Leaving aside the rights and wrongs of historically high cuts in government spending, the speed of their imposition on local government budgets at the end of last year unavoidably meant that it was going to be difficult to ensure that reductions were in the best places.  The department ultimately responsible for libraries, the DCMS itself, has been found guilty of cutting too quickly without taking time to think of the consequences. Cuts of such depth and speed are a problem for all the authorities listed below and so it is interesting to read an  American Libraries magazine article on the eight ways to cut library spending. For too many councils, the cuts detailed in this blog are due to lack of time or for ideological reasons.  Those who are closing libraries for ideological reasons are not my subject in this posting. Those who have cut too much in haste will discover all too well that they will repent at leisure.

Known changes to info on authorities/library funding/opening since last posting
Wigan – 6 out of 18 libraries under threat (previously reported as up to 15 therefore 9 taken off grand total)
Worcestershire – Warndon, not (as previously stated) Wardle, is under threat

Local News – all news is representative and not comprehensive
Barnsley – closure date for Priory library -Star
Bolton – Author backs campaign to keep libraries open – Bolton News
– Bucks Advertiser (Jessica is 9 and has just met with the council’s head of Culture as well as organising a petition with 900 names to save her local libraries)
Croydon – Setting the Scene – That Woman’s Blog
Isle of Wight – Council responds on libraries legal action – Ventnor Blog (The comments section is always worth reading on the Ventnor Blog)
Leeds – Campaign group fights to save Leeds library [Rawdon] from cuts – Guardian Leeds
North Somerset – Tories too hasty, say opponents on council – This is Bristol (£9.7m upgrade to Council HQ, library would move into it
Suffolk – Campaign to save Lowestoft library gathers pace (Oulton Broad) – EDP24
Suffolk – Library users set to make a stand – Bury Free Press “Duncan Macpherson, Stowmarket town councillor, will be leading the group in a human chain around the library to protest against possible library cuts.”
Suffolk – Public tell county council bosses to cut their pay – EADT (100 at council meeting, 1 attended last year)
Warwickshire – Fight to save [Dunchurch] village library from chop – Rugby Observer

Wigan – Hands off! 1000 petition to save Standish – Wigan Today

National News
Calls to read before buring clearly came too early for the go-ahead DCMS – Logalgov

Read and Shout 2011 – The Fly
Top ten reasons to be a librarian – Amercan Libraries
Tough times and eight ways to deal with them – American Libraries “When conscientious librarians try to absorb budget cuts without any fuss or disruption, they provide a disservice to their community”
We’re for you, not against you – a librarian’s take on ebook lending – Publisher’s Weekly (USA)  “Libraries are one of the last true commons in modern life, celebrating and championing the right to read and freedom of access to information. Stewardship of the written record is integral to our mission. Libraries don’t have a financial stake in the publishing business so much as society has a cultural stake in the future of libraries.”
516 libraries (455 buildings and 61 mobiles) currently under threat or recently closed/left council control out of 4517 in the UK