10 under threat in Wiltshire – Reprieves in Doncaster, Somerset and Merton

398 libraries plus 48 mobiles currently under threat or recently closed (List below “News”)
– plus 10 – Wiltshire -plus cuts in opening hours in all but one other.
– plus 2 mobiles – Lambeth
– minus 6 – Cambridgeshire – 13 libraries under threat is 6 less than previously suggested 19.
– plus 4 – Anglesey
– minus 2 – Doncaster – 2 libraries removed from the list, 12 still under threat.
– plus 1 mobile – Bexley – 3 (from a pool of 5) out of 12 will go, plus 1 mobile. Previous count did not include the mobile.
– minus 1 – Somerset – Wiveliscombe has been announced as reprieved.
– minus 2 – Merton – 2 reprieved but instead have reduction in hours
NB I had inadvertently (for about 10 hours) added Swindon to the list of closing authorities – these cuts were actually done by Wiltshire. Thank you to Shirley Burnham for pointing this out so quickly.

News
The newspapers are getting seriously behind public libraries. The Guardian was by far the first to get on board but, in recent weeks, the Independent on Sunday has also weighed in (and here too). The Sunday Times (no friend of public libraries in normal times) produced a long article by the creator of the Stony Stratford “Wot No Books” article (sorry, behind paywall so no link). Even the Sunday Mirror reported.. Well done to CILIP for getting a message in the Sunday Mirror. It needs saying too that the local media have well and truly woken up to the news on their high streets – holy cow, what a load of articles about libraries listed below.

Incidentally, I should include a note on the figures being bandied around for the number of threatened libraries. The tally this blog uses is based on the number of libraries under threat that I can trace media mentions of. Another figure (800) is based on my tally but extrapolates from it that being the count covers around one-half of the total number of authorities, the real figure could be twice that when everything is announced. The Mirror’s figure (around 1300) notes that the average figure of cuts is 30% and thus takes that percentage off the total number of libraries currently open in the UK. The Independent’s figure of 600 is a mystery to me but could well be the average between my tally and that of the 800 figure.

The Stony Stratford technique of clearing libraries has clearly caught on, with Newport in the Isle of Wight facing the same tactic, this time with the added twist of the Crime section being the one deliberately cleared first.

Argyll – Rural communities will lose libraries as well as schools – For Argyll
Barking and Dagenham – libraries saved – Yellow Advertiser
Bexley – Under threat libraries revealed – News Shopper
Brent – Closing library is an attack on culture – Harrow Observer
British Library – Cuts a “disaster” for business – London Evening Standard
Bury – Shadow Minister joins battle to save libraries – Manchester Evening News
Bury – Unsworth Saved – This is Lancashire
Calderdale – £350k cut, libraries may be under threat – Halifax Courier
Cambridgeshire – 13 libraries under threat (36% cut in funding) – Cambridge News
Croydon – 320 protesters pack meeting to save Norbury, inc MP – This is Croydon Today
Croydon – Croydon libraries under threat – Croydon Guardian
Croydon – Norbury library threatened – Youtube
Doncaster – 2 branches reprieved – Save Doncaster Libraries
Dorset – Campaigners fight to save libraries – Dorset Echo
Dorset – Weymouth anger at closures – View Online
Durham – Details revealed of cuts (£1.5m from libraries) – Durham Times
Gloucestershire – Mily’s plea not to axe library – Cotswold Journal
Gloucestershire – Voice your opinion – Stroud News and Journal
Gloucestershire – “Pathetic excuse” on library meeting – This is Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire – community libraries could charge for membership and loans – FoGL
Gloucestershire – “train wreck” council meeting – FoGL
Gloucestershire – “I now feel that any “public consultations” are empty processes” – Tewkesbury Ad Mag
Gloucestershire – new consultation meetings announced – FoGL
Hampshire – no extra pay for overtime and weekend working for staff – Hampshire Chronicle
Hampshire – axe taken to mobile libraries – Salisbury Journal
Hampshire – fight is on to reverse cut to mobiles – the News
Harrogate – message of support from MP – Voices for the Library
Harrogate – Join our fight to keep libraries open – Harrogate Advertiser
Hounslow – Show your support – Hounslow Chronicle
Hounslow – Save Our Libraries, newspaper launches campaign – Hounslow Chronicle
Hounslow – council told to think again on axing libraries – Hounslow Chronicle
Hounslow – letter from councillors attacking closures – Hounslow Chronicle
Hounslow – 3 Epetitions – Hounslow Council
Hounslow – Save Our Libraries – Feltham and Hounslow
Isle of Wight – Govt Minister says councils have “no excuse” if they cut services before “fat cats” – IWCP
Isle of Wight – protestors plan “mass borrow” – BBC
Isle of Wight – Huge crowd of protest0rs clear out Newport Library – Isle of Wight County Press
Isle of Wight – council “brought to book” – Isle of Wight Radio
Isle of Wight – library protestors in mass borrow – BBC
Kent – Library self service won’t cost jobs, well, not at Sevenoaks – This is Kent
Lambeth – 2 mobile libraries to close – Local Guardian
Leeds – A New Chapter? Library closures not publicised – COVEN
Merton – £130k cut but 2 libraries saved from closure – Your Local Guardian
Norfolk – no closures but cut in staffing, hours, bookfund, mobile visits – EDP 24
North Yorkshire – Battle to save libraries hots up – Scarborough Evening News
Oxfordshire – “You don’t know the value of what you’re looking after” says Philip Pullman (and 100s of others) to council meeting – Oxford Mail
Oxfordshire – Councillor calls authors “a vested interest”, Pullman calls councillor “desperate” – Banbury Cake
Oxfordshire – estate has a 2.5 hour volunteer library – Oxford Mail
Oxfordshire – Libraries again (The Oxford Movement) – Book Maven
Somerset – fightback in Wiveliscombe is under way – This is the West Country
Somerset – Wiveliscombe reprieved (20% cut in funding though) – This is the West Country
Somerset – “Wivey Leaks” Good news for one library, loads more to go – Alan Gibbons
Somerset – Cheddar will become a ghost village if library is lost – Weston Mercury
Suffolk – Why can Norfolk protect its libraries but we can’t?– EADT
Suffolk – DIY Libraries – Bury Free Press
Suffolk – Libraries under threat – Suffolk Free Press
Suffolk – Chief Exec defends £220k salary while axing 29 libraries – Grapevine
Warrington – Lib Dems abstain as libraries close – Warrington Guardian
Wigan – fears for library – This is Lancashire
Wiltshire – 10 libraries under threat, all others except one will have reduced hours, £500k over 2 years saving due to these closures, more than £500k spent on self-service machines – Swindon Advertiser
Wiltshire – Plea for volunteers to run libraries – BBC (compare story with this)
Wiltshire – Pewsey and Marlborough cuts in hours (Pewsey, costin £940k only opened in Dec 2010) – This is Wiltshire
Wiltshire – closures come after £35k spent on librarian uniforms, £475k on rebranding – Independent