“Rejoicing in the redundancy of public servants”

Please sign the national petition in support of public libraries.

News 

• Dog-eared paperback, newly endangered in an E-book Age –  New York Times (USA).  “Recession-minded readers who might have picked up a quick novel in the supermarket or drugstore are lately resisting the impulse purchase… while the publishing industry had expanded over all, publishers’ mass-market paperback sales had fallen 14 percent since 2008.”

• It’s about books, stupid – Good Library Blog.   Tim Coates has been in New York, librarians there shocked at UK situation.  US librarians after 2001 “decided to increase the book fund in community libraries, particularly the funds for buying books for children” as their main policy.  “By operating that policy, use of the public libraries, and ‘circulation’ – which is their word for book lending- have risen constantly. There have rarely been cuts and few closures. Even now, when the recesssion in New York is visible in the number of closed shops and business premises, the public libraries are clearly valued.”.  This compared to reduction in bookstock in the UK.
• London Libraries Consortium now numbers 15 London boroughs and 3.6 million inhabitants as Merton joins – PR.com.  “Although we already use Axiell’s OpenGalaxy, procuring through the consortium means we will now benefit from free upgrades to new applications and tools which are currently chargeable, such as the 24*7 automated telephone renewals hotline and acquisitions module. We were required by our councillors to prove a very strong case for savings and return on investment and were able to develop a robust case.”
• Loss and recovery: librarians bear witness to September 11th 2001 – Youtube.
• SOS for English Libraries – Alan Gibbons.  Full English translation of Le Monde article.  

Changes

• Aberdeen – “Silver City Vault” for online historical photographs and records launched.  
• Bradford – Burley in Wharfedale Library may be co-located with a Co-op shop due to £200k backlog in maintenance and unfit building.
• Calderdale – Some libraries and mobiles under threat – £550k cut (not £250k as reported previously), stopping mobile libraries, reducing opening hours.  Group – Friends of Todmorden Library.
• Kingston – £38k more for Hook Library.  Spending freeze on “all but essential” items.  
• Plymouth – Schools Library Service under threat. 

Local News

• Aberdeen – Lord Provost launches Aberdeen City Libraries online digital archive – Aberdeen council.  “city’s new online home for thousands of historic photographs and records at the Central Library tomorrow [Sat, 10 Sept]. The ‘Silver City Vault’ makes the Aberdeen Local Studies archive available free to remote users for the very first time.”…” addition, the website contains over 40,000 index records for events like marriage notices and newspaper obituaries and more than 10,000 articles from local journals covering individuals, organisations and events.”
• Bolton – MPs fight back over proposed library closures  – Bolton News.   “The town’s three MPs are writing to Secretary of State for Local Government Eric Pickles to demand the £400,000 needed to save Bolton’s libraries.” … “Leaders from the three main political parties and the leader of the Save Bolton Libraries Campaign will debate the planned closures of five libraries in front of a “Question Time”-style audience.”
• Bradford – Burley Library and store plans expected soon – Ilkley Gazette.   “Plans for a combined Co-op store and library building could be submitted in the next two to three weeks, a meeting of more than 200 Burley-in-Wharfedale residents was told this week.” … “The council’s principal libraries officer, Jackie Kitwood, assured residents the library was not under threat, and the council had no plans to close it.  But she said there was a £200,000 backlog of maintenance work, and the 1970s building was not “fit for purpose”.”
• Buckinghamshire – Library process “like swimming through treacle” – Bicester Advertiser and Review.  “Friends of Winslow Library are looking for volunteers to help on the group, and they particularly want to hear from people with professional skills or organisational experience.”  … ““BCC has only recently begun to define what support would be available if local residents want to take on the library and, of course, what it would cost. This process involves detailed discussions about ownership of the library buildings, the use of BCC staff librarians, IT, and reservation and management of the book stocks.”
• Calderdale – Libraries on hit list again – Halifax Courier.   ““The council has already worked hard to make savings and this has been achieved through better technology, smarter working and keeping a close eye on the purse strings. But the reality is that we still need to make further savings across the service. The council will consider a number of options and we are keen to have people’s thoughts and ideas.”
• Alan lends library group support – Todmorden News.   Friends of Todmorden Library – “Having decided to stage a festival, they wrote to Yorkshire-born Mr Bennett to tell him it was taking place and were delighted to receive a personalised doodle of himself, adorned with a “good luck” message, very shortly afterwards.”
• Inverclyde – Positive report about Inverclyde Libraries – Inverclyde Now.   Scottish Library and Information Council assesses libraries, with good results meaning eligibility for government grants.  “‘good’ for sufficiency, range and suitability of resources and staff interaction and support, and ‘very good’ for arrangements for access.”
• Kingston – Hook Library – This is Local London.  “The budget for the Hook library has been increased by £38,800. The south of the borough neighbourhood committee has found £74,100 of savings out of its budget for August.” 
• Plymouth – Academy uptake poses threat to city’s library service – This is Plymouth.   Schools Library Service under threat … “The service currently operates in 81 per cent of Plymouth schools but in the light of the rising number of academies, councillors expressed concern at the sustainability of the service.”
• Suffolk – Mobile libraries come under scrutiny – Haverhill Echo.   “A six week consultation over the future of Suffolk County Council’s mobile library service, looking specifically at how users think savings can be made, was launched on Monday. Suffolk County Council currently spends £600,000 a year providing the service for around 7,000 customers. This equates to £7.70 per customer visit as opposed to £2.51 in the county’s built libraries.”
• Mobile libraries consultation – Diss Express.  
• Ideas wanted for keeping libraries mobile – Bury Free Press.