Archive for August, 2011

News

• A few reasons to be grateful for James Patterson – Telegraph.   “As the barely-audible debate over the closure of public libraries continues to be choked by apathy, the big noise in publishing this morning is the news that crime writer James Patterson has been named easily the world’s best paid author by Forbes Magazine….But best of all, it’s compulsive and plentiful. The more greedy readers there are, the bigger the queue at the library.”
• Anti-cuts groups say no to private sector – Guardian (Letters).  Open letter expressing concern about the Opening Public Services white paper, signed amongst others by Voices for the Library, Alan Gibbons and several other library campaign groups. “in reality, it will be the private sector that benefits from opening up this huge market. If the plans go ahead, companies will be able to make a profit from services previously run by the state and local authorities, while taxpayers subsidise them.” 
• Breaking down the barriers within the profession – #uklibchat.  Librarians in all sectors need to be aware of eachother and provide mutual support.
• Check out relationships with public libraries – Reporter (USA).  Article versus self-service and e-books.  “These ladies always seemed so pleased to have me come into their library. They greeted me by name and, as time went by, they noticed what I liked to read and always had the newest book in that genre set aside just for me.”
• Drafting the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964 – Voices for the Library.  Guest post by Francis Bennion.   “literal compliance” to the Act is not enough and what is implied by it is also necessary to be considered. “Thus for example it is implied by the 1964 Act that library authorities will fulfil their duties properly, will provide suitable buildings that can accurately be called libraries, and will employ sufficient trained, experienced, paid staff, not relying unduly on volunteers.”.  Describes the Future Libraries report as “primarily a charter, stuffed with jargon, for reducing costs. Yet any library authority which in 2012 and subsequently spends substantially less on its library service than it did in 2009 would be acting unlawfully.” 
• Grim reading in library dispute – Star (Canada). “Atwood imagined in more than one of her novels the kind of dystopian city Toronto would become should its libraries be cut, shuttered or privatized…The situation in Toronto is eerily similar to the U.K.’s now year-round debate about library closures, replete with literary luminaries rallying to the cause.”
• Guest view: don’t privatize our libraries – Pasadena Star-News (USA).   “…the so-called “savings” represent taxpayer dollars siphoned out of the community and delivered instead to a far-away corporate headquarters….We know library money is tight now, and that’s all the more reason to make sure it’s spent wisely.”
• Let’s make a list: using FourSquare in libraries – Go Librarians.  Another way to promote libraries.
• Libraries are “beating hearts of communities” says Scottish writer – STV.   “Theresa Breslin praised the role libraries play in fostering creative writing and nourishing the community”…”She has taken her campaign to the Scottish Parliament, fearing a badly co-ordinated network of services will have a detrimental effect. She said: “Whatever government is in should look survey the nation and try to co-ordinate it.”
• Falling short story: Record reading chain attempt fails as too few turn up – Scotsman. “”People of all ages came from all over for the attempt – there were mothers with toddlers and grandmothers too – which is fantastic. It’s what a library’s all about – community.”

• Making room for readers – Millions (USA).  An American library (in a large branch – the smaller library tried first by the writer had been closed) insists on child being able to write their name before given child a library card. “In an era of reduced library budgets and hours, closing bookstores, declining sales, and lost readers, discouraging anyone, of any age, from picking up a book they’re interested in seems like the last thing we should be doing.” 
• Shameless quangocrats who jump from one state-funded gravy train to another – Mail.   “All too predictably, several of the MLA’s top quangocrats made the smooth passage to the Arts Council, among them Hedley Swain, who is currently on £72,000 as director of programme delivery, and Nicola Morgan, who is programme manager of sector improvement at the MLA but from October will be director of libraries at the Arts Council.” [It is perhaps worth pointing out that appointments were made by competitive application/interview].
• Will Young: “I wasn’t happy, I was rude to people, I was a baby” – Telegraph.  “From post offices to libraries – the desire to make everything more streamlined and mechanical takes away any human interaction. And then you wonder why young people are growing up with no sense of where they belong. Or any sense of social cohesion or mutual responsibility. It’s all about yourself.”

Changes

• Angus – Arbroath Library to be transferred from Arbroath ownership to Angus ownership.
• Buckinghamshire – Friends of Ivinghoe Library. 
• East Lothian – Libraries may become part of enjoyleisure Trust.
• Lewisham – New Cross People’s Library open until 21st September.  
• Monmouthshire – £120k investment in Chepstow Library. 

Local News

• Angus – Councillor against library transfer  – Arbroath Herald.   “move by Angus Council to transfer ownership of Arbroath Library building from the Common Good Fund to the local authority’s general fund.”
• Bolton – Tories fight to save library set for closure – Bolton News.  ““The point of the meeting next week is to allow us to put together a comprehensive Astley Bridge response to the consultation. This is not about us as three ward councillors, this is about Astley Bridge as a whole.” 
• Brent – Urgent: Write to Jeremy Hunt now to save our libraries – Save Kensal Rise Library.   “It is extremely important that we keep up the pressure to save the library from closure. Although the outcome of the judicial review has been deferred to early October there is something that we can all be doing”
• Buckinghamshire – Concerns at viability of Chalfont St Peters Library plans – Bucks Free Press. “”While we welcome the Council’s decision to include Chalfont St Peter in Phase One of the implementation of the County/Community Library model, we are still waiting for Buckinghamshire County Council to provide all the information we need to enable our Committee to determine the feasibility and long term viability of a Community Library in Chalfont St Peter. ” 
• Plans to save Ivinghoe library could be in place by Christmas – Bucks Herald.  “A full-time library manager would be retained, and longer opening hours, home deliveries and a coupon scheme with businesses are all being considered.”  Business plan looks likely to be improved in September.
• Cambridgeshire – Emerging library vision revealed as part of review – Cambridgeshire County Council.  “Ideas such as shared services across Councils, use of volunteers, staff restructuring and self service will continue to go forward. The Council will also look at whether other council services and even local business or community facilities such as Post Offices could share buildings making them real community hubs.” 
• Doncaster – Libraries reading scheme “hypocritical” – BBC.   “We find it quite ironic that during the summer reading challenge the libraries are promoting the brilliant challenge but then next year there’s going to be half the number of libraries and fewer books for kids to read, fewer services and kids are not going to have the access to that reading challenge.” says Lauren Smith.
• Hypocrisy claim over reading challenge – Yorkshire Post.  ““It is not my policy to close any library in Doncaster. I am faced with the challenge to make tough decisions as a result of £80m of Government spending cuts.”
• Lauren Smith interviewed about Doncaster libraries – BBC Radio Sheffield (23:00 – 29:30) .  Interviews people using at Wheatley Library, due for closure.  Summer reading challenge “irony” as half will be closed, with the same councillors pushing children to read also voting for them to close.  “The library service really hasn’t promoted itself”.  Children’s librarian made redundant and libraries have ceased promoting it summer reading challenge via school assemblies.
• East Lothian – “Waiting game” over East Lothian council services – East Lothian News.  “East Lothian Council is currently canvassing the public on the proposal which could see a whole range of community wellbeing activities move to enjoyleisure. Poised for transfer are: cultural services such as libraries, museums and arts service…”
• Isle of Wight – New offer of help to library campaigners – IWCP.   Rural Community Council may take responsibility for Bembridge Library finances when the Council divests control.  ” “The long-term success of this project will depend on the hard work and commitment of volunteers. We know how important it is to maintain services in rural areas and hope our involvement will help to establish a community-run library in Bembridge” says RCC.
• Lancashire – Plan to move library into New Road Community Centre criticised by councillors – Craven Herald & Pioneer.  “That building (Coronation Hall) is packed full of books. To close the library and replace it with a few shelves in a new location is despicable,” he said.“It’s a massive con on the people of Earby and West Craven. For goodness sake, don’t allow it to happen.”
• Monmouthshire – Chepstow library to have £120,000 facelift – Free Press.  “The refurbished library will deliver a new reading garden, an improved area for young people and a new space for family and local history research. Technological improvements will include self-service machines, Wi-Fi and laptops for use in the library.”  Funded by CyMAL and council.
• North Yorkshire – Council issues library reminder – Yorkshire Post.  ““The council is looking for local communities too develop local solutions on how they are going to carry on that service. What we are encouraging people to do is think outside the library service and look to see how they can use it as a community base. We are asking them to take on the running of that, or if they want us to carry on running to find funds to make that happen. I welcome the community groups developing the proposals and we have still got time to work through them.”… “Campaigning at a high level is still going on but we are saying to people you can assume this won’t be successful in retaining the library as it is now.” 
• Oxfordshire – Library has not seen “Where’s Wally” book in years – Oxford Times.   “The cash-strapped authority is owed £17,210.85 on items not returned and £29,677.77 on returned items.”
• Westminster – Anger over library closure – Westminster Chronicle.  St James Library to be closed despite public objections.  “It’s outrageous that the council is spending over a £1million a year on eleven campaigners and expensive consultants, as this amount could keep the library open for the next three years.”.  Library to close 23rd August.

News

• Councils as “place shapers”: the future of local government? – Guardian.  Warwickshire, currently looking to give away or close  16 out of  its 34 descibed as a “place-shaping trailblazer”.  Drop-off point for books in local supermarket, shared buildings with local councils, children’s centres, village hall and Revenue and Customs.
• Literacy drive under threat, laureate warns – Independent (Eire).  Eerily reminiscent of British experience. 
• Public Libraries Act ignored, says man who wrote it – BookSeller.   “Former parliamentary counsel Francis Bennion drafted the bill that became the 1964 act, the cornerstone of the present public library service. In a letter to the Times today (16th August)”. “The civil servant spent 14 years in the Westminster Parliamentary Counsel Office drafting acts of parliament, as well as drafting the constitutions by which Pakistan and Ghana became republics.”.

• Will Kindles kill libraries? – Boston Phoenix.  “This week, OverDrive itself will host its own conference to help libraries deal with a massive onslaught of patrons clamoring to check out books on their Kindles. Can embattled public institutions handle such a drastic change? Does Kindle come to kill the American library, or to save it?” An excellent look at the issues involved. 

Changes

• Cambridgeshire – Campaign group: Friends of Comberton Area Libraries (FOCAL)  
• Lancashire –  Earby Library may be moved into New Road youth and community centre, with youth centre future itself uncertain.
• Surrey – Campaign group: Surrey Libraries Action Movement (SLAM).
• Wigan – Council report “The Next Chapter”.

Local news

• Bolton – New plans to shut libraries come under fire – Bolton News.  Second consultation too biased, says campaigners.  ” “We were amazed at how many people were prepared to fill in these council forms, despite their jargon and biased questions. It feels like being given the choice between being hung, shot or poisoned. People just want the council to find a way to keep these libraries open.” 
• Borders – Council reveal plans to shelve librarians in Borders – Border Telegraph.   “”If they are going to do it in one town they need to do it in every town otherwise we want a reduction in our community tax….”I fear that the library service is going to be depleted to such an extent that it won’t be retained in smaller towns like Selkirk.” 
• Rebate sought as former councillor warns of two-tier Borders – Southern Reporter.  
• Brent – High court decision on future of libraries to be reached in October – Harrow Times. 
• Cambridgeshire – New vision for Cambridgeshire libraries – Haverhill Echo.  “Ideas in also include libraries sharing facilities with small businesses such as the Post Office, and with Linton Library operating out of the Cathodeon Centre with other facilities the proposals would stand it in good stead.”.  Linton library may not be open in evenings. 
• Durham – Clayport library to cease Sunday opening – Northern Echo.    “At a time when we have to make significant savings as a result of the Government grant reductions it is simply not sustainable or sensible for Sunday opening to continue,”.
• Hammersmith & Fulham – Bush Theatre workers unearth old Shepherd’s Bush Library time capsule – Chronicle series.  Includes cutting that says ““Mr Edwards offered to build the library if the ratepayers would undertake to permanently maintain it under the provisions of the Libraries Act. The constituency was canvassed, and a public vote taken, which resulted in a majority of 2,440 in favour of the library.”
• Isle of Wight – New hope for Bembridge library – Ventnor Blog.  Isle of Wight Rural Community Council may take over lease from council to allow for volunteer-run library. “This proposal deals with a number of issues at a stroke, including insurances and employment legislation issues covered by TUPE, which up until now has been a major sticking point. But we are not out of the woods yet, as we have to pay for all utility services, maintenance and running costs which add up to around £12,000 a year.”
• Lancashire – Councillor slams plans to move Earby Library – Citizen.  Old building 10 minutes walk from centre of town..  “That building (Coronation Hall) is packed full of books. To close the library and replace it with a few shelves in a new location is despicable,”
• Oxfordshire – Funding cuts leave rural libraries at a disadvantage – Henley Standard.   “The county council’s premise right at the start is to prioritise five areas — where people live, work, shop and study and public transport. By those criteria these have to be urban areas. Once that was set then there was a bias against rural areas … This is not a plan for the future, it’s not even a proper plan. They have looked for the simplest way to solve their problem but it’s not managing it for the future.” 
• Voices for the library: Concern for the future of Goring’s much used resource – Newbury Today.  ” she believes that the council’s decision to put Goring library in a group that could see volunteers take over from professional staff over the next three years will almost certainly result in its ultimate demise.”
• Suffolk – Town council steps in to run library – Suffolk Free Press.  “Sudbury Library is among 14 others across the county which will be part of a new pilot scheme designed to save them from closure.”
• Group meets to debate pilot library project – Bury Free Press. 
• Walthamstow – More than 1000 sign libraries petition – This is Local London. “A day of action in protest at the proposed loss of Harrow Green Library and South Chingford library was organised by unions and anti-cuts groups in Walthamstow town Square on Saturday.”
• Wigan – Calls for council to run the trust – Wigan Today.  “An opposition councillor is demanding the town hall once again run its recreation services – from parks and football pitches to libraries and crematoria – because of the money allegedly lost at last year’s Haigh Fest pop concerts.” – claims event lost £250,000 but the Trust refuses to reveal true loss as it is “private”.
• Wokingham – Visitors to village library increase by 14 percent in a year – Henley Standard.   “The increase, the latest in a succession of annual rises, comes as Wokingham Borough Council plans to privatise its library service.” … “It is thought that a company could provide legal, human resources and IT services 20 per cent cheaper than the borough can. The bids are now closed and although a definite decision has not been made, all the preparation has been done and privatisation looks like the way they are going.”

News

• Book sniffer and Chris Mould take a trip to the Library – Book Sniffer.  Library campaigning through the medium of dogs and dog-related books.  Seriously.
• Digital libraries vision “bland and unchallenging” – UKauthorITy.   “…Liz McGettigan, libraries and information services manager at Edinburgh City council, said that while this vision “partly acknowledges the social and information role of libraries which is now as key as the book lending elements,” on the whole “it is a very bland document and not remotely innovative or challenging enough … There is no acknowledgement of a sense of place and local history, no attempt to portray a real vision of a library of the future.“.
• Government blamed after “bored” teenager resorts to picking up a book – NewsThump. “I’ve said all along that unless the government spends millions on youth centres equipped with computer games and pool tables, then a whole generation could be lost to the libraries.”
• L’Angleterre met la hache dans les bibliothèques [“England puts the axe into its libraries”] – Le Devoir.  Article (in French) says that major cuts that caused the riots also affect libraries and questions the potential success of the recent LGA report.  Cuts in libraries are not helping, especially as many are already operating with minimal resources.
• Library lottery plan holds communities to ransom – UNISON.   “The plans will create a postcode lottery, with some communities doing without libraries altogether if groups fail to rise to the challenge. If contracts with charities also fail, private companies are ready to come in and clean up.”… “”More than 30,000 children are leaving primary school with a reading age of seven or below – libraries are key to improving literacy, especially in deprived areas.”
• Public sector workers need “discipline and fear” says Oliver Letwin – Guardian.  Government coalition chief thinks excellence will be achieved by scaring staff into it.  “Letwin was speaking at the launch of a liberal thinktank’s report at the London headquarters of KPMG, one of the biggest recipients of government cash, which won the first contract for NHS commissioning following the decision to scrap primary care trusts and further open the health service to private companies.”
• Riots updated: Sennett, Rykwert, Till, De Botton, Tavernor and more on why Britain is burning – Architect’s Journal.  “Spaces for young people and public facilities in general (nurseries, libraries, green open spaces…) are definitely not a focus in the schemes we have been reviewing over the last few years.”
• Successfully spreading the online campaigning message – Voices for the Library.   Group highlighted as leaders in online campaigning – “You can help us achieve this by continuing to highlight the dreadful cuts that are happening to public libraries in this country – share campaigning links via Facebook and Twitter; share images via Flickr, Photobucket and Youtube; or simply just talk to someone face-to-face about it. It all really does help to spread the word.”
• Three Rs: Reading, wRiting and Rioting – Walk You Home.  “… I’m certainly not suggesting that if you chuck a few library buildings into places where people are looting and burning, that suddenly you’ve solved all of society’s problems, but I do think that libraries and librarians have a role to play as part of a much bigger picture.”.  Libraries improve literacy, literacy improves life chances…and several other pertinent points. 

Changes

Hampshire – Introducing children’s fines (5p per book per day up to 40p max). 
Powys – Below average assessment, inc. bookstock.
West Sussex – Angmering Library possibly to be run with volunteers and extra payments by parish council. 

Local news

• Barnet – Council claimes library report “along same lines” as its policy – Times series.  Councillor says ““I am delighted that the MLA is running along the same lines and recognizes that the proposals we are making show how we can improve the service at a time of austerity.” [Barnet wishes to close 2 and sell off the buildings of a further 4, moving libraries into shared or cheaper buildings].
• Birmingham – What a valuable community resource – Voices for the Library.  The situation in Sutton Coldfield and in other libraries in the authority.
• Brent – Warned not to close libraries “by stealth” – BookSeller.  “I am concerned that Labour [who dominate the council] may try to pre-empt the judge’s decision by reducing opening hours and failing to re-stock or fully staff the threatened libraries. This is not acceptable,” he warned. “It is still not too late for Labour councillors to abandon their half-baked plan to shut half of Brent’s libraries.” says Lib Dem group leader.
• Relief for Brent library campaigners as text case adjourned over the Summer – Save Kensal Rise Library.   “Relief” as it shows judge is spending enough time on it.
• Calderdale – These are our assets, not the councillors – Halifax Courier.  “So the council has been urged to sell off more of its assets. I have news, our worthy councillors do not own these assets, they are managing them on behalf of the public of Calderdale. These assets:- museums, swimming pools, libraries, car parks, etc, should be made best use of for the benefit of the public.”
• Conwy – Colwym Bay bookshop to open doors as a library – North Wales Weekly News.   Swanlake Bookshop in Hawarden to offer free loan of books in return for membership fee.  “She also criticised the government’s “negative approach in supporting local libraries. I also want to motivate young people to engage their mind in a meaningful activity as part of a preventative measure against harmful thoughts and activities, such as the current riots in the country.”
• Croydon – Residents comment disregarded and many denied a say on libraries – Sanderstead Library Campaign Group.   Council refuses to give full results of consultation, disregarded question which allowed answer “do nothing”, cross-part commission on libraries refused, many residents still not aware of “market testing” (preliminary move to privatisation) of libraries, no update to campaigners or residents groups.
• Hampshire – County Councils’ library service to find children over late books – This is Hampshire.  “Book borrowers face a raft of new and increased charges from next month in an attempt to rake in an extra £30,000.”  Lib Dem opposition councillor says ““Charging late fees for children is a reading tax. This all covers up the more amazing fact that the county has lost 30,000 books in recent years. The council should concentrate on tracking down these rather than discouraging children reading.” 
• Hertfordshire – Ex-library worker hits out at County Hall’s “appalling” job cuts strategy – Mercury.  Staff made redundant after months of uncertainty, left feeling like “hey were something undesirable on the bottom of someone’s shoe.” and sick that council chief calls refraining increasing her £203,000 salary this year “real leadership”.  Lower-ranking staff cut more deeply than senior.  
• Powys – Library spending “not high enough” says report – County Times.  ““It is evident that the authority recognises its areas of weakness,” said the Welsh Public Library Standards assessment for 2010-11, “but financial constraints are increasingly becoming a factor in forward planning.”
• Surrey – On borrowed time – Surrey Downs (page 41).  Reduction in libraries (some of them well-used) will have disproportionate effect on those without transport and will also affect childrens’ literacy.  Swish marketing campaign – similar to cinemas in the 1980s – could reverse decline.
• Waltham Forest – Chingford: community library proposed – Guardian series.   500 petition to save South Chingford.  Branch may move into nearby (also soon to be closed) Waltham Forest Direct shop, to be run by volunteers.  Council calls it “library of the future”, would need up to 200 (sic) volunteers to work.
• West Sussex – Vote: Should Angmering save library from closure – Littlehampton Gazette.  Survey shows people willing to pay more in parish council tax in order to pay for library. “Discussions are likely to involve the parish ploughing money into keeping the library open, and even the possibility of the building, which also houses a children and family centre, being sold to the parish council, which would move its offices there and develop a village “hub”.”

News

• 50p tax rate “only” brings in £750 million? Imagine the libraries you could build – Chris Coltrane.  Conservatives wish to cut tax for the wealthiest as early as April 2012 in a move strangely at odds with the deficit-cutting agenda.
• Arts Council England statement on libraries – Alan Gibbons.  “Our key role will be advocacy for new partnerships and innovative approaches, particularly at local level” [This is worryingly close to the current code for encouraging volunteers to run otherwise closed libraries].  Arts Council aims to increase advocacy and stress central role of libraries in local life.

• Campaigners critical over Government library blueprint – BookSeller.  “…librarian group Voices for the Library have strongly criticised the report’s recommendations, saying they will do “serious damage to our public library network, and be counterproductive to efforts to modernise libraries and meet the needs of the UK public”. Libraries campaigner Desmond Clarke said it was “absolutely disgraceful” the report was “coming up with excuses to replace paid librarians with volunteers”, and that overall the report was “remarkably unimaginative.”
• Life in Books: Janice Galloway – Guardian. “she records libraries as the sole bright spot of her university career: “I hid in the library more often than not, reading the starts of books to find which ones spoke back, developing a trust in the friendship of the well-ordered word I’ve never lost.”

• Opinion: Public interest needs protection in deals to privatise libraries – Mercury News (USA).  Privatising Santa Clarita libraries has cost taxpayer $12 million so far.  Other examples include lower opening hours, less qualified staff.  “Elsewhere in the nation, the Linden, N.J., library terminated its contract with LSSI after determining the town could offer the same level of services for $300,000 less. Fargo, N.D., also terminated LSSI’s contract after the company repeatedly requested budget increases and failed to pay bills on time.” .
• Potent mix of cuts, unemployment could fuel more UK riots – Reuters.  “Britain has embarked on an unprecedented level of spending cuts in an effort to drive down its budget deficit, with local councils slashing a host of services from elderly care to libraries.”
• Tintin and the value of libraries – JS Online (USA).  “Libraries, like every other entity in the media and publishing worlds, are moving resources to the digital realm, and that’s how it must be. But never underestimate the value of a child being able to sit in a room and browse freely through as many books as she wants and take a few home to read anywhere. That will always be valuable, and I hope that libraries will always be able to provide that.”

 Shirley Burnham on chief librarians

“…chief librarians are, indeed, advising councils that small community libraries should be closed, divested or otherwise wrecked. This is NOT a new thing, by the way. And they are still doing it ! Now, that’s not the whole profession, but it’s those at the top of it. Do hard-working library assistants and librarians agree with it ? No, they most likely don’t, but are gagged. I wish that even one individual in the SCL (The Society of Chief Librarians) who disapproves would speak up, that CILIP (The librarians’ professional body) would publicly condemn it,” a comment on The Good Library Blog.

“Notably, ours in Swindon in 2009 published a report recommending closure of 9 small libraries.   Dorset campaigners are now facing the exact same thing, as are many others.  I was on a ‘panel’ at an SCL conference once  —  never seen such a bunch of po-faced people.  As friendly as vinegar !  They loved Vaizey, though with his Future Libraries [expletive deleted]. That lot, speak out ?  Before hell freezes over ?  I think not.   But at least one of them ought to  —  and without delay.” in personal email, published with permission.

• Women’s Institute “disappointed” by library report – BookSeller.  ““The minister discusses balancing the changing needs of communities with budget pressures, yet beneath the promising rhetoric on innovation and creativity, this report paints a picture of a service under threat. Replacing trained staff with volunteers is a false economy,” Bond warned. “Volunteers have an important role to play but they are not a replacement for a professional service and we would welcome more detail on the evidence to support the claim that ‘local people want to play a more active role in running libraries’,” she said.

Local News

• Bolton – Argument to close libraries is flawed say campaigners – Bolton News.  ““Several of the objective criteria which the council said last February it would be using to make the decision, such as GCSE qualifications of local residents, were left out of the table altogether. Others, including the number of libraries within a 20 minute journey time, were given double weighting without any reasoned justification. “It leaves the council open to the accusation that the figures were rigged to obtain a preordained result.”
• Oxfordshire – 1000 people respond to library cuts in two months – Henley Standard.  Campaigners push for public to respond to consultation, using chance to put comments in (not just ticking boxes). ““Sonning Common library has not been saved. Although the council has promised to keep the library open, it is proposing to cut our professional staff hours from 25 a week to eight and substitute professional staff with volunteers.” Councillor says “we have got the core service saved and that is the main thing”.
• Tameside – Carrbrook library founder says it is “community heart” –  BBC.   3500 books offered in cabin after council withdrew service in 2007.  Volunteers run it, books are donated.
• Wakefield – Hope for library as fight continues – Wakefield Express.  ““We’re now looking at sustaining a library service in the area rather than saving it. We talked about getting new organisations interested in using it as a base, like charities who might want to base outreach workers there for example. It has to have more than one use if it is to survive and if we can get some money behind us from some bigger organisations, we might even be able to build a much-needed new library eventually.”

The petition says…

“I, the undersigned, believe that libraries are an essential local educational and information resource yet with many libraries under threat, the future of the library service is at risk. I want to see the value of libraries recognised at both local and national levels and I am calling on the Government to honour both its commitment to act as a champion of the library service, and its duty of oversight to ensure that a comprehensive and efficient library service is provided.”  Petition in support of public libraries,

It’s supported by the Women’s Institute and Voices for the Library and, I suspect, scores of campaign groups up and down the country.  Sign it by clicking on this link.  Thank you. 

• Are public libraries obsolete? – Blogcritics.org by Nukapai.   “A good library is worth saving and a bad one is worth improving because when libraries work, they offer us much more than books on paper. You can also download free ebooks and audibooks from the convenience of your own home and pop them on that digital device. Good libraries have good librarians and good library assistants. Good libraries offer help for job seekers, group sessions for new parents and their children, access to valuable market research data for would-be entrepreneurs and all manner of things that don’t always seem at the forefront of discussions on the value of the library.”

• Libraries must be the future: for the good of democracy – Thoughts of a Wannabe Librarian.   “The assumption made by many when discussing library closures is that the internet will remain static, forever acting as a source of free and open information.  But, of course, the internet is not static and is subject to change.  And who is the biggest driver of this change?  Corporations.” 
• Love libraries day – Time to read.   “Time To Read would love to try and help co-ordinate some innovative activity across North West Libraries and would like to hear from anyone with interesting ideas to offer. Time To Read has some funds to support activity but is short of time, so ideas must be easy to understand & organise, with plenty of publicity potential as well as impact.”
• Schools’ library snubs hit literacy rates – BookSeller.   “”Libraries are essential to provide free and open access to a wide variety of learning materials. Economic constraints are forcing some of these to close and for schools to limit their library facilities, and this can only be a barrier to successful literacy for learners of all ages.”
• Voices for the Library now available on FourSquare – Thoughts of a Wannabe Librarian.  Another Web 2.0 product is used in the campaign to save threatened libraries and to publicise the positive features of those who are not.
• Why we should ban e-petitions – New Statesman.   “So there you have it. Britain speaks. And it when it does, it tells us to tear up the Human Rights Act, re-open all our libraries and get Kate and Wills to start polishing their CVs.”.  Article is against e-petitions as they will be puppets of “The lobbyists, the activists, the business interests; those who have the time, money and resources to manipulate them in their favour.”.  [Library campaigners apparently have time, money and resources according to this article, which comes as, frankly, a bit of a shock].  Article concludes MPs should “explain face-to-face how they have absolutely no intention of withdrawing from the Human Rights Act, re-opening our libraries or abolishing the monarchy.”.
• Women’s Institute launches library petition – BookSeller.   “Prime minister David Cameron has pledged to hold a debate on any petition with more than 100,000 signatures. Launching its Love Your Libraries campaign in June, the Women’s Institute said: “[We] believe it is time for communities to love their libraries; to use them and share why we value their services, and to raise awareness of the threats to their future.”

Changes

• Leicestershire – Volunteers to be recruited to staff libraries.  
• North Yorkshire – 10 out of 11 mobiles have now been stopped.
• Suffolk – 14 libraries under threat (Aldeburgh, Bungay, Eye, Debenham, Stradbroke, Gainsborough, Chantry, Ipswich, Stoke, Rosehill, Westbourne, Sudbury, Thurston and Wickham Market) to be run independently.  30% cut over 3 years.  Unclear what will happen to libraries if the pilot, starting in April 2012, fails therefore these libraries are counted as under threat until further clarification.
• Wiltshire – Confirmed all branches and mobiles will stay open, due to use of volunteers.

Local News

• Birmingham – Cabinet and scrutiny committees fall out over budget deficit – Birmingham Post.  “Two months into the financial year the committees, which run local libraries, sports centres and parking, are overspending by £2.1 million and have launched a fast-track review of future service delivery.”
• Bournemouth – Sophie rises to Bournemouth libraries ‘ 100 book challenge – Daily Echo.  “The youngster reads on average 10 books a week, but there just wasn’t enough space to record them all on her library reading log.” 
• Bradford – Growing opposition to Burley library plan – Wharfedale Observer.   “A consultation meeting has been called over unconventional plans to transform a village library into a mini supermarket, as opposition from local traders grows.”  Co-op wants to take over library, providing new one of first floor.  Supporters think it will save library, opposition think it will close local shops.
• Brent – On Philip Pullman, the author “who hasn’t forgotten why people need stories” – Save Kensal Rise Library.   Summary of recent excellent fundraising event with well-known library campaigner and author.
• Private Eye eyes Brent – Preston Library Campaign.   Cricklewood and Kensal Rise libraries are earmarked for closure but council has been repeatedly told that they cannot be used for any other purpose due to Literary and Scientific Institutions Act 1854.  All Souls College Oxford would regain ownership if they were closed.  Criteria for volunteers to run libraries were kept secret from the volunteers,
• Cambridgeshire – Emerging library vision revealed as part of review – Fenland Citizen.  ““We have already seen Post Office, doctors and other councils share our library facilities and believe this is a model that could be rolled out across Cambridgeshire. But to do this we will be talking to communities to see what they want and how this can be delivered.” Council is looking at a very wide variety of options.
• Library service plans dynamic ways” to save money – BBC.  “In order to make savings, a number of libraries are being given the option to run their own facilities on a voluntary basis.  The council is also considering combining libraries with post offices in rural areas, opening the buildings up for school and community use, and basing police surgeries in libraries.”
• Conwy – Town council backs fight to save Penrhyn Bay library – North Wales Weekly News.  Unanimous vote from Llandudno Council to write to Conwy against the closure. Consultation goes on until next week.
• Croydon – Library users denied say on future – Sanderstead Library Campaign Group.  “The decision to market test involves all 13 libraries and not just the six that were the subject of the original consultation. Residents are yet to see one official notification of this decision so many are still unaware. Not even a simple A4 notice has been spotted in any Croydon library.”
• Devon – Sidmouth librarian’s tea party send off – Sidmouth Herald. ““It is good libraries are not going to close, but savings had to be made. I looked at the options and decided to opt for voluntary redundancy.“I don’t think the public realised quite the extent of the cuts and they haven’t ended yet”.
• Dorset – Councillor defends library closures – View Online.   Councillor says ““At the end of the day I voted for Option B because I felt it was designed to build up our library service, to improve it, to increase its use and to give it a bigger role.”…but campaigner responds…”“The fact that there might be more cuts one day is no reason, in our view, for depriving these small and often isolated rural communities of their libraries. Their loss will cause much hardship among the young and the old and the disabled. Why inflict such pain when the feared cuts might never come?”
• Harrow – Self service machines are a hit at Harrow libraries –  Harrow Observer.  “All of Harrow’s libraries will be fitted with the equipment by September and are part of the borough’s battle to keep its much loved libraries open.”
• Leicestershire – Loughborough library has opening hours reduced – Loughborough Echo.  All libraries have had hours reduced.  Council looks to volunteers to help staff service.
• Newham – Campaign to save foreign papers – Yellow Advertiser. Newham Monitoring Project campaigning against decision to remove foreign-language periodicals, suggested by mayor to encourage learning of English. Meeting on Tuesday August 16th.

• North Yorkshire – Sad farewell to book bus – Wetherby News.   10 out of 11 mobiles have now stopped.  “The children at the playgroup, aged between two and five, will now use their own books at the playgroup, as the Tadcaster Library is too far for them to walk.” 
• Barlby library closure consultation – Selby Times.  “Barlby and Osgodby parish councillors will be asking for the views of local residents as they try to formulate a plan for the library’s future. Barlby Library is set to close if the community does not get involved in running it. Tory-led North Yorkshire County Council has faced a county-wide public outcry over its controversial plans to save £2m from the libraries budget and £69m in all.”.  Keeping library open would cost £13 p.a. per household.
• Suffolk – Community-run libraries set for April 2012 – BookSeller. 14 Libraries previously reprieved by public protest will be run by volunteers/charities/town councils as part of a pilot to see if possible.  30% cut in budget over 3 years hoped for.
• Fourteen libraries chosen for Suffolk County Council’s pilot community project – EADT.  “Suffolk County Council will work with the organisations – including town and parish councils, community groups, a staff collective and an independent community company – to deliver seven pilot projects.” 14 libraries to be grouped into 7 pilots. 
• Eye, Stradbroke and Debenham libraries team up – Diss Express.   “When the projects go live in April 2012, library users will see more outreach services, local decision-making, fundraising and activities, and more public services brought together under one roof. The projects will be used to assess the effectiveness of the council’s new approach to library services.”
• Wiltshire – Your help has saved libraries – Wiltshire Times.   “Thanks to the efforts of more than 300 people all the county’s 31 libraries will remain open, at a time when government cuts have resulted in closures nationally. All five of Wiltshire Council’s mobile library routes will also continue, serving the county’s most rural communities.”