Archive for August, 2012

Watchdog says PLN figures check out

Comment
There’s something quite terrifying about having one’s figures checked by an independent group, not least when those figures were recently quoted on the front page of a national newspaper and in the inside pages of two more.  This was the case today when Full Fact, funded by three different foundations, gave my work a once over in How many public libraries have closed since 2011?  Thankfully, the article accepts the Public Libraries News figures.

Doncaster case lost … but does Suffolk win?

 

Doncaster legal case won by Mayor
Sore news for library campaigners in Doncaster today when it became clear that the Mayor could decide on libraries policy with 43 councillors voting against him, 6 for and 3 abstaining.  On the face of it, this would seem to be more akin to elected dictatorship than democracy, although it is worth remembering that in May this year, two-thirds of the Doncaster electorate voted to keep their mayoral system.  The council will now go ahead with closing two libraries and finding volunteers to run 12 more or see them close. More >