Brent closures tomorrow?

British undergrads  face more than £11m in library fines – Times (paywalled) 

Challenging the cuts: A guide to judicial review – Guardian

From a member of CILIP – Good Library Blog

I’ll tell you what happiness is, it’s keeping libraries open – Daily Mail

“Listening” dog to boost children’s literacy in Staffordshire libraries – This is Staffordshire

Liverpool to bear brunt of cuts – Guardian [wrongly describes libraries as “discretionary”]

Public Libraries and Adult Learning – Walk You Home
“That door of the library was the door into me” – White Mercury (Poem)
“”What three words would you use to describe what libraries mean to you?” – Voices for the Library (Image)

Will Britain ever buy into the Big Society? – Gair Rhydd

NB. From 2012, the MLA will be abolished – the Arts Council will take over its role for libraries with a budget of £3m rather than £13m.  The Book Trust has also had its funding halved (from £13m 2010 to £6m in 2012). Therefore, libraries start 2012 with more than £10m less, regardless of any further cuts. There are 151 authorities in England, 206 in the UK.

Library campaign list is here

Aberdeen – 8 (out of 16)
Aberdeenshire – some, (brief mention here seems to suggest all but this very unlikely)
Angus – 4 libraries closed this year (April) to be possibly replaced by a mobile.  More info here
Argyll and Bute – 3 libraries and mobile library.
Barnet – some – public consultation here
Barnsley – 3
Bedfordshire – 1 mobile to go
Bexley – 3 and 1 mobile (3 from a list of 5 will go, plus one mobile) (this is the five) (£1m – 16% cut) (merge with Bromley?) (5 could be unpaid)
Birmingham – 39 (three libraries lose hours so Tower Hill can remain open) (school library service to close)(all branch libraries under review, £200m super library being built)
Blackburn with Darwen – 1 mobile (reduced opening hours) cut, opening hours reduced, bookfund cut.

Blackpool – 2

Bolton –9 (out of 15)(£400 to £500k)
Bradford – 5 (Confirmed 5 to close – £70k)

Brent – 6 (out of 12) (talking to private company LSSI)

Bridgend – 3 (may not be able to reach Welsh Assembly library standard) (opening hour cuts at most)
Bromley (link is on page 7) – 8 (out of 15) (KAB talking books cut)
Buckinghamshire – up to 14 to close or be staffed by volunteers (extra time given to look for volunteers) (this article says 11)(£688k cut)
Bury – 1 (1 other reduced hours) – Manchester Evening News
Caerphilly – (“rationalised”)
Calderdale – Some? (£350k cut inc.12 jobs, £200k stock)
Cambridgeshire – 13 (36% cut in funding, £445k in 2012,  £3.2m by 2016, closures down from previously reported 19) (mobile services already “slashed”) (£1.1m cut) (school library service closed)
Camden – several plus one mobile library (£2 million cut)
Cardiff – (no closures, cuts to be considerd on 4/3/11)
Carmarthenshire – 5 in 2011, 18 in 2012 therefore 23. (improvements in Llanelli and Carmarthen)
Central Bedfordshire – one mobile library to go
Ceredigion – (£1m “relocation” of Aberystwyth, £100k to be spent on Cardigan)
Conwy – 7 (out of 12) (review under way)

Cornwall – 2011 cuts confirmed – (£1.5m cut, 90 hours lost, merge with Registrars/One Stop Shops)

Coventry – (opening hours cut, more fees)
Croydon – Up to 6 (public gets to choose which), (£690k saving)

Cumbria – (review under way, no closures yet, 3 of 6 mobile libraries closed in 2010) 

Darlington – (£250k) off budget
Denbighshire – (Rhyl has reopened after £300,000 refurbishment; no closure or merger plans, although ‘this may be reviewed”)

Derbyshire – (Opening hours to be cut)
Doncaster – 14 safeguarded for one year (the other 12 are safe) (may also be taken out of council control) (over 50% cut in funding)
Dorset – up to 20 (out of 34) to close or be given to community groups  (£143k off bookfund).  Dorset is the sole council to receive an actual increase in funding for 2010/11. (£800k cut for libraries)(council confirms £800k cut but gives three months extra time for consultation)
Dumfries and Galloway – 7

Dundee – (to transfer to the same trust as swimming pools/basketball)
Durham – some (£1.4m cut)

Ealing – At least 2 possibly more
East Sussex – (£313k cut) (less books bought)
Edinburgh – (£550k cut)(possible cut in mobiles)

Essex – 2011 confirmed  (extensive opening hours cuts, 21 jobs to go) (no cuts to mobiles)
Falkirk – (transferred to Trust)
Flintshire – 5 and at least one mobile
Gateshead – some (school library service, music library, AIRS talking newspaper under threat)
Gloucestershire –  confirmed 10 branches and 6 mobiles to close or be run by volunteers. 8 libraries open 12 hours per week rather than previously proposed 3.5 [previously, up to 18 and 6 mobiles  – 10 to close or go to volunteers. 7 to close if they don’t find a partner (43% total cut in funding). (Cinderford saved)(revised proposals here)  A further 11 reduced to 3.5 days a week. 100 library jobs to go say UNISON, 40 FTE to go says council, inc 36 managers cut to 9, 3.5 FTE librarian posts cut (to 10)]
Greenwich – 1 (could be turned into a Trust) (school library service closed)
Hammersmith and Fulham – 2 (to be run by volunteers) and 1 mobile (record office to have £70k cut from £88k, volunteers, presumably no professional archivists, reduced hours) (£310k cut)
Hampshire – 13 mobiles (58 FTE jobs to go) (and mobile libraries cut within two miles of each branch, this report says 18FTE to go)(libraries merged with IT/property etc) Source of number of mobiles is UNISON Hampshire, No extra overtime or weekend pay
Haringey – (staff cuts)
Harrow – (34 FTE to go)(self-service machines to increase)
Hartlepool – 2 (out of 7) to close (another to merge with community centre, all library’s hours cut)
Herefordshire – (new Ledbury Library delayed) (no branches to close but mobile library review)
Hertfordshire – 5 mobiles (2011 Confirmed – opening hours to be cut by one third – from 2236 hours down to 1575) (mobile libraries cut) – At least one library (Borehamwood)  faces a 40% cut. (£580k cut in first year, £1.4m after) (cuts confirmed) (some mobile stops saved)
Highland – (Wick Library to close and merge with school library) (may move to being in a Trust) (this report says no closures) (suggestion that professional staff are being lost – a source is needed).
Hounslow – initial plan to close 8 cancelled after public consultation, £300k cut in bookfund, some libraries may still be at risk as cuts “postponed”.
Inverclyde – some
Isle of Wight – 5 (out of 11) (£100k offered as temporary extra)
Islington – some (£250k cut)
Kent – some (volunteers to be asked to run some) (83 FTE to go as self-service comes in)- Isle of Thanet one of areas hardest hit (School library service closed)

Kingston – (50% adult bookfund cut)
Lambeth – 4 branches (out of 11) and 2 mobiles (setting up a trust “which will give you a chance to run libraries”)
Lancashire – 2 mobile libaries (plus 16% staffing cut)
Leeds – Up to 20 (out of 52) – council says 20 closures are not about cuts but to make service viable.
Leicestershire – NB This information is under doubt.  I have received a call saying this article relates to Leicester.  Article, though, seems to be indicate it is Leicestershire.  No libraries are down for closure according to his article, although they could all/some be transferred to a trust or privatised (merge of lending/reference- 14 FTE jobs lost).
Leicestershire – (£250k cut in bookfund and hours)
Lewisham – Confirmed 2011/2 5 (41% cut – £800k)
Liverpool – some (£500k / 28% may be closures / cuts in opening hours)

Manchester – 5 (plus no libraries open on Friday or Saturday)(£394k cut) (end of homework clubs)

Merthyr Tydfil – some
Milton Keynes – 2 (Feb 2011 – closures delayed for 12 months)
Moray – some – (previously marked as no public libraries closing but council has appealed for volunteer groups to run them, may move to being in a Trust, another article here).

Newcastle – (12 jobs lost, £245k cut) (8 libraries to be semi-staffed “library express”)
Newport – 7 (“No closure plans; considering how to ensure “21st Century provision”)
Norfolk – (£1.5m over 3 yrs proposed cut inc opening hours cut, staffing cut, bookfund cut, less mobile visits)
Northern Ireland – 20 (cut in bookfund, 15 to 25% cut in hours, recruitment freeze, removal of buildings budget (denials up to 30 could close)
Northamptonshire – Up to 8 libraries originally under threat,. Libraries given a reprieve but still apparently under longer term threat. (Cuts to management and support).
Northumberland – some
North Lanarkshire – 1 (closed March 2010)
North Lincolnshire – (£15k opening hour cut, £30k Bookfund cut)
North Norfolk – some (c. £1m reduction)
North Somerset – 1 closed, 2 proposed, volunteers may run libraries. Weston Mercury update
North Yorkshire – 24 (out of 42) to close or be staffed by volunteers, 9 mobiles to go off road, surviving libraries could have funding cut to share out with any community-run libraries established. (£2.3m cut from £7.5m total)(£650k to keep libraries open a bit more, inc. from bookfund)
Nottingham – 1 (3 libraries to close, 2 new ones to open) (computer use to be charged)(1 library closed)

Nottinghamshire – (22 out of 28 libraries to have their opening hours cut, 80 FTE jobs to go, 50% off bookfund, 1 library already closed.
Oldham – (increase in volunteers, merging, cuts)
Oxfordshire – (£300k extra found – strong rumours libraries to be “saved”) (apparently confirmed 2011 but subject to review in Summer) 20 – (£2m)  list of those under threat here, Oxford Central hours extended to 7 days per week . also, Record Office cuts.

Plymouth – some – £370k cut 2011 £480k 2012 £620k 2013 – 9 FTE (10%) cut to staffing, reduction to opening hour, increased computer charging, less security.  No closures 2011 but 5 claimed as under threat for future years – Stoke, Southway, Ernesettle, Eggbuckland and West Park
Powys – (cuts, decision in March)
Redbridge – 5 out of 12 may close, another may relocate (£2.3m cut). Goodmayes saved.
Renfrewshire – 1 (1 library to move into smaller sites in community centres)
Richmond – 1 (£351k cut) (service may be privatised) Heathfield due to close in March.
Rochdale – 1 (some library managers to to go in first phase of cuts)
Rutland – (6 libraries to have reduced hours, staff cut)
Salford – 3 – some libraries to move to sports centres or provide space for community groups (2 to have reduced hours)
Sandwell – some
Sefton – 3 (consultation here) (or is it “just” an opening hours cut?)
Sheffield – (30% cut expected, £2.5m) (no closures, opening hours reduced) (33 FTE, mobile reduction)
Shropshire – 2 and 3 mobiles(reference library to merge with central library)
Somerset –  2011 Confirmed – 11 (out of 34) (£1.35m cut) will be closed/offered to community groups over 2 years. 4 (out of 6) mobile libraries will also go.  25% cut in funding. Full (revised) plans here (20% cut in opening hours). Rethink on mobiles may happen – article here. Public will be asked for “voluntary contributions”.
Southampton – 2 (charges increase)

Southend – some

Southwark – (school libray service closed)
Stoke – 2 and 1 mobile library, (ends RNIB service)
Suffolk – confirmed 2011 £350k this year, 29 (out of 44) to be “divested” 2012/13 – (consultation here, £2m cut)

Surrey – 11 and 5 mobiles (Feb 2011 -delayed while consultation takes place) (petition for mobiles here – future still in doubt 25/2/11) (Lib Dems against the move)

Sutton – some (£935k off £6m p.a. budget) (school library service to close)
Swansea – some
Thanet – some
Thurrock – Confirmed 2011 £350k cut, staffing reduction (20% cut in hours if work more than 15 hours), all to close on Mondays. 

Tower Hamlets – (staff made to reapply for their own jobs -23 library staff replaced)

Trafford – (mobile library to be staffed by volunteers)

Vale of Glamorgan – mobile library reduction considered
Wakefield – at least 2 , new central library but local closures
Walsall – some (previous article had called them safe but under review, may close in 2012)

Waltham Forest – some
Wandsworth – 1 (York Gardens – description of council proposals here) mention in Guardian here plus reduction in hours in others. Council papers here.
Warrington – (2011 Confimed)  2 and 1 mobile library confirmed . More info here. Journals stopped also, £25k off staff. £10k off reference.

Warwickshire – 16 (out of 34) (council agenda here, 30%, £2m cut from £7.4m budget over three years) – official report from council here, (£2m already cuts since 2006, staffing already cut by 63 FTE 24%),  special county map of closures here.
West Dunbartonshire – 3 (some staff losses too)
West Sussex – Some (5 FTE lost, some librarians pay reduced to library assistant)

Western Isles – (cuts in opening hours by one day per week and during Summer)
Westminster – 1 (St James’s Library to close) (Marylebone may never reopen)
Wigan – Up to 15 out of 17  (£1.1m cut off £4m budget)
Wiltshire – 10 (plus reductions in hours in all but one of the others, more cuts next year) (26 FTE posts have gone in Dec 2010  inc. 9 out of 13 community librarians)(cuts include a £940k library opened Dec 2010)(self-service in all)
Worcestershire – some (Pershore library to move out of town centre) , contact centres may combine with libraries
York – (libraries to be “hit”)

Authorities which have announced there will be no library closures (2011 financial year)
Anglesey – 4 libraries earmarked for closure have apparently been (temporarily) saved. Brighton.  Barking and Dagenham. Blaenau Gwent, Cardiff,  Cheshire West and Chester.  Cornwall – (90 hours cut, £1.5m cut, one stop shops/Registrars merging into them, book supply being done differently to save money, no guarantee for 2012) (23% cut in library budget, 102 hours p.w. cut). Coventry (but less opening hours, fees to rise). Derby. Devon (may have reduced opening hours, less mobile stops, no new Exeter Library – although this article suggests mobile library service has improved).  BBC article confirms no closures. (“brutal” cuts to Exeter Record Office). Doncaster (14 under threat in 2012) Edinburgh (£550 cut) (pledge to keep open is for the lifetime of the administration). Essex(but other cuts – see list above). Haringey . Harrow (some increase in hours, more self-service but less staff). Gwynedd.   Highland (but other cuts – see list above). Hillingdon.  Hull (number of libraries actually increasing here). Kirklees. Lancashire (but staffing cuts) Leicestershire (but opening hours and bookfund cut – £250k).  Lincolnshire. Medway. Merton – (£118k cut – 2 libraries will have reduced hours but reprieved from threatened closure). Neath Port Talbot  Newcastle. Norfolk – no closures but staffing cut, bookfund cut, opening hours cut, less mobile visits).  North Ayrshire. North Lincolnshire.  North East Lincolnshire. Nottinghamshire  – no plans to close any branches but massive reductions in opening hours. Oldham Pembrokeshire. Plymouth (opening hours to reduce, managers to go).Plymouth (but major cuts, closures possible 2012/3) Poole. Portsmouth. Rhondda Cynon Taff: Rochdale: Southampton. Staffordshire (free internet access also retained). Sheffield (cuts in opening hours).  Slough (3 new libraries opening here, usage significantly up). Swindon. Torfaen (but one closed April 2010) Tower Hamlets  Trafford – (but mobile library staff will be replaced by volunteers). West Berkshire (£200k cut). Windsor and Maidenhead. Wirral (plus £1 million investment) Wrexham  (libraries increasing)