Archive for May, 2012

News

• Florida teen starts “giving library” for homeless kids – Good Education (USA).  “Two-thirds of poor children have no age-appropriate books at home, and the nation’s 1.6 million homeless children have even fewer options. Fifteen-year-old Florida resident Lilli Leight wanted to help provide homeless kids in her community with access to books, so she created a “giving library” at a Miami homeless shelter. To staff the library, she formed a teen book club to encourage her classmates to volunteer.”

• Libraries change lives award 2012 shortlist announced – CILIP.   “The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) is thrilled to announce the shortlist for this year’s Libraries Change Lives Award. The winner of this prestigious prize will be announced by Culture Minister Ed Vaizey on Tuesday 26 June at a special ceremony in the Houses of Parliament.”.  Shortlist includes Norfolk reminiscence, Skipton songwriting and Lambeth online events. Videos of the three are available.

• Hampshire – Stanmore Library may close, with serice moving into the Carroll Centre.

Local News

• Brent – RSL and authors line up to condemn Brent – BookSeller.  Summarises the dramatic events of yesterday and reaction to it.

“Brent Council finding it very difficult to light the books.  Please send fuel to Brentnazi, Booktrash House, Shamelessville.” Michael Rosen on Twitter.

• Council leader faces local residents after library clear out – Demotix.   Some excellent pictures of the occasion when Councillor Butt faced protesters yesterday.  Includes someone with a sign with the immortal words “Councillor Butt Out” and another saying “Councillor Butt Off”.  

““The shadow Culture Secretary Dan Jarvis was well received at the Speak up for Libraries rally in March for asking failed Culture Minister Ed Vaizey if he was a champion for libraries. That question will look like double standards if the Labour leadership fails to distance itself from this irresponsible act of cultural vandalism.”” Alan Gibbons

• Sacking of a library in the middle of the night – Free Thought Blogs.  
• Kensal Rise library to be sold or rented out after Brent Council’s 3am raid to strip it of books – Independent.   “All Souls, the Oxford University college which owns the building, confirmed the move to either sell it or rent it out, presenting campaigners with yet another obstacle in their fight to save the Kensal Rise library. “We really wish this had not happened and we regret that it has,” a spokesman for the College told The Independent.” … “But Margaret Bailey, one of the leaders of the campaign, said that buying the building was unrealistic. “We do not have £1m, which is the approximate value. We will not be in a position to make an offer. Our only hope is to negotiate a deal with All Souls College to rent the building at a preferential rate,” she said.”

“Even the Chinese are building more libraries and encouraging folks to read western literature. Ths used to be confined to Shakespeare – Dickens and Twain. But today you can  find Salinger’s  “Catcher in the Rye” – Kerouack’s “On the Road” and “Howl” by Ginsberg . The Chinese are also developing a system of mobile libraries throughout the land to give village  people the opportunity to become more literate.”

“we can’t afford things in the jubilee year of the present queen that were affordable in the jubilee year of Queen Victoria.”

• Croydon – Civica pulls out of libraries because of risk to its “brand” – Inside Croydon.  “Civica, one of the five companies bidding for the Croydon and Wandsworth privatised libraries contract, has pulled out of the process citing “potential risk to the Civica brand of taking on a contract which is outside their core competence”.” … “Civica’s withdrawal means it is likely that Wandsworth council’s in-house bid – originally rejected in the shortlisting process – will now be added to the other four as a makeweight. Or, as it is put in formal council-speak, “to maintain a credible level of competition upon which to base a contract award”. There’s credible, and then there is… well, some have suggested that the entire process, at a cost to the Croydon Council Tax-payers of £250,000, is mere window-dressing before handing the deal to LSSI.”

• Hampshire – Library consultation attracts big crowd – Southern Daily Echo.  “More than 100 people visited the Carroll Centre in Winchester for the public consultation on new plans to relocate a local library. The county council wants to shut Stanmore Library and transfer books to the centre and upgrade the facilities. The library is currently the least-used library in Hampshire, although it does have restricted opening hours.”
• Hertfordshire – Celebrate BookStart’s 20th birthday in a Hertfordshire library near you –  Hertfordshire County Council press release.  “Hertfordshire libraries are getting ready to celebrate the 20th birthday of Bookstart – a programme to introduce babies and toddlers to books. This year National Bookstart week, which aims to help every child in the UK to develop a lifelong love of books, takes place from June 11 to 17.  Throughout June, children are invited to bring their favourite bear to join in the Bookstart party fun at a Baby Rhyme Time or Story and Rhyme Time activity session. These are free, lively, informal and fun activities organised at your local library, where families will be able to join in to sing songs and listen to stories together.”
• Surrey – Library volunteers plan “will not save money” – BBC.   “the Cabinet Member for ommunity Services, Helyn Clack, has admitted there will not be any savings, either in the current financial year or in future years. She said the £106,000 required for annual training and support for the volunteers would not cost any extra, as this would be met from “realignment of staff roles”. Lib Dem leader Hazel Watson said: “The Conservative administration’s plan to press ahead with volunteer-run libraries is an insult to the many Surrey residents who have campaigned vigorously to keep their local libraries fully staffed by professional librarians.”
• SCC: no cost justification for library plans – Surrey Libraries Action Movement.   “For 16 months Surrey County Council has justified its removal of paid staff from ten libraries across Surrey on the basis of cost savings. The Council has argued that the reason it needed volunteers to manage and deliver library services in the ten communities was that it was the only way to reduce costs and for them to stay open. We have argued all along that the cost savings argument doesn’t stack up. We have argued, most recently in yesterday’s open letter, that maintaining professional staff in the libraries is the cheaper and simpler option. Today, Surrey County Council admitted that we have been right all along: that there is no cost justification in its Community Partnered Library (CPL) policy.”

• Worcestershire – Kidderminster Library gallery plan could cost £300,000 – Shuttle.   “The announcement from Worcestershire County Council came as the Friends of Kidderminster Library Gallery launched a petition against the changes. Proposals would see the arts space make way for 90 desks and 139 staff from Worcestershire County Council’s adult and social care and children’s services.”.  Council says ““We will achieve annual revenue savings of at least £206,000 through coming out of the Elgar House lease [where social care staff are currently based].”

“Kidderminster is full of empty shops and offices which haven’t had large sums spent making them good gallery and concert space. Why not use one of them and help a local property business?”

• Envisioning the library of the future – Arts Council England.  This is the powerpoint shown at the five libraries workships to provide background.

 Libraries: a digital Bridge – Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (USA). “One in three people in the U.S. do not have home access to the internet. See how libraries are transforming lives, by changing the way we connect.”

• Libraries “terribly important” – Record (Canada).  Jane Urquhart: “At this very moment, archivists are marching to Parliament Hill in hopes of defending and preserving our history and heritage on one hand and a democratic citizen’s right to access information on the other,” she said. Though federal libraries and archives, as well as the National Archival Development Program, were shut down as part of the government’s budget cuts, Urquhart says this is precisely the time when we really need them. “We need the research, we need the development, we need the universities… they’re terribly important,” she said. “I just never would have happened without them.””
• Should public libraries act as “transparency institutions”? – Infoism.   “…whilst libraries and librarians play an important role in providing access to that which is in the public domain, they do not play a significant role in facilitating access to unpublished information.”  There is a place for librarians in aiding with freedom of information.
• This is not the end of the book  – Observer.   Umberto Eco and Jean-Claude Carriere: book review.  “”The end of the book” is, as Eco and Carrière demonstrate, a misguided phrase. First, because printed books continue to be the most efficient and enduring methods of delivering texts: computer formats rapidly become redundant, and contemporary ebooks are not a good bet to outlast their printed counterparts. Second, because there is absolutely no evidence that longform texts themselves, as transmitters of knowledge and entertainment, are in any danger of diminishing in value. Certainly, they receive an excellent advertisement in Eco and Carrière’s playful and learned conversations.”

Local news

• Brent – Campaigners meet new council leader – Alan Gibbons.   Summary of meeting with Cllr Butt.  Although there were encouraging signs recently, it looks like there are many obstacles to overcome before Kensal Rise Library is rescued.  Questions over reverter clause to All Souls College and Brent’s decision to (a) take away all of the books and (b) council’s apparent worries that a volunteer-run Kensal Rise would affect surviving council-run libraries. 
• Croydon – Did Croydon break the law over library? – Save Croydon Libraries Campaign. “Croydon’s Labour Leader Tony Newman is quoted, We have advice that Croydon cannot unilaterally abandon the joint agreement and we have been told by Lambeth Council that this council has acted illegally.” … “Cllr Timothy Godfrey, Labour’s shadow cabinet member responsible holds a letter from the DCMS which he claims indicates that the unique 112 year old Upper Norwood Joint Library agreement between Lambeth and Croydon can only be broken if both councils are in agreement.”
• Purley festival promoting Croydon libraries – Save Croydon Libraries Campaign.   “Seems this is, yet again, a case of Croydon residents taking the matter of promoting Croydon libraries into their own hands. Whilst we await details directly from Purley Festival organisers we sought out the details for ourselves, on the Croydon Council website. Nothing listed under Events in Croydon Libraries“
• Council flouting its legal agreement – Save Croydon Libraries Campaign.   Includes copy of large article from local newspaper.  “Whilst the UNJL consultation document gave the option to keep funding at existing levels, Croydon library campaigners are acutely aware that in the previous consultation on six Croydon libraries, Croydon chose to ignore the ‘do nothing’ option. Will it be the same for Upper Norwood?”
• Ealing – Opening times changing in bid to save money – Ealing Today.   “The council scrapped plans to shut Northfields, Hanwell, Perivale and Northolt Leisure Centre libraries last June after a major campaign by residents, but the mobile library did close. The council says it has decided to shut libraries when they are least busy, as a way of contributing to the £428,000 savings needed by the service this year.”
• Gloucestershire – Views on Gloucestershire library times are sought –  BBC.  “Gloucestershire County Council will continue to run 31 libraries but seven will lose funding and be run by local communities. Nine libraries will be open six days a week, while a further 12 will open five days. Ten others will open for between 12 and 21 hours a week. The council is now asking users when these should open during the week. Consultation questionnaires will be available at libraries such as Longlevens, Lydney, Cinderford and Chipping Camden from 28 May. A mobile library service will also operate while there will also be an online service.”
• Hertfordshire – Hearts, Herts and happy endings: Freya North at the Letchworth Festival – We Heart Libraries.   “We are delighted to announce that we will be bringing the best-selling, award-winning romantic novelist Freya North to the Letchworth Festival to give a talk and, hopefully, a reading.”
• Lincolnshire – Appeal for volunteers to keep Lincolnshire libraries open – This is Lincolnshire.   “the library in Waddington is being delivered in a partnership with a Lincolnshire Co-operative pharmacy where Co-operative staff are providing a library service assisted by volunteers” … “Councillor Eddy Poll, Executive Member for Cultural Services at Lincolnshire County Council told the Target: “While we’ve no plans to close any of our libraries, the service will certainly have to evolve. It’s likely volunteers and shared premises will have a role to play.”
• North Yorkshire – Volunteers wanted – Selby Times.  “Volunteers are being sought to help deliver books, music and DVDs to people in Selby district who find it difficult to get to the library. The appeal comes from North Yorkshire County Council, the authority which runs the home library service.”
• Northern Ireland – New opening hours for local libraries – Antrim Times.   “hese hours have been agreed as a result of a Review of Opening Hours, which was undertaken to meet savings targets resulting from the Comprehensive Spending Review. It also presented Libraries NI with the opportunity to  harmonise the opening hours of libraries across Northern Ireland for the very first time – and as a result of this exercise, libraries are now categorised into one of six opening hour bands, based on level of use. Irene Knox, Chief Executive of Libraries NI, said: “I am aware that the Review of Opening Hours has been a lengthy process that has involved high levels of uncertainty but I am satisfied that the process of determining the pattern of opening hours for each library is now complete, following surveys in each location.”
• Surrey – Clack-handed libraries consultation staggers on – Surrey Libraries Action Movement.   “In an attempt to shore up its unlawful decision, the council is engaging in a quick box-ticking exercise. Hurrying to retake its library decision, it is attempting to consult with too few people and on too narrow grounds.” … “Quite what SCC is hoping to learn from such a shambolic process is not clear. The information does not seem to be that important to SCC in any case. Helyn Clack, SCC Cabinet member responsible for libraries, gave this response in an interview about the library plans with the Surrey Mirror: “Can you envisage being persuaded by further consultation? Helyn Clack: Probably not.”If that’s the case, why is the council wasting everyone’s time…and money?”
• Library staff help internet novices get online – Elmbridge Today.   “according to the latest figures, members of staff at its libraries have helped people who are new to using the internet or digital technology 93,000 times.”

“The way libraries are being used is changing with the progress of technology and our staff have done an excellent job in helping thousands of beginners use the internet. Elderly and disabled people and those on low incomes are much more likely not to have access to the internet and stopping sections of society being left offline and excluded from many aspects of everyday life is essential.”

• Guest Post #10: Publishers and libraries must work together – Envisioning the Library of the Future (Arts Council England).  Emma House (Director of Trade and International) at the Publishers Association says Ebooks are important and growing.  Libraries can engage users through digital means like skyping/posting author interviews and book reviews.  However, some public libraries prevented from using social networks due to council restrictions. 

“Publishers hold a wealth of skills and knowledge in the digital sphere and matching that with librarians’ knowledge of their own community will assist in building a modern service offering. There is a long way to go, however, in overcoming the challenges facing libraries in the digital world, which will require investment, a good look at social media policies and continued support and training of staff.”

• How not to tweet: for library and information services – Library Marketing Toolkit.  This great guide to how to use Twitter is part of one of the most promising websites for public libraries this year.
• UNISON and the Welsh Government: still loving our libraries – UNISON Cymru Wales.  “In the meeting Huw Lewis recommitted himself to ensuring that the Welsh Government will continue to invest in our libraries and ensure that they publicly owned and controlled and that Wales remains at the forefront of innovative library developments in the UK and farther afield; he also highlighted the Welsh success in raising the number of users of public libraries. The meeting then went on to focus on the real pressures still being felt by UNISON members in libraries in regard to the tightness of funding affecting training provision; the concern around inappropriate use of volunteers; the need to mainstream library services in the delivery of key education and literacy initiatives and the ongoing problems of maintaining health and safety particularly in a lone working environment setting.”
• Winkworth Sherwood – Stop the privatization of public libraries.  Legal firm specialises in outsourcing council services.  One partner, Joanna Bussell, wrote a letter in South Wales Evening Post advocating outsourcing library services but her professional link was not reported.

Changes

• Durham – £1.5m cut.  Reduced opening: ten branches to be cut to 36 hours per week, smaller libraries to be cut to 20 hours per week, mobile library service to be reduced.  Final decision to be made in July.
• Ealing – £430k cut.  9% cut in opening hours (that is, 57 hours per week less): Northolt loses 10 hours a week, Southall more than seven and Hanwell and Perivale more than six. 20 full time staff lost (one sixth of workforce) leaving 98 staff left.  1 mobile lost in June 2011 (this is now included in 2011/12 closure figures).

Local News

• Doncaster – Mood low … – Save Doncaster Libraries.  “We have learnt that of the 25 original volunteers in Rossington Library, only 10 remain, a mere 3 months after re-opening as a ‘Community-run’ Library.  Reasons are unknown but perhaps the vounteers realised the magnitude and responsibilities required of them, and recognised this to be the remit of paid, trained, experienced and qualified Council employees.” … “Please help us to match the Legal Aid funding granted to our campaign regarding a Judicial Review, which continues making its course.”
• Dorset – Outrage is IT manager costs Dorset County Council £167k – Dorset Echo.  “Mike Chaney, spokesman for the Association of Friends of Dorset Libraries (Ad Lib) which has been campaigning to protect libraries in the wake of council cuts, said: “It’s a terrible irony that our libraries have to be closed to save money yet the council is using, if not wasting, money in other ways.””
• Durham – Thousands in bid to save library – Teesdale Mercury.   “With the consultation now closed the council has revealed that more than 6,000 people took part in the exercise.  Robert Stenlake, from The Friends of Barnard Castle Library, a group opposed to the cuts, said: “I’m not at all surprised at the response. You only have to go into our library to see how busy it is. “All we can hope is that the council will look at the response and take notice.””
• Ealing – Library hours cut in money saving shake up – Ealing Gazette.  “The council scrapped plans to shut Northfields, Hanwell, Perivale and Northolt Leisure Centre libraries last June after campaigns by residents. But it did axe the mobile library. It says the changes are being brought in because savings still need to be found to help tackle £85 million of government funding cuts. And the new opening times were chosen following a review which showed when the libraries were least busy.”

News

• Future U: Library 3.0 has more resources, greater challenges – Ars Technica (USA). “If there is one thing that all librarians worried about, it was this: the de-funding of libraries. It has happened from the university research libraries all the way down to the neighborhood libraries that set expectations students bring when going to college. Houghton traveled to Denmark last summer and visited the public library in a small, poor town. “Their library was five times bigger than mine,” she said, “It had better computer technology, better everything.” The reason for that was simple, she said. “We don’t invest in our libraries.””  
• #Libfesto: my vision for public libraries – Information Overload.  A great post responding to a Voices for the Library request, writer produces her ideal vision while avoiding self-censoring (as so many do) to take into account cuts, especially as libraries produce more value than they consume.  Customer service is something libraries do better than almost everyone else, self-service has a place but there needs to be a human alternative, “I want my library of the future to be a lovely place that people are clamouring to visit. I want it to be in an accessible, well-located building with reasonable parking and public transport facilities nearby. I want it open all hours of the day, evening and weekend and I want it to be so comfortable, verging on the cosy even, that I don’t really want to get up and leave….”

• War Horse author goes into battle for our libraries – This is Somerset (editorial).  “While it is possible to sympathise with councils finding themselves in difficult financial positions, it is hard to ever justify closure of libraries. Mr Morpurgo, whose own works have been borrowed by countless thousands of children and who has inspired a huge following as a result, is right to raise the issue. Firing a warning shot across the bows of anyone who thinks there is money to be saved by shutting the library is always worthwhile. Any short-term gain in cutting costs is far outweighed by the long-term price of lower literacy levels.”
• Closing libraries “is like depriving oxygen”: author – This is Cornwall.  Repeats Telegraph’s article as Michael Morpurgo lives in Devon.  “Despite a sweep of closure plans rolled out across the UK last year, the South West has managed to steer relatively clear from having to make wide-ranging changes to services. Both Cornwall and Devon county councils last year confirmed there would be no library closures, although some mergers with one-stop shops have taken place, while some others have seen a reduction in service opening times.”

• Everybody fights nobody quits – Question Everything.  Library campaigner wrote to CILIP Council about its volunteering policy.  John Dolan responded (full text reprinted) but “It doesn’t really answer any of my concerns sadly, I believe the stance of CILIP however well intentioned has sent the wrong signal to the ideologues running councils that they can save money by replacing paid staff with volunteers. It doesn’t make financial sense and CILIP have taken this stance without any evidence, they have just bowed to the perceived political wind. I fail to see how job substitution is a good thing for libraries, CILIP or its members. If I were a CILIP member paying £19.40 a month I be asking for my money back.”
  

Local News

• Brent – 167k fewer visits in Brent – Harrow Observer.   “The data from Brent SOS will also be considered by Jeremy Hunt’s Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS), which is investigating whether Brent Council has breached its statutory duties.” … “A Brent Council spokesman said: “It was always initially expected that a reduction overall in usage of six libraries as against 12 would occur, as it would take time to build usage based on the new library offer. Usage and borrowing figures also need to take account of periods when libraries are closed for refurbishment.” … Council accepts over half of closed library users no longer user a library.
• Barham Park pop up library “overwhelmed” with donation from Usborne Books – Harrow Times. “Usborne Books, which won Children’s Publisher of the Year last month, also donated jigsaw puzzles, board games and snap card packs.Children spent Saturday signing a big thank you card to the publishers to show their appreciation. 
• Croydon – Quizzed on hiring security guards for Bashford – Inside Croydon.  “Around 200 locals attended the meeting, where cabinet members Sara “Book Token” Bashford and Tim Pollard’s presentations received an often hostile reception over Croydon’s withdrawal from a joint arrangement with Lambeth over the running of the historic library. No one contacted by Inside Croydon who attended the meeting considered there was ever any threat to anyone’s safety. Bashford and Pollard insisted that no recording or photographs were allowed at the meeting at the request of the owners of the hall, the Salvation Army. The owners of the hall have dismissed this claim as untrue.”
• Dudley – Libraries to host a series of Jubilee activities – Stourbridge News.    “Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, Dudley’s new cabinet member for housing, libraries and adult learning said: “I’m so pleased to see our libraries embracing the Jubilee and finding a way for children to understand and celebrate it through fun stories and crafts. I hope these sessions prove popular and help people feel part of this national celebration.”
• West Sussex – How to be a volunteer for the Summer Reading Challenge – West Sussex County Council.   “We need volunteers to help us run the Summer Reading Challenge (SRC) in all libraries. All volunteers will get training and support for the role, plus gain experience working with children and families and skills like organisation and teamwork. To apply to become a volunteer, complete the online application form.”

News

• Bring on brand-name parks and libraries – Daily News (USA).   “hat captures my imagination — probably because I work in the corporate sponsorship business — is the fact that Citi Bike represents a new way for private dollars to help make possible a program with important public benefits….” … “Millions of people visit the public libraries every year; naming rights deals for branches in Queens and Brooklyn could be very lucrative for those cash-starved institutions. Or, what about the Celebrity Cruise Lines Staten Island Ferry?”.  Author of article “is a partner at Bryan Cave LLP whose work includes naming rights agreements”.

• Indian government spent Rs 4.5 Cr in 2010-11 for digitization and modernisation of public libraries – Medianama (India). “The minister stated that RRRLF has released two separate grants to public libraries worth Rs 4.5 crores (Rs 4,53,29,800) and Rs 10 crore (Rs 10,19,94,316) in the year 2010-11 for modernization and building renovation purposes, respectively. The agency had previously released similar grants in 2009-10 and 2008-09 for the same purposes”.   A crore is ten million, there are 81 rupees to the pound.
• “Librarians against Libraries and Librarians Association”: CILIP changes its name to LALALA – Question Everything. “In my head I have a little Venn diagram of the enemies of libraries and it has who you what you would expect in it: David Cameron, Big Society, Keith Mitchell, LGA, Ed Vaizey and the DCMS etc. In the past few days CILIP has crept into the enemies box.”.  Reasons against the current lack of an explicit statement in CILIP policy are:

• “Rural libraries are mainly the ones in the cuts firing line, replacing a couple of part-time library managers (not librarians) doesn’t save actually save any money because of the number of volunteers required. I can prove this is the case in Oxfordshire and I think the same applies elsewhere.
• How will CILIP continue to exist when its fee paying members are replaced by volunteers?
• Cameron himself is quoted as saying “the big society isn’t about cuts, it’s about making existing services better”
• Volunteering England is specifically against job substitution of paid staff with volunteers, quote from the chief exec: “There is a danger that volunteers are seen as a way of reducing costs, and that undermines staff jobs and is extremely damaging to the perception of volunteering.”
• You have handed the ideological morons who live in a bubble of simplicity a massive weapon to sack your members. However nuanced and pragmatic your intention this has severely undermined the library campaigners up and down the country. 
• When the economy recovers will you reverse this stance as this seems to be the only reason for it?”

• Nail in public libraries’ coffins – Copyright and Technology (USA).  “There it was, on the entire back page of the A section of the New York Times a few days ago, at a likely cost of over US $100,000: a full-page ad from Amazon touting free “lending” of all of the Harry Potter e-books for members of Amazon’s $79/year Amazon Prime program who own Kindle e-readers, starting next month.” … “With the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, there are no due dates, books can be borrowed as frequently as once a month, and there are no limits on how many people can simultaneously borrow the same title—so readers never have to wait in line for the book they want.”
• Volunteers in public libraries – CILIP.   Phil Bradley, the organisation’s president, defends its official policy, including its omission of a statement explicitly against substitution of paid staff by volunteers.  “Volunteers cannot be expected to, nor should they, run a library, because a library as we all know is rather more than a collection of books…”.  but “…is it better to provide a partial service, run by volunteers, or no service at all?”.  “Unfortunately, what we want and what we can have are two very different things, and this is recognised in the phrase relating to ‘present day realities’.” Comments so far below the paper report that the policy is “wishy washy” and open to misinterpretation.

“CILIP has refused requests to publish advertisements in the Update magazine where it is clear that volunteers will be replacing paid staff. CILIP has also been approached on numerous occasions to run training courses for volunteers to provide them with basic skill sets. All of these have been refused, and will continue to be refused … CILIP does not, has not, and will not train volunteers, who may, have, or potentially will replace a paid, professional member as long as we are aware that circumstance may exist.”

“If you feel that CILIP is not clear or robust enough on its stance, then please say so. You have always been able to say so, and CILIP has, I believe been transparent in its workings by publishing statements on the website, but I’m also keen to use my blog as a conduit.”

• Volunteers: what organisations say and what they do – Information Overload.   “Volunteering and job substitution is clearly the hot-topic issue for library and information professionals at present”.  Questions over whether CILIP is standing up for its members enough on this issue. “I think that one of the things we should be doing is holding organisations using volunteers to replace paid staff to account over whether or not they are living up to their own objectives and promotional statements on economic development.”  Points out that using volunteers damages the local economy to the general impoverishment of all.

Changes

• Croydon/Wandsworth –  Civica has withdrawn from tender, allowing in-house bid from Wandsworth Council to be reconsidered. 
• Torbay – Opening hours cut (list on this link), council exploring possibility of volunteers.

Local News

• Brent – 167,004 fewer library visits concealed by Brent Council – Wembley Matters. “Ahead of a meeting tonight at Brent Town Hall, at which a “progress” report will present what SOS Libraries claim is misleading and incorrect information on the so-called “Libraries Transformation Project” to the new Labour executive, Brent SOS Libraries has submitted its own report on the library closures (LINK). It shows: There have been 167,004 fewer library visits since half of the borough’s libraries were closed in October compared with the same period year on year. 158,809 fewer books have been issued. Library visits and lending have fallen 20% will continue to fall with the imminent closure of Kilburn and demolition of Willesden Green libraries. This has been a net loss of 191 opening hours per week. Most of the users of the closed libraries are not using the remaining libraries, as the council claims.”
• Croydon/Wandsworth – Civica pull out of Croydon/Wandsworth privatization process – Stop the privatization of public libraries.   “Civica, one of the shortlisted companies bidding for the Croydon\Wandsworth libraries contract has pulled out stating; ‘Having undertaken an internal risk assessment and considering the potential risk to the Civica brand of taking on a contract which is outside their core competence, they felt they could not take that risk and must withdraw’. This has allowed a space in the process for an in-house bid from Wandsworth Council”
• Croydon – Council cock-up stops comments on library consultation – Inside Croydon.   “Croydon Council’s website was offline yesterday, “for maintenance”, preventing the public accessing the Upper Norwood library consultation online before the official deadline, which was to be midnight on Sunday, May 20. Following complaints, the council extended the deadline by a day, until midnight on Monday May 21 – although being a weekday, with many residents at work, it may prove less convenient than being able to fill in the form at the weekend. Click here for the link to the consultation.”.  At last week’s meeting on the closure, “Councillor Sara “Book Token” Bashford had five security guards in attendance“.
• Durham – Plans to outsource public services on hold – Northern Echo.   “Cost-cutting plans to out-source taxpayer-owned theatres, museums, libraries and leisure centres have been put on hold, amid doubts over the hoped-for savings.” … “It was hoped the move would save at least £1m a year in business rates and VAT and open new fundraising opportunities. However, a Government review of how business rates work has caused the scheme to be halted.”.  Result of review expected this Summer. “Should the outcome of the review be positive, we will be putting the project back on track at the earliest possible opportunity. In the meantime work is already underway to identify the savings which we will have to make should trust status not prove the best way forward”
• Kirklees – Librarian accused of intimidating would-be Big Society volunteers – Huddersfield Daily Examiner.   “The council’s chief librarian Carol Stump wrote to staff concerning a laminated sign about the consultation at the counter of a library in Kirklees – believed to be Slaithwaite. She wrote: “Some of the wording was misleading in so much as it talked about ‘volunteering would mean staff losing their jobs’. This could be seen as deliberately discouraging people to take part in the consultation process.“We also discussed the fact that staff should remain impartial at all times and cannot be seen to be influencing members of the public in any way.” Mrs Stump added: “We have had a complaint from a member of the public about the poster and perceived intimidation of potential volunteers.”
• Surrey – More views sought on libraries volunteer training – Surrey News (County Council).   “Users of the 10 Surrey libraries proposed as community partnerships are being asked about how volunteers should be trained to help, in particular, the young, the elderly and people with special needs.” … “They will also consider the findings of this further consultation, which is asking users of the 10 libraries to give their views about what equalities training should be provided for volunteers at community partnered libraries.”
• Torbay – Changes to opening times at Torbay libraries – This is the West Country.   “The opening times of libraries across the Bay are to change from Monday 2 July. The changes are being introduced as part of the council’s ongoing budget pressures and have been carried out following extensive consultation with library customers.” … “”Unfortunately doing nothing is not an option and following consultation with our library users we have taken the decision to reduce the opening hours at each of the libraries.”.  Council meeting Friends groups to “to jointly explore ways to protect the service in the next few years.”