By way of example, Save Bolton Libraries Campaign and Bolton and District Civic Trust lodged their requests, which relate to the closure of five of Bolton Council’s libraries, by 1st February 2012.   In spite of reminders and a letter from the MP for Bolton NE, the DCMS has taken no action in relation to the requests other than seeking further information from the Council, which the latter supplied in February.  The Council’s proposals have been implemented. 

It is thought that other groups have been faced with similar inaction on the part of the DCMS.  Indeed, its website reveals that in only one case (Brent) has the DCMS even gone so far as to issue a letter indicating a provisional view (in that case that it is minded not to intervene) but inviting further representations.  It is becoming difficult to escape the conclusion that the DCMS has adopted a policy of inaction in the hope that library user groups will get fed up and go away. 

Whether attributable to deliberate policy or incompetence, the delay by the DCMS in dealing with the requests, even allowing for the engagement of Jeremy Hunt, the Secretary of State, in matters such as the Olympics and the Leveson Inquiry, has reached the point where action to compel it to express its views in ‘minded to’  form is required.  There is a strong case for suggesting that joint complaints ought to be made on behalf of the affected groups to the Parliamentary Ombudsman alleging maladministration in relation to the failure to deal with the requests in a timely manner.  Such complaints, which require endorsement by local MPs and ought to be preceded by advance notification giving a relatively short period to deal with the requests, ought to be lodged with attendant publicity and before the Olympics. 

Representatives of groups whose requests for intervention are currently imprisoned in the limbo of the DCMS are asked to contact Geoffrey Dron of Save Bolton Libraries Campaign (geoffrey.dron@gmail.com) if they consider the approach suggested might have merit.  It is hoped to start a discussion on how to move matters forward.   Consideration might be given to a meeting of representatives at a mutually convenient venue, but the first step is probably to find out what the overall appetite is for complaints of maladministration.”    

• 2am.  Around 15 security guards and 12 police accompany Brent’s Property Officer into Kensal Rise Library.
• 2am to 3am.  Items removed include: all the books, 1930s murals made specifically for the library, plaques commemorating opening of library by Mark Twain, tables, chairs, microwave and other items.
• Removal of books may trigger automatic reversion of building to All Souls College.  The college has previously made it clear that it did not want the building back and are happy for it be used as a library.
• Books will go to the six (actually five – Willesden Green Library is closed for conversion into a cultural centre, with its books being put into storage at a cost of £500k) remaining libraries in Brent.  There were twelve libraries in Brent one year ago.
• Campaigners claim the new leader of Brent Council, Cllr Butt, had misled them in a recent meeting where he promised the murals and some other items would not be removed.
• Previous attempts by council to remove books had been stopped by the local community.
• Later on the day, Cllr Butt told campaigners he had not been told of the clearance until a couple of hours before the action took place.  However, he stood by the decision.
• Coverage of the clearance in the Telegraph, Guardian and London Evening Standard
• Calls on national Labour Party to condemn actions of its Brent councillors.

“The Council of the Royal Society of Literature, which has consistently opposed the closure of public libraries, is appalled to hear of the action taken by Brent Council in the former Kensal Rise Library in the early hours of this morning. We gather that a Council group, guarded by a dozen policemen, unscrewed from the wall and removed the brass plaque commemorating the opening of the building by Mark Twain in 1900, and the plaque marking the centenary of the same event. This appears to be an act of philistinism bordering on vandalism, and we wonder what the justification for it can be.”

• Campaigners condemn council after library is emptied at night – Guardian.  “The council has claimed the library’s future is out of its hands as the building has legally reverted to its original landlords: All Souls College, Oxford. But the Save Kensal Rise Library campaigners point to a letter received in March from the college, which says that All Souls “would be happy to consider the library being kept open”, as proposed in their business plan.” Council says “”On the advice of the police, the council removed its property from the building in the early hours of the morning,” the spokesman said. “We will now hand the keys back to All Souls College. The books and other materials will be sorted and distributed amongst the council’s six libraries for the use of all Brent residents. The council has committed to contacting All Souls College on behalf of the Friends of Kensal Rise Library to enable discussion between the two parties.””

• Council sneaks into Kensal Rise library at 2am to strip it – London Evening Standard.  
• Kensal Rise library stripped in night of books and Twain plaque – Guardian.  Update of article above.  Cllr Butt defends decision to strip library  … “He told a group of angry protesters outside the library that he would do his best to help them, but stressed that the building belonged to the Oxford college now, adding: “I can’t guarantee anything.””

• Council accused of “deceit” over stripping disputed library of books – Telegraph.  “Whatever the reason, a council was taking no chances when it came to finally closing down a local library. With a show of force usually reserved for clearing crack houses and illegal gipsy camps, they raided the building at 2am with dozens of police and security guards – and removed all the books.” … ““We had a meeting last week where Mo Butt promised not to remove the murals and furniture until we had met All Souls. “It just seems super-vindictive and super-nasty. It’s pretty deceitful really. It just seems like going back on what he said — that he wanted to listen to us and engage with us. “He must have known it was going to happen.””
• “Cowardly” council strips library in the small hours – Harrow Observer. 
• “Cowardly” midnight raid on Kensal Rise library – Bookseller.   

“The stripping of Kensal Rise Library at 3 am, with police presence, in spite of promises from Brent Council, is a matter of cultural shame.” Terence Blacker.

• Kensal Rise Library stripped of books overnight – Preston Library Campaign.  “na stunning act of bad faith, Mohammed Butt’s council snuck into Kensal Rise library in the dead of night and stripped it bare.  It was the last of the six to get the “Brent Treatment”, and the building will now be handed back to All Souls College, Oxford, probably to be sold.”
• Letter to Ed Miliband, Labour Party leader – Alan Gibbons.  “In March Shadow Culture Minister Dan Jarvis addressed the Speak Up for Libraries rally. He directed a question at Ed Vaizey, the Minister in charge of libraries, asking him whether he was a champion of libraries. Many in the audience will have hoped the Labour Party would offer an alternative to the coalition government’s savaging of the public library service. If you are to credibly claim to truly stand up for libraries you must act now and condemn the actions of the Labour council in Brent.”

“This morning between 2 and 3am Richard Barrett, Brent’s Property Officer, raided and stripped Kensal Rise Library. About 15 workers took the books from the library and also took the murals painted in the 1930’s specifically for the library along with all the plaques commemorating the library’s opening by Mark Twain. They took tables and chairs and other assorted objects including a microwave and a box of sticky tape.They were assisted in this action by about 12 police officers.” …  “Cllr Mo Butt said he wanted to listen to the community, engage with them. This is how he listens. By taking this action he has jeopardised the ability of this community to run this library. We may be finished with Brent council but our campaign continues. We will not let their cowardly, middle of the night plundering defeat us. Cllr Butt’s words to us are worse than meaningless.” “We will not let Brent Council’s cowardly, middle of the night plundering defeat us” – Wembley Matters.

Other news

• Are QR codes fab or fad? Doesn’t matter – Library marketing toolkit.   “ it’s not how good / bad something is, it’s how much our users engage with it. Whether you, as an information professional, love or hate QR codes is really neither here nor there – if the stats say your patrons like ’em, you should be using them, and if the stats say your users are indifferent to ’em, then park the whole idea, stop flogging the dead horse, and come back in a year’s time to see if the market penetration is any deeper.”
• Despite funding cuts, library usage increasing – London Community News (Canada).   ““We face increasing demand and a tightening of fiscal resources, which is a recipe for a challenging operating environment,” he said. “We work hard with our funders to help them recognize that in a challenging economy, a library is a place to invest, not to cut because people rely on our services more when they have nowhere else to go.””
• Government delay on ebook royalties labelled “unlawful” – TechEye.net.  “According to Nicola Solomon at the Society of Authors, the delay to include audiobooks and ebooks in Public Lending Right legislation which gives authors royalty payments each time their work is borrowed from a library could well be breaching the law. As part of the Digital Economy Act 2010 it was expected that ebooks would be included in the PLR scheme which awards a few pence to authors up to a set maximum of £6,600.”  Ed Vaizey said he may review position if funds become available.  

“Vaizey should be dragged screaming into the realisation that this is the second decade of the 21st century, not the Grub Street of Victorian times.”

• Guest post #11: Five questions from the Carnegie UK Trust – Envisioning the library of the future (Arts Council England).  Trust says that people say they value libraries but often don’t use them.  Questions are (1) how the value of libraries should be measured, (2) how libraries will respond to cuts in funding and changes in technology, (3) how the service is delivered [the Trust appears open to volunteer-run libraries], (4) whether existing library buildings are the right answer and whether they are all still needed (5) the need for stronger leadership/direction/vision.  Tim Coates has responded to article calling it “complete rubbish”. 
• “Just great bookselling” Bilbary’s simple vision, big ambition – Publishing Perspectives (USA). “Bilbary will also carry reviews, as well as recommendations and comment from booksellers and teachers and experts in their field. It has a library which has a link on the homepage that takes browsers to an interactive illustration of an old, small town library. “We want people to have fun here,” says Coates. “This is somewhere they can go for a good rummage around, just as in a physical library. You enter through some swing doors and we’ll have things like a science room where you can see the books being converted into digital in pickle jars. We’ll even have a cat on the rocking chair outside. Jo Budler at the State Library of Kansas [which has recently signed a deal with Bilbary] said ‘librarians have a great affinity with cats’.” Users of the State Library of Kansas who do not want to wait for one of the handful of digital files provided by Overdrive are given the option to buy a title, with a percentage of the revenue going back to the library.”
• Libraries to become Children’s University “learning destinations” – via Alan Gibbons.  “The Reading Agency’s “Summer Reading Challenge”, which was taken up by over three quarters of a million children last year, is to become a Children’s University nationally validated learning activity. This means that this Summer for the first time all libraries in the British Isles which take part in the Challenge will become recognised Children’s University ‘Learning Destinations’.”
• Survey: should libraries sell E-books? – Publishing Perspectives (USA).   “Having captured my interest, wouldn’t it have made sense for the library to have tried to sell me a copy of the book? They already have a record of my name, address, card number and other pertinent information. They have the database of books. How hard could it be? At a time when enabling consumers to act on impulse is a key to winning sales, it seems like a lost sales opportunity — one libraries would do well to capitalize on, especially considering the economy.”.  Most votes so far are in favour of libraries selling ebooks.
• Warning over digital archive “black hole” – BBC.  “The National Library of Scotland said online and social media coverage from the past 20 years was disappearing. It has urged the UK government to act swiftly on proposals to give libraries the legal right to collect and store electronic publications.”
• Why ten years? – Good Library Blog.  Tim Coates argues with the Arts Council approach of looking at where libraries should be in ten years time on the grounds that there are other far more pressing issues and that technological change would have made any discussion meaningless anyway.  “Public libraries need to concentrate on the here and now- which means the current budget year which is now in progress and the next budget round, starting in September.. Everything else is dreamy nonsense.”

Changes

• Wakefield – Upton, Kinsley, South Kirkby, Ackworth and Havercroft still under threat.  Balne Library to be merged into Wakefield One building.  Campaign group: Sack Ackworth Library.   

Local News

• Brent – Shocking cost of Kilburn Library refurbishment – Preston Library Campaign.   “The cost of refurbishing Kilburn library has gone up from £117,000 to £650,000 – an extra £half million has been found to upgrade one of the least-used libraries in Brent.” … “In just 18 months, the figure has increased five-fold.  No justification for the increase has been put forward by Brent Council.”

• Croydon – Council “broke the law” over Upper Norwood Library, claim campaigners – This is Croydon Today.  “Croydon has been holding a consultation over the library’s future. But the decision to take down its own website for “scheduled maintenance work” on the last day of that consultation has been slammed by campaigners.” … “Croydon’s Labour leader Tony Newman said: “We have advice that Croydon cannot unilaterally abandon the joint agreement and we have been told by Lambeth Council that this council has acted illegally.””
• North Somerset – Free books for youngsters – Mercury 24.  “National Bookstart Week sees free books given out to youngsters before they start school in an effort to get them reading. Special story and rhyme times will be held by libraries from June 11-17 for pre-school children. The Royal National Institute of Blind people (RNIB) will also be holding its Make a Noise in Libraries fortnight from June 11-24 to raise awareness of books available in formats for those with sight loss.”
• Surrey – Response to Mr Deakins – Surrey Libraries Action Movement.   Letter explaining campaigners’ views on why it has taken legal action against the council and also it’s approach to volunteers. Worth reading.
• Wakefield – Vow to save village library – Express series.   “Campaigners in Ackworth have vowed to save their library – as a decision still awaits on the future of many of the district’s sites. The Save Ackworth Library group has pledged to fight proposals – which are due to be considered by Wakefield Council in July – to withdraw funding from the village library.”

• America’s public library crisis: who’s reading the books? – Daily Beast (USA).  Article argues that decline in book reading is making public libraries obsolescent.  “Walk into a library in any city and you’ll witness a death match between old and new, a clash deeper than the cracks in the Carrara marble. The preservation of the past bolted to the promise of the future has made libraries ground zero of a vanishing world. The problem is that libraries have tried to accommodate the transition, and spent enormous sums of money doing so, carpetbombing their legacies into oblivion. Libraries across the country have erected architectural trophies and put themselves out of business. Public libraries, whose books have been relegated to wallpaper, have never looked better.”
• Confronting the biggest threat to the public library – Huffington Post (USA).  “Urban Librarians Unite and the Save NYC Libraries Campaign are seeding more than 1600 books all over the city in response to massive cuts proposed to the budgets of New York City Libraries.Each of the books is emblazoned with a bright yellow sticker which reads “When libraries close this could be your only access to free books.” They have a QR code and a link to petitions to save the three libraries.

• Fifty Shades is too hot for libraries – Tonight (South Africa).  “The best-selling erotic novel Fifty Shades Of Gray has been banned from libraries across the United States by straight-laced librarians who argue that is does not conform to their standards.”
• Future of library services – Neil Stewart Associates. The event is being sponsored by John Laing, a company with a vested interest in outsourcing libraries.
• Kenilworth Library had “big” plans for summer reading – Cranford Chronicle (USA).   ““Dream Big- Read!” has been announced as the theme for the Kenilworth Public Library’s 2012 summer reading program. Registration for the library’s summer reading clubs for children and teens between the ages of 2 and 18 will begin on June 11. The first 250 children to register will receive a free summer reading goody bag that contains a calendar of events, program fliers and other items of interest to curious young minds.”.  Impressive series of events. 
• Last truly democractic space: where nobody moves you along – Irish Times (Eire).   Writer gets moved along by security for leaning on a wall in a Dublin shopping centre: extolls virtues of public libraries where one can stay all day, by anyone.  “Today I believe public libraries are saving not just children but the sorts of people who previously rarely entered libraries but now seek sanctuary there every day. Libraries have become the most democratic, non-judgmental spaces we have.”

“Let politicians look at figures for mental health issues, let them look at suicide rates among the very demographics now starting to use libraries. It will show how little will be gained and how much lost by cutting library budgets any more than is utterly necessary. Kildare Village shopping outlet, is not a village. The phrase Dundrum Town Centre is an oxymoron. The true centres of our communities are public libraries, where everyone is equal and nobody moves you along.”

• Love letter to libraries – Just Listen.   “Something different for this week’s Friday Fiction –  I read a really delightful book called ‘The Library Book’ which is a collection of short stories, articles & pieces written by some of my very favourite authors & writers, about how blooming marvelous libraries are.” … “My point is, free books. That’s my point. How can you argue with free books? The day the Tories start privatising the libraries is the day I give up hope on humanity. Free books people. For children, for adults, for everyone, you even get free internet these days. Go support your local library & look out for The Library Book whilst you’re there. Make the most of them whilst you still can.”

Left notice says “It’s not the time to spend money on hunches”

Right notice says “Madrid support us; We are also outraged”.

“24th of May, all the public workers of Madrid City Council went out to the main streets of the City to protest again the “cuts” of services, rights, and salaries, not just in libraries. Ana Botella and her team earn more money that the Spanish Prime Minister and his ministers but they don’t reduce their salaries, they prefer to reduce ours” (Email from Guadelupe Ucete Perez, a Madrid librarian)

Changes

• Islington – 11% average cut to opening hours, with some branches cut by a quarter. £200k cut over two years.
• Sefton: Consultation until 10th July.  
• Telford:   Great Dawley, Stirchley & Brookside and Hadley & Leegomery parish councils are funding or sharing costs in their local libraries to maintain the service.  Stirchley Library to house parish council as well. 

Local news

• Aberdeenshire – Stamp of approval for shire libraries – Ellon Times.  “Aberdeenshire Council’s libraries are celebrating after being given the stamp of approval by the Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC). The council service was officially deemed excellent by the independent advisory body last week, following a visit by representatives of SLIC to assess the quality of library provision.”
• Birmingham – Theatre: Rob Joiner’s Birmingham library experience inspires play – Birmingham Mail.  “As an assistant at Birmingham’s Central Library, Rob Joiner meets lots of very different people. So when he decided to put pen to paper for the play Without a Hand to Hold he took inspiration from the hundreds of strangers who cross the door of the city’s landmark building. “Because the library is a free service you do get a lot of people who come in who exist on the margins of society,” he says.”
• Brent – Butt: a seventh library would undermine Transformation Project – Wembley Matters.   “In his  interview Muhammed Butt, leader of Brent Council,says that  if the freehold of the Kensal Rise building remained with Brent Council, despite being run by volunteers,  as the campaigners had requested,  it would be a problem. It would be adding a seventh library to the six remaining in Brent and open the way for Preston and other campaigners to make a similar request. .He goes on to say that as the Libraries Transformation Project is based on six libraries this would undermine the  whole Project.”
• Croydon – Our library’s a bestseller – This is Croydon Today. Upper Norwood Library: “A total of 60 youngsters from the school in Chevening Road, Upper Norwood, visited the Westow Hill facility.”
• Illegal behaviour suggested at volative Upper Norwood Library meeting – Croydon Guardian.   Campaigner “said the appointment of non-local councillors to the committee in 2010/11 began the dispute and was against an agreement signed by both councils in 2006. He said the decision to dissolve the joint board is illegal and can only be done the secretary of state, and called on the dispute to be taken to an independent arbiter.”
• Pollard agrees to extend consultation at Question Time event – Inside Croydon.   “The deputy leader of the Conservative group that controls Croydon Council has given an undertaking that the consultation period for the Upper Norwood Joint Library will be extended.”
• Ealing – Cuts in Ealing library hours announced – Ealing Times.    “After a hard-fought campaign last year, which attracted support from thousands of residents, the council agreed to keep all of the borough’s community libraries open. However, following a review, it has decided to close libraries when they are least busy, as a way of contributing to the £428,000 savings needed by the service this year.”
• Islington – Council slammed for “caring more about poo than books” over library cuts – Islington Gazette.  11% average cut to libraries, with up to one quarter in some branches. “This is in a bid to save around £200,000 over two years – less than the £240,000 being paid for a crackdown on dog mess lasting just three months.” … “Islington will be spared the closures seen in boroughs like Camden and Brent, but seven of its 10 branches will be shut two days midweek, while four will close a further half day. Libraries will be twinned, so at least one of two will be open Monday to Saturday, although the twinned buildings are up to 1.5 miles apart – and West Library, in Bridgeman Road, Barnsbury, will be matched with a children’s library, Lewis Carroll in Copenhagen Street, Islington.”
• Nottinghamshire – Rise of the Kindle was the biggest story of last year –  This is Nottingham.  “Notts County Council introduced an eBook library borrowing service last year, with around 1,000 works available. Nick London, team manager for library resources at the council, which is also providing the service for people using libraries run by Nottingham City Council, said there had been a demand for books in the new format.”
• Sefton – Save Southport’s libraries – Kew Focus (Liberal Democrats).  Consultation: “no apologies for my repetition, the decision makers are the Bootle Labour Cabinet.Please make sure that the views of Southport residents are included.”.    
• Shropshire – Save Oswestry Library – iPetitions.  “I strongly oppose the idea that the entrance to my Library could now be over-crowded every day with people using the ‘Council office’. As everybody is aware Libraries are a place of sanctuary and quiet, but with now more than 57 cases last year of verbal abuse reported against council officers at Shropshire council reception desks, the peace and quiet will disappear. Do we really want this in an environment where children & adults come to learn and take advantage of this fantastic facility?”
• Telford – Libraries avoid closure axe but face hours cut – Shropshire Star.   “Parish councils in Great Dawley, Stirchley & Brookside and Hadley & Leegomery have committed cash or agreed to share costs to keep their local services running. But the libraries have not escaped entirely. Telford & Wrekin Council has identified 20 per cent savings by reducing opening hours and sharing overhead costs.”
• Warwickshire – Baddesley Ensor community library in official opening – BBC.   “The Baddesley Ensor library is one of 16 which are to remain open with community groups running them …The county council has contributed £10,500 to the new community facility, which is staffed by volunteers. Books and DVDs have been provided by the council, which will also refresh them.”