Brent, Bury, Coventry, Tameside and CILIP
The decision on the Brent appeal should be made tomorrow afternoon. Elsewhere, Bury, Coventry and Tameside have announced big cuts, with some closing and some just being hollowed out. Coventry is boasting of not closing any libraries but seems happy to close some buildings and call moving some of the books into a doctor’s surgery as equal. Oh dear.
I don’t cover much about CILIP (the professional association for librarians and some others) on this blog to a great extent, due to the sadly low amount of coverage it receives, for whatever reason, in the local or national media. However, a question was put at the online hustings debate for its election of Trustees today (Thursday 10th) which may be of interest to campaigners, many of whom I know are disappointed by the lack of general overt support from librarians for their cause. The question (1:02 to 1:10) was whether public librarians are to blame for the current state of affairs by keeping too low a profile. These, in summary (please note the text is not verbatim), were the answers:
- Mike Hosking. There are high profile librarians everywhere who “make a tremendous impact”. Public libraries have been badly served by MLA, by the DCMS and by ministers who have not “put their heads abover the parapet”. Despite tales everywhere of library closures, behind the headlines, one of the clear things is we have a huge amount of public support. Some libraries will close in the future and “I am not personally averse to some libraries closing”. I have closed fifteen myself. We do have to change and deliver things differently. It’s going to be a tough decade.
- Sue Cook. I have met some colourful characters that are putting their heads above the parapet. We have been let down by politicians like David Lammy who used their position in the DCMS as a stepping stone, councillors too. “I was disappointed in the MLA” – it did well in the museum sector but not in libraries. Some librarians do believe that making no trouble will allow them to survive. The new generation of librarians don’t agree with keeping heads down. “We do need a higher profile, we do need a very very strong brand”.
- Liz McGettigan. “Yes, I do think we are to blame, to be honest”. Anyone high profile is doing it in an isolated fashion. Even if we are high-profile, we don’t lobby and sell to the right people. Our sector does not make it easy for us – we fall between the stools of Culture and Education, and libraries are changing rapidly. However, librarians are getting better at advocacy.
- Sue Westcott. “I think we have to take some of the blame because we take some of the credit for some of the amazing things public libraries do”. Sue uses public library as a user, not as a worker. She has seen excellent use of imagination in local branches that boosts them. However, “we have to stop being so politically naive”, CILIP needs to be less trusting of ministers (no minister, especially junior minister, is there to do anything else but to serve their own political career), need to be like professional lobbyists. We can draw on the experience of CILIP members in political environments to help us.
- Marie Cotera. “I think we are to blame, yes, I do”. We don’t know what we are and what we do so how are going to communicate that to other people? “We have too many names”. How many people do we know not in the profession that know what we do? What’s a “knowledge manager”? We’re not politically savvy. We need to show how we contribute to a politician’s agenda. “I don’t think we understand how really important we are”. Knowledge and information transforms lives so we are very important and we need to push that. “We are to blame and we need to sort it out sooner rather than later”.
If you are a CILIP member, vote with care.
- Please sign the national petition in support of public libraries.
- Email Justin Tomlinson MP for Swindon about your concerns. He is the chair of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group for libraries to be launched in December.
- Vote for public libraries to be campaigned on by the highly successful 38 Degrees group, you can vote three times.
News
- Calculating the value of a community’s library use – Swiss Army Librarian. Type in usage statistics in left-hand box, provides the value to comunity in right-hand box. Needs to be converted from dollars to pounds and some of the formulae may be different in the UK but a very useful.
- Volunteers are only a stay of execution – Infoism. “This policy does not present a sustainable solution and creates a two-tier system whereby those with access to a so-called ‘community’ library have access to a second class service when compared with those privileged to live near a fully funded public library”
Changes
Bury – £540k cut plus £60k school libraries cut. Some libraries may close.
Coventry – “Many” library buildings could close and transfer into “schools, shops, or doctor’s surgeries.”. Canley, Stoke, Radford, Earlsdon and Hillfields mentioned [not counted as “under threat” as yet until more information is received – Ed.]
Tameside – £900k cut from £3.5m budget, of which £200k already found from job losses. At least one branch, such as Dukinfield, may be closed. May use volunteers. Consultation starting November 17th until mid February.
Local News
- Brent – Judges hear library closures appeal – Press Association. “Three judges are being urged to overturn a decision of a High Court judge who recently rejected the claims of campaigners that the closure decision was “fundamentally flawed and unlawful”.”
- Appeal for Brent libraries to be heard today in High Court – Harrow Times.
- Library closures: Councils “shirked duties” – BBC. “Ms Rose said they would be querying “whether Brent breached its duty under the Equality Act by failing to give any regard at all to the risk that its policy and the implementation of its policy would discriminate indirectly against Asians, Hindus and Muslims”. She continued: “It is is clear that there was a very significant risk that the implementation of this policy would give rise to indirect discrimination against Asians.”
- Campaigners return to court in fight to save six libraries in Brent from the axe – London 24. “Ms Gee said: “We have to be hopeful. “If we lose the ball it will be in All Souls court. All Souls will have to speak up. It has to show that it believes in books and libraries.”
- Council tells residents to use libraries in another borough – Preston Library Campaign. “The Brent Council spokeswoman said it was “nonsense” that the council has been misleading anyone. She said: “It is true that everyone living in the borough is no more than a mile and a half from a library, either in Brent or a neighbouring borough, and many residents choose to use a library in another borough. This was clearly explained in the proposals.’’
- Bury – Libraries may shut as town hall wields axe in bid to save £23m – Manchester Evening News. Survey of all cuts in Bury gives main prominence to libraries. “A full review of the library service will start next year. The council wants to save £540,000. A similar review in Bolton, to save £400,000, led to the closure of five of the town’s 15 libraries. Libraries services in schools will also be ‘re-modelled’ to save £60,000 more from the budget. The council stressed that a public consultation would be launched before any savings are confirmed in libraries.”
- Conwy – Library service one of the poorest in Wales according to new report – North Wales Weekly News. “The annual report by CyMAL (Museums Archives and Libraries Wales) on behalf of the Welsh Government reveals that Conwy only achieves six of the 14 Welsh Public Library Standards (WPLS).”…”The report sternly concludes that the Welsh Government expects to hear that the libraries modernisation process has been completed by the next annual return in July 2012, and that ‘firm decisions have been made in relation to future library provision’.” [Wales has Library Standards – England does not – Ed.]
- Coventry – Libraries would share premises with other services – Coventry Telegraph. “Many” libraries could move [reduce? – Ed.] into other buildings such as doctors’ surgeries but overall number of libraries will not reduce. “She said Coventry would not be following Conservative-run Warwickshire County Council’s “disgraceful” plans to hive off nearly half its 34 libraries to community volunteers, whom she said would be unlikely to keep running services in the long-term.” … “She described Canley library as “grotty”, and Stoke, Radford, Earlsdon and Hillfields were among those deemed unsuitable for modern use or lacking facilities.”
- Cumbria – Library service looks to councillors for help – North West Evening Mail. Library usage has changed so service needs reviewing, “The committee had been asked to form a working group to assess how to modernise the area’s libraries. But at yesterday’s meeting, it was decided that the issue was so important that all 12 councillors from the group would examine the options. Cumbria County Council is aiming to revamp the county’s libraries and held a consultation this summer to discuss their future. More than 4,000 responses were received, and now the county council is taking the next step.”
- Dorset – Charmouth: Residents in last ditch attempt to save library – Bridport News. “I think the Conservatives have set their faith against it and although they base their arguments on what has turned out to be completely wrong information, I don’t think they will admit that and go back on it.” … may turn into withdrawn library “Proposed uses for the building include storytelling sessions for pre-school children, and working with the WRVS and Dorset POPP to run Wayfinders, a scheme for befriending isolated people.”
- Civic leaders vote again for future of Dorset’s libraries – Dorset Echo. “Only within the last few days have our communities finally been given some hint of what the council will offer us if we take over the running of our libraries.However, they have not told us enough for us to be able to make proper plans.”
- Herefordshire – Future Libraries Programme: How this might affect Herefordshire – Hereford Library Users’ Group. Worries over volunteers taking over libraries, loss of statutory protection, “hiving-off of libraries” to Trusts.
- North Yorkshire – Library jobs to go – BBC. 36 FTE jobs (one-fifth) to be replaced with volunteers. If not enough volunteers, libraries will close. “Children’s author Emily Diamond has been campaigning to keep Bilton library, in Harrogate, open. She said she was “really sad” about the job losses, but added: “I’m pleased we can keep as many open as we can. However, running a community library service would be a “massive job”, she added.”
- One fifth of North Yorks library staff to go – BookSeller. “Scarborough borough councillor Nick Harvey, from the Green party, criticised the plan. He said: “Running a library is exceedingly complex, how many of these community solutions will be here in a few years’ time?”
- Suffolk – “New Strategic Direction” alive and well – Rosehill Readers. “Bemused and angry library campaigners watched yet another farce unfold before their eyes at the Suffolk County Council Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday 8th November. The Cabinet continued on its path of divesting the Public Library Service in Suffolk, despite claims to the contrary by Cllr. Judy Terry, who seems intent on turning a loved public service into groups of competing businesses staffed increasingly by volunteers.”. Funding may be for only two years, increasing reliance on volunteers, cost may be more than in-house option.
- Tameside – Some Tameside libraries could face axe in shake-up – Tameside Advertiser. “”Earlier this year the council undertook a voluntary severance exercise and the library service took the opportunity to reduce staffing as much as reasonably possible. We are now reaching the limits of what further efficiencies can be achieved, without a reduction in the overall portfolio.”
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about 12 years ago
“The decision on the Brent appeal should be made tomorrow afternoon.” From what I can gather on Twitter Glouc. and Somerset seems to be put forward to next week (Wed.?).
1) Can it be demonstrated to library campaign groups that the standards that were defined by The Report of the Working Party were subsequently amended (and ultimately “dropped”) with proper process and due procedure? This is of obvious importance.
2) Francis Bacon (barrister) states that “A mere literal compliance without substance will not suffice”. ‘Manifestly’ the 1964 Act was an act in which no one would have to walk more than one mile to their nearest library. Likewise ‘manifestly’, a library was to be staffed by trained staff and professionals, not one which had been taken over by volunteers.
These are questions that might properly be asked, and a judge should be aware in providing judgement that if these questions are not answered, then library campaign groups will continue to seek the answers.
about 12 years ago
[The following are notes from the above.]
From the second reading of the 1964 Act:
“Clause 7(2) indicates under three headings what is implied by the words, “a comprehensive and efficient library service”. First, the authority must secure adequate stocks both by buying ahem itself and by arrangement with other library authorities. Secondly, it should encourage the public to use these stocks and provide them with the necessary advice and help. Thirdly, it should secure full co-operation with other authorities concerned.”
“Local authorities are naturally anxious to know the standard against which they should measure the efficiency of the service they are providing. These are set out in some detail in the Report of the Working Party on Standards; and its would be the intention of the Secretary of State to refer to the relevant passages of this Report by a circular to local authorities when the Bill becomes law. On the question of standards, there are three points to which I should like to draw the attention of the House. First, the Working Party indicated the annual additions they would expect to a library’s stock of books, given that its existing stock was adequate. Secondly, they drew attention to the importance of co-operation between neighbouring public library authorities below the level of the regional and national arrangements to which I shall return in a minute. There is room for experiment here, and we hope that the Bill will encourage a big development in such arrangements for local co-operation between authorities of all types. Thirdly, the Working Party drew attention to the importance of employing staff adequate both in number and qualification. The Secretary of State will need to take all these factors into account when he considers whether he should make orders under Clause 6.”
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1964/jun/30/public-libraries-and-museums-bill#column_517
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1964/75?view=extent
Note however if anyone has a copy of the “circular” mentioned above, it has not been made public, nor any of the subsequent documents from when the standards were amended through to ultimately being “dropped.” We essentially only have anecdotal evidence of these proceedings of the Act, which is very surprising given that they must surely have been documents required for legal purposes, and given library campaign groups will obviously given the current situation libraries find themselves in, require to see these documents i) for historical reasons, and ii) in order to validate the process by which the standards were apparently dropped.
In addition to the issues brought to bear by the Hansard record of the second reading above, and very much of interest to groups campaigning against library closures, is branch library provision. This is not directly mentioned in Hansard, however The Report of the Working Party[1] states in paragraph 103 “We think…” that in urban areas no person should have to travel more than one mile to a library:
1. There is the question of whether or not the circular mentioned in the second reading might have referred to this paragraph directly – since we do not have a copy we cannot know for sure, however:
1. The authority is required to “encourage the public” to use library stocks, it could conceivably at least have been directly referenced in the circular.
2. In this[2] report from Acumen Research and Consultancy Ltd branch provision is directly identified as one of the three “most important recommendations” of the Report of the Working Party, which would add weight to the suggestion paragraph 103 may have been directly included in the circular.
[cont. below]
about 12 years ago
[cont. from above]
However unless it can be proved that the standards were mistakenly dropped, the above is only of historical interest.
[1] Great Britain. Ministry of Education; Bourdillon, H. T. (1962). Standards of Public Library Service in England and Wales. Report of the Working Party appointed by the Minister of Education in March 1961. (Chairman, H. T. Bourdillon.). London : H.M.S.O.
[2] Moore, Nick (July 2003). “Public Library Trends”. Acumen.
2. While the circular may not have directly referenced paragraph 103, a local authority is still required to provide a service that is “efficient” for the public to use (if a person at home finds that they would like to use the library, but it would be of less value to them than the time and resources required to make use of the library, then this essentially is an efficiency issue):
1. The Report of the Working Party did however make the recommendation that an efficient library service was one in which a library user would not have to walk more than 1 mile to their nearest library. This is by no means a number that had been plucked out of the air, the issue of an efficient library service was under scrutiny from at least the point of the Roberts Report prior to the The Report of the Working Party, and this was the conclusion of The Report of the Working Party after many hours of analysis and reasoning. Further most if not all library authorities based their service on this standard in subsequent years. The public I would think would also agree that a library that is 20 minutes walk away is feasible to use, if this were say doubled which would be the result of some of the current library closure programmes, then the public I am sure would agree that a 40 minute walk to their nearest library is a considerable lowering of standard of library service. So ‘manifestly’, in terms of the calculated definition of the term at the time of the formulation of the Act (recommended by The Report of the Working Party in its conclusions); in terms of what in practise was considered by local authorities in the decades following and up to the present day to be the appropriate standard; but by no means least and in fact most importantly also, in terms of what the public would expect, the term “efficient” in the Act in respect of branch library provision, can be reasoned as being defined by The Report of the Working Party.
2. “A mere literal compliance without substance will not suffice”, Francis Bacon (barrister, who drafted the 1964 Act; quoted from page 12 of the autumn 2011 edition of The Library Campaigner). The substance of the Act would very much be removed if people were to find their travelling distances doubling. Barristers are also I note currently basing arguments on disability discrimination laws; I would suggest also laws relating authorities having to ensure they provide their services to the whole population, and not just a proportion – and libraries are not analogous to a typical One-Stop-Shop service in this respect.
about 12 years ago
The Glos and Somerset decisions have been delayed for a week. The Brent decision should be today.
about 12 years ago
Great post; thanks. Mentioned your CILIP candidate transcript – which was illuminating – in CILIP 2012 hustings review.
about 12 years ago
“The Report of the Roberts Committee revealed great unevenness in the standard of library services provided by different authorities. This unevenness does not spring only from disparities in the size and type of authority. Even some of the large authorities are not exempt from criticism. There has hitherto been insufficient appreciation of what constitutes an efficient library service. But uniform standards of service all over the country cannot be expected. Clearly, some small towns and villages cannot provide the same facilities as large cities. But differences in standards at present go far beyond those which these geographical considerations would justify. It is important that these disparities should be reduced and the general level raised, if the growing demands on the public library service are to be satisfied.”
To what extent is the government taking the UK back to pre 1964 levels of library provision (libraries a result philanthropic and volunteer endeavour; the issues with the differences in standards mentioned above, etc.)?
about 12 years ago
The quote above btw is from the second reading of the Act, section 518:
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1964/jun/30/public-libraries-and-museums-bill
about 12 years ago
Now, I don’t advocate closing libraries at all, but my mum is a librarian in Tameside, and from what she’s said they are at least doing adequate consultation there.
They’ve looked at the catchment areas of each of the libraries and some of the smaller ones that initially seemed to be more at risk have actually proven their worth to the council by their visitor figures and catchment areas.
I’m not saying they won’t make some slashing, crushing decisions in the end, but at least so far I feel like they’re looking at things mildly intelligently… aside from the decision to co-locate Hattersley library and a tesco, obviously.
about 12 years ago
For anyone reading my somewhat rambling comments above, there is a tidied up and updated version linked to on this page: http://gso.sdf-eu.org/.