“To save money by reducing library services and resources is like trying to save a bleeding man by cutting out his heart. Or — if we could reach it — his soul.” (Pico Lyer, LA Times)

The Government has denied that statutory protection for libraries is under threat despite the most vital protecting pieces of legislation being still clearly on a Government website marked for review.  These statutory duties are called “burdens” on the same page.  Until the documents are taken off the site, they are still under review and everyone who cares should put in their views to help save libraries.   

Known changes to info on authorities/library funding/opening since last posting
Flintshire – confirmed 1 (of 2) mobiles closed (£40k cut)
Isle of Wight – legal challenge placed
Lincolnshire – “library services will be cut back”
Local News – all news is representative and not comprehensive
Calderdale – what our budget plans mean – Halifax Courier
Flintshire – major changes planned for mobile libraries – Leader
Isle of Wight – Legal challenge to library closures – Isle of Wight Radio
Isle of Wight – “Unlawful” decision challenge – Ventnor Blog “Latest word in Niton is that library users will be asked for a £10 “voluntary” annual subscription”
Isle of Wight – Legal threat to libraries’ closure – IWCP
Lincolnshire – Primary school turns old classroom into “first-class community library” – This is Lincolnshire
Manchester – Have your say on libraries facing the axe – Manchester Evening News
North Somerset – Weston-Super-Mare Library to move to town hall – BBC
Northern Ireland – Big turnout needed at Gilford meeting – Dromore Leader
Northern Ireland – Libraries NI needs to keep vital Killyleagh facility – Belfast Telegraph
Staffordshire – Free Wi-Fi introduced at libraries – Lichfield Blog
Suffolk – 28 hour read-in to save smallest library (Debenham) – Wordblog “A wall of books will also be built to defend the library.”
Suffolk – Anoher village campaigns to save library (Capel St Mary) – Wordblog (1200 have signed in village population 2900)
Warwickshire – Save Bulkington Library petition signed by more than 3000 – Coventry Telegraph

National News
American Library Association attacks HC e-lending policy – BookSeller
Bestselling author Joanne Trollope slams library cuts on visit to Welwyn Garden City – Welwyn Hatfield Times ““It is important to save people’s health, but libraries save people’s sanity” ”
– Mirror “Is your Sure Start centre under fire? Is your library earmarked for closure?”
Government threat to universal library service – Mirror “The move comes despite Arts Minister Ed Vaizey promising last month that the Act was guaranteed and would not be reviewed.”
DCMS not achieving value for money – M&H “some recent cost-cutting decisions have been made based on “insufficient financial information and analysis”, as exemplified by the decisions to merge and close some arm’s-length bodies, such as the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.”
DCMS not value for money – Guardian “The over riding picture that the report paints is of a department – and therefore ministers – making decisions, often in a salami-slicing way, without being fully aware of the financial consequences.”
Government denies library statutory protection is under threat – BookSeller
How Britain became a self-service nation – Independent “In 2009, Leicestershire County Council introduced automatic checkouts in 16 of its libraries, aimed at saving tens of thousands of pounds, but also leading to 19 redundancies. “Lots of staff feared for their jobs because of cuts,” one library assistant said at the time, “but no one dreamt they would be replaced by a machine.”
Lauren Smith, Doncaster and UK library campaigner, “Mover and Shaker” – Voices for the Library
Library-saving machine Lauren Smith, 2011 Mover and Shaker nominee – Library Journal (USA)
Publisher limits shelf-life of ebooks – Wall Street Journal (USA)
Voluntary Sector Cuts – Cuts Map “So who’s going to run the libraries?” (tweet by Lauren Smith, ibid)