“When a teacher asked his pupils to bring in a book from home, one nine-year-old brought the Argos catalogue, saying: ‘It’s the only one we’ve got.'”City of children who cannot read – London Evening Standard.  One million cannot read in London, one in four children are illiterate.

467 libraries (399 buildings and 68 mobiles) currently under threat or closed/left council control since 1/4/11 out of c.4517 in the UK (for the complete list by area see the page “Tally by local authority”)

News

Hay Festival: Duchess of Cornwall promotes literacy – BBC.  “The duchess flew in to the book festival by helicopter to read to children… the duchess regularly visits schools and libraries and encourages reading and reading aloud.” Also reported in the Telegraph.
Our libraries, a cherished national institution – Independent (Letters)
Strong libraries can co-exist with new technologies – Scotsman. 

Changes to library service by local area

Cambridgeshire – 7% cut in opening hours.  Consultation ends 18th June 2011.
City of Westminster – Petition to save St James’ Library.
Lancashire – £29k cut by cancelling all magazines apart from Which?
Leicestershire – £1 reservation charge for children and pensioners.
Peterborough – Hampton, Orton, Woodston (closed Tuesday), Bretton, Werrington, Dogsthorpe (closed Mondays), Eye, Thorney and Stanground will have cuts in hours.  “However, after two petitions from residents were handed into the council calling for the libraries to open longer, it was agreed by councillors that the libraries should be open for 37 hours instead, after an extra £52,000 was found to add to the library budget.”
Wiltshire – 21 out of 31 libraries will have reduced opening hours, self-service to save £300k p.a. with c.15FTE job losses calculated from £300k figure.

News by library authority

Blackburn with Darwen – Council staff take unpaid day off – BBC.  “Both Blackburn and Darwen Town Halls will be closed along with children’s centres and all libraries”
Brent – Preston Library Campaign website
Cambridgeshire – Library open hours consultation – Cambridgeshire Council.  Consultation does not give option to oppose cuts, asking instead (for example) which day one wishes the library to be closed early.
Cornwall – Communities demand answers over council’s £9m credit card spending – This is Cornwall. Expenditure includes 5-Star hotels.  “In the last few months parish councils have been asked to comment on proposals to close libraries and one-stop shops and the restructuring of rubbish collections, to name but a few – all of these things are front line services that directly affect every council taxpayer.”
Cumbria – Writers asked to support campaign against library closure – New Writing Cumbria.  Overview of situation in Cumbria.   
Dorset – Finance trouble: Council admits £6m savings are out of reach – Dorset Echo.  “The report lists 10 key areas in which savings are unlikely to be achieved, including controversial proposals to close 20 libraries”
Dorset – Poor response to libraries’ rescue – Daily Echo.   16 out of 20 threatened libraries do not have volunteers willing to run them. 
Lancashire – Magazines to be axed from Lancashire’s libraries – Citizen.  
Leicestershire – Library users in Leicestershire hit out at book fees – This is Leics.   Pensioners and children to be charged £1 to reserve books. “The money they will make is just a drop in the ocean of what they need to save, but they have decided they will get that from pensioners and kids. They are probably the people who can afford it the least.” Reservations down 20% since introduction.
Lewisham – Council shuts New Cross library 24 hours early – BookSeller.  “…angry residents posted their own responses, commenting: “Do you want me to study in McDonalds?” and “You’re the vandals, not us.”
Oxfordshire – Libraries consultation delayed for fourth time – Henley Standard.  
Oxfordshire – Villagers support fight to save library from closure – Henley Standard.   300 sign petition to save Benson Library last Saturday. 
Peterborough – Cuts to Peterborough library hours to take effect despite opposition – Evening Telegraph.  “However, after two petitions from residents were handed into the council calling for the libraries to open longer, it was agreed by councillors that the libraries should be open for 37 hours instead, after an extra £52,000 was found to add to the library budget.”
Wiltshire – Libraries to get automated service – BBC.  £500k installation of self-service machines in order to save £300k p.a.  “”It will mean that we will lose some staff. Many are part time and we don’t know how many it will equate to.” – Library Assistant = £20k (with “on-costs” of pension etc).  £300k divided by 20 = 15 FTE staff lost.