
• Oxfordshire – Libraries joining Ebook revolution – Oxford Times.  “Although Oxfordshire County Council’s decision has been welcomed by some, others have raised concerns libraries could suffer as a result. An array of 1,558 fiction and non-fiction titles are on offer and can be downloaded for free by library users. Oxford author Philip Pullman last night gave the scheme a cautious welcome. The His Dark Materials author said: “If it means more books are available to more people then I think that’s a good thing.” But voicing his fears about the impact of eBooks on publishing, he added: “It’s something that authors, publishers and agents are very worried about at the moment.“The whole question is very, very tangled.””
• Surrey – Fundraising campaign to block Surrey libraries plan – BBC.   “The campaign has so far raised £5,000 and SLAM has appealed to the local community to help reach the £18,000 target within the remaining two weeks. It will be setting up stalls in towns including Weybridge, Woking, Guilford and Epsom, on 10 March. The Conservative-run council agreed in September to devolve responsibilities to groups of volunteers at 10 libraries – Bagshot, Bramley, Byfleet, Ewell Court, Lingfield, New Haw, Stoneleigh, Tattenhams, Virginia Water and Warlingham.”
• Wokingham – Four bidders chosen as “privatisation” of libraries draws near – Henley Standard.   ““If we decide that none of the tenderers provides enough of our specification it will be a question of who has offered the nearest match to that specification.  We will look at how believable the tender is as it is not an impossibility for someone to try to do it as a loss leader. Our officers are quite good at spotting that. Cllr Baker said in the best case scenario the successful bidder would take over the service from the end of October.”
• Council’s vow to keep libraries open despite tender – Get Wokingham.  

News

• Botella lanza un programa piloto para incuir a voluntarios en las bibliotecas – El Pais (Spain, article in Spanish).  Moves to staff a couple of new buildings with volunteers are proving to be highly controversial.  Although the council states that, without volunteers, the new libraries would not open and that no existing paid staff would be replaced, the policy has, “exploded in their face”.

“Celebrating World Book Day at Eastcote Library in Hillingdon” Ed Vaizey, Twitter.   Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries comments “Mr Vaizey “celebrates World Book Day” yet does nothing when the only source of books and wider reading for many are being closed on his watch.”

“Chewed off lovely Ed Vaizey‘s ear at the @ContempArtSoc fundraiser re not closing libraries. Don’t want to British to become the Illiterati” Kathy Lette, Twitter.

• Libraries, the community hub and service needs in the online age – Civica.   Report on a roundtable meeting, with – given that the host was Civica – a strong outsourcing bias.
• Oceanside library outsourcing a no-go – U-T San Diego (USA).   “A proposal in Oceanside to outsource library operations to save money may be finished before it officially began, after a councilman told city administrators last week that he wasn’t interested in the idea.” … ““I don’t know, maybe they [LSSI]can save us $300,000 or $400,000, but the quality that we’ve come to know from the library even with the cuts they’ve taken already, I’m thinking that I’m just not willing to forsake that,” Feller said in an interview. “I’m still for privatization if it can save us significant money. When you’re saving money you’re going to save money by reducing the number of employees.”
• ¿Se garantiza la Red de Bibliotecas Públicas de Castilla-La Mancha? – Iwetel list-serv (Spain, article in Spanish).  The province of Castilla-La Mancha has modified its public library act so that libraries will not be funded if the state cannot afford them.  It goes on ““the difficult situation we are facing requires to give up everything that is not strictly necessary”
• Why a library should never close its doors to children – Mummy Rates It.  “I have a bee in my bonnet. I’m not the only one. It’s keeping me awake at night and the closer it gets to ‘decision day’ the more het-up I feel. Our local library is faced with imminent closure and it saddens, infuriates and annoys the hell out of me that the people who are making the decision to close it seem oblivious to the reasons it should stay open.”  Article about decision to close Upper Norwood but it can stand for any library.
• World Book Day set to give away 14m tokens – Guardian.   “Brand new stories from Neil Gaiman and Anthony Horowitz, the culmination of Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson’s quest to find the UK’s best storyteller and the country’s biggest ever book show will all mark World Book Day tomorrow.”

“Prime minister David Cameron has pledged his support for World Book Day, which he said “plays an important role in helping children to develop a love of reading from an early age, supporting the inspirational work that takes place in schools and libraries up and down the country”. Citing Dr Seuss’s The Lorax as his own favourite children’s book, Cameron said that the books loved by children were “something you treasure for the rest of your life”.”

Local News

• Brent – Council slammed for spending £420,000 on “self-congratulatory” scheme while making £14 million in cuts – Brent & Kilburn Times.  “ it was announced during the meeting that each of Brent’s 21 wards would have their Ward Working (WW) scheme doubled to £40,000 – a total of £840,000 across the borough.”
• Cambridgeshire – “Unacceptable” library cuts under fire: see full list here – Cambridge News.  “Libraries across the county will see their opening hours cut by a total of 67 hours a week from April following a council review, which has also prompted fears that single-staffing will leave librarians vulnerable to attack.”
• Camden – Set back in battle to save Hampstead library – Ham & High.   Keats Community Library group says ““We are convinced that the City is really committed to our library, so it is sad to report that after many weeks, we have yet to have an offer of a licence which is more than one year or covering several of the key issues in terms of sharing space in what is their building.””
• Croydon – Six-year-old pleads with Croydon Council to save her library – This is Local London.  “Milly is the latest campaigner to voice concern over the future of the Upper Norwood Library, which is under threat of closure. She said: “They should not shut the library down. When I was young I used to go to lots of events and love the books and reading. I love choosing my own books.”

Campaigners, including the young authors, interrupted a full council meeting at Croydon Town Hall on Monday February 27. About 70 people packed into the public gallery singing Books Glorious Books to the council before hurling paper aeroplanes over the balcony.”

• Darlington – Schoolboy’s letter to save library gets PM reply – Northern Echo.  “William Dore, a pupil at Cockerton Primary School, in Darlington, was upset when he heard that councillors were considering closing Cockerton Library, which he visits regularly with his classmates and family, as part of budget cuts.” … PM’s office thanked him for excellent letter and passed on letter to DCMS.  Cockerton has been, at least temporarily, saved from closure. 
• Milton Keynes – Decisions on traveller’s sites, nurseries and libraries – MK News.   “Assurances have been made by councillor David Hopkins, cabinet member for libraries, that there will be no closures. Famously, residents in Stony Stratford launched a campaign to save the town’s libary after it was earmarked for closure as part of the budget set in 2011, along with Woburn Sands. But a new report detailing how almost £500,000 can be saved without the need for any closures has now been adopted.”
• North Yorkshire – Village volunteers take over libraries – Telegraph & Argus.   “Libraries in Embsay and Gargrave are to be run by volunteers following the approval of North Yorkshire County Council. Both libraries will be formally handed over to the communities on May 1 after the council approved their business plans.”
• Somerset – Taunton Library re-opening on Mondays – Somerset County Gazette.   “Taunton Library is opening on a Monday next week for the first time in months. Somerset County Council closed it for a day a week as part of its multi-million pound cutbacks last year. But it was forced by a court ruling to reinstate full opening hours in Taunton and other libraries and to abandon plans to close other libraries completely.”

It’s not illegal. They’re entitled to do it. They may feel under such gigantic pressure that they have to do it. This is a council that last year considered closing an awful lot of of their branches. It’s, after all, a great service to visit the school and get it all done. It’s also, of course, the start of a slippery slide into unequal services and the end of a free public library service. Expect more of these money-making ideas from councils around the country. Unless the Secretary of State starts making difficult decisions himself, rather than doing nothing at all.

400 libraries (310 buildings and 90 mobiles) currently under threat or closed/left council control since 1/4/11 out of c.4612 in the UK, complete list below. Librarian professional body CILIP forecasts 600 libraries under threat (inc. 20% of English libraries).  The Public Libraries News figure is obtained from counting up all reports about public libraries in the media each day.

Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether his Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend or annul the Libraries Act 1964; if so, when; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Culture, Communications and Creative Industries), Business, Innovation and Skills; Wantage, Conservative)

This Department has no plans at present to amend or annul the Libraries and Museums Act 1964. 

Hansard via They Work For You.

•  Harry Potter ebooks to be distributed to public and school libraries through Overdrive – Marketwire.  ” Pottermore, the online experience and home of the Harry Potter eBooks created by J.K. Rowling and partnered by Sony, announced today it has entered into an exclusive worldwide eBook and digital audiobook distribution agreement with OverDrive for public and school libraries.”
• Libraries segment – Live with Gabby, Channel Five, 41:30 to 50.  Concentrates on Kensal Rise library, [including a cameo from myself at the beginning, so best to skip to 42:50 at the start – Ed.], with interview by Margaret Bailey and with local library users, including a “pop-up” library. Authort Kathy Lette says  “Britain is famous for its’s writers and to cut off that lifeline … it makes you stupid if you can’t read”.  Gabby Roslin
• Saving our Libraries – Big Issue.  Lauren Smith writes in the “Our Issues” column on the threats facing libraries and why campaigning is so important.

Local News

• Brent – Protest held outside Brent Town Hall as council chiefs rubber-stamp budget – Brent & Kilburn Times.  “Around 30 members of Brent Fightback, the borough’s anti-cuts campaign group, Brent SOS Libraries, National Union of Teachers (NUT) members and representatives from the latest library group Keep Willesden Green rallied outside the building in Forty Lane with placards and a megaphone.”
• Library money earmarked for better flowerbeds in Brent – Preston Library Campaign.  “Having convinced the government and the judiciary that there is no money for libraries, and that cuts will now be made in essential services, Brent has found £420,000 extra to give to Ward Working, a fund that local councillors spend on grafitti workshops, noticeboards and flowerbeds.”
• DCMS is “not minded” to investigate mass library closure in Brent – Preston Library Campaign.   “They met Brent Council in June, but have refused to speak to us, or hear our (ample) evidence. Now, after a letter from our legal team challenging their year-long silence on the matter, they have finally spoken. We have until Thursday March 1 to challenge this provisional decision. Email them (using info below) – enquiries@culture.gov.uk“
• Essex – Homework club in Greenstead to be axed – Chelmsford Weekly News.   “A homework centre which helps dozens of childen iis being axed. The centre at Greenstead Library in Colchester provides support for 65 students, mostly from Colchester Academy, but funding is being withdrawn.”

“Originally homework centres in libraries were set up with time-limited funding from the National Lottery. When this funding ended, the majority of such arrangements across the county had to be discontinued. We were able to avoid this in Harlow and in Greenstead by means of a one year grant from the Essex County Council study support budget. Unfortunately, this too will no longer be available after March.”

• Gloucestershire – Multi-million pound businesses Tesco and Sainsbury to benefit from brutal library cuts … at our expense – FoGL.  “It has been brought to our attention that Gloucestershire County Council are running “library workshops”as part of the libraries consultation and are paying attendees £40 each in shopping vouchers to be spent at Tesco and Sainsbury as detailed in this invite Invite – workshops BME (this was sent to us by a FoGL member, we have not been notified by GCC, nor have we been asked to circulate the invite. We have no idea who this invite has been sent to). The invite states that the library review is happening due to “limited resources”. We are disgusted that Gloucestershire County Council sees fit to place tax-payers money into the pockets of retail giants like Tesco and Sainsbury when they claim they do not have the money to run basic public services?”
• County Council approves £29 million cuts package – Stroud News & Journal.   “Proposals to invest £1 million to help keep the county’s libraries open over the next two years were rejected as Gloucestershire County Council approved cuts totalling £29 million last week.” … “The opposition group wanted to use money from the authority’s £106 million reserves to fund a further £2.2 million worth of road repairs, a £3 million investment in infrastructure, a £1 million contribution to assist the county’s libraries and a £600,000 spend on youth work.”
• Harrow – Children win a librarian for a day – Harrow Times.   “Three schools in Harrow won a librarian for a day, in celebration of World Book Day.  Pupils at St Bernadettes, in Clifton Road; Longfield, in Dukes Avenue, and Stag Lane, in Collier Drive, won the librarians after they entered an open competition run by Harrow’s library service.”
• Isle of Man – Save our libraries: petition launched – Isle of Man Today.  “Two have launched a petition against the closure of the Department of Education and Children’s family and mobile libraries. In just two days Michael Synnott, aged 11, and his classmate Robert Moore, collected about 50 signatures.” 
• Kent – Edukent Packaged Services – Kent Council.   Charges for school staff to use public libraries after the recent withdrawal of the school library service there.

“A visit to the library and a session with library staff to set up individual library tickets for children and regular book exchange visits to library. The school will manage future sessions”

• Somerset – Councillors reject library safeguards – This is Somerset.   “Somerset Liberal Democrats hoped to persuade Somerset County Council to agree that no library should have funding withdrawn without a consultation based on residents’ needs. They also sought to promote libraries as “community hubs” and “public space.””
• Wiltshire – “Yes” to council budget, “no” to free car parking plan – Wiltshire Times.  “On libraries, Jane Scott says: “Unlike other local authorities we have opened a new library in Pewsey [where they sacked the manager on the same day it opened – Ed.] and work on our new Trowbridge library is well under way. We have kept all of our libraries open withthe help of over 600 volunteers.”
• Wokingham – Private library firms shortlisted – BBC.   “The Conservative-led council currently pays out about £2.1m a year to run its library service but said it believed it could pay firms less to take them on. However, a report to councillors said there could be an “increase in staff turnover” and “loss of influence” over the service.”

News

• Engineers crashing our gates – Nicolas Morin (USA).  Librarian written blog article: “We’re the nice guys, the not-for-profits, we’re working for the common good, we’re small, we’re poor… but we nevertheless are members of the incumbent class. It’s uncomfortable, since we mostly think of incumbents as people of power who want to preserve the status quo in their favor, but that’s the way it is: we’re incumbents with little power.”.  Not the easiest read or especially relevant to library cuts now but it does point to possible future paths.
• Lauren Smith to step down as CILIP Vice President – CILIP.  “Lauren Smith has announced her decision to step down from her role as Vice President of CILIP.  Lauren said that she did not take the decision lightly but wanted to focus her time and energies more on active campaigning than she feels is currently possible within the scope of the Vice President role.”
• Nearly half our kids don’t have anyone to read to them – Mirror.  “The Mirror’s Get Britain Reading campaign aims to encourage viewers to pledge 10 minutes of their time to read every day. Daybreak is to launch a similar reading campaign this week.”

“So what is missing? What is the bridge, the conduit, the middle cog between those children whose parents don’t foster a habit of reading and the necessities of a print-rich world? It is the librarian and the teacher. Thank goodness, I don’t (yet) have to defend the role of the teacher. But why, in the name of all that is coherent and sensible, do I have to defend the role of the professional children’s librarian? Why, in county after county, are they being made redundant? Why, up and down the country have talented children’s reading ambassadors become an endangered species? Why are schools dispensing with their services or failing to sign up to School Library Services?” Alan Gibbons

Changes

Gateshead – £305k cut, some staffing cuts, possibility of volunteers replacing staff in some branches. 
Kent – Sturry Library temporarily closed due to arson attack. 

Local News

• Doncaster – We need your help: Legal Aid to match – Save Doncaster Libraries.   “Efforts to match the Legal Aid funding awarded to our brave resident heading our fight for justice through the Courts, have begun. A hardy group of campaigners stood outside Doncasters’ fantastic Markets to inform and enable people to drop cash in buckets.  We are also commencing targeted requesting, and facebook/twitter campaigning. We need to raise a significant amount in a very short time, £15,000 (+VAT).” [Plus VAT? Not only are the Government forcing people to fight their battles for them but they’re also taxing them for the privilege of doing so – Ed.].  
• East Sussex – How do you rate library services? – Eastbourne Herald.  “The county council library and information service is looking at how it provides rural and mobile library services – including its libraries in the Eastbourne area. The council wants to ensure it is giving residents the best service at the best price – and in the right place at the right time. The review runs for 12 weeks from Monday, February 27 to Monday, May 21, and people can complete a survey in paper copy or online at www.eastsussex.gov.uk/haveyoursay.”
• Gateshead – Hundreds of jobs under threat at Gateshead Council – Chronicle.  “Some £305,000 will go from libraries and arts services, with staffing reductions likely and talk of voluntary groups helping keep some branches open.”
• Greenwich – Conflict of interest allegation halts Greenwich libraries transfer – This is Local London.   “Greenwich Council has announced it will reconsider decisions on leisure and library services at a future cabinet meeting “to avoid any perception of a conflict of interest in the council’s decision making process.” Unite branch secretary Onay Kasab described the surprise move as a “temporary victory”.”
• Kent – Sturry library shut after suspected arson attack – Kent Online.   “A library has been damaged in a suspected arson attack after a bin was pushed up against the building and set alight. Three fire crews were called to Sturry library, near Canterbury, at about 8.30pm on Sunday. They managed to stop the blaze spreading, but some of the roof and internal areas – including books – were damaged.”
• Warwickshire – Warwick Library reopens after move to save money – BBC.   “Warwickshire County Council said the move from Barrack Street to Shire Hall was part of plans to save £2m from its £7.4m Library and Information Service budget.”