Safety and fines

Editorial

Safety is at the top of everyone’s minds at the moment so it is reassuring seeing the statement from Libraries Connected. I know from personal experience that library services up and down the country are taking the health of their staff as a priority and being very careful with the services they offer. However, I also hear from heart-rending emails and private and public social media messages that this is not the case in every service in the country. With 150 in England alone, perhaps that is too much to hope for, but it is disappointing nonetheless.

Going fines-free was a movement really taking hold before Covid in the UK and, ironically, pretty much every service in the country had to waive fines as the buildings were closed. It’s therefore newsworthy that Walsall has decided to jumpstart the movement again by getting rid of fines from April. Interestingly, the arguments they put for the move – that fining print items but not digital is starting to look odd and that people are holding on to late books to avoid paying fines – are not ones I’ve seen overly before. So perhaps more will follow suit, assuming that the need for income does not over-ride everything. And, hanging over it all, there is the worry of all those thousands of books gathering dust in houses since March last year. What will happen to them we will find out this year.

Changes by local authority

• Bexley – New library for Sidcup as part of property development.
• Solihull – Fine-free from 1 April.
• Windsor and Maidenhead – Reduced opening hours to be debated.

National news

• ACE makes £152,000 grant for library e-books and audio – BookSeller. “Arts Council England (ACE) is awarding £152,000 to help public libraries buy e-books and digital audio products after demand soared during the pandemic. Each of England’s 150 public library services will be given £1,000, with £2,000 going to Libraries Connected to cover costs in distributing the funds. ACE said there had been a 146% increase in demand for digital stock at libraries during the coronavirus crisis. The grants would help increase supply of products like children’s books, health and wellbeing titles and popular fiction while also benefiting publishers, who will receive a large share of the grant through purchases made by libraries, the organisation said.”
• Digital Delivery Services – Carnegie UK Trust. “we want to support organisations to develop their capability and confidence to explore providing services online or test new out new digital techniques where appropriate, to ultimately ensure that individuals receive the services they need to support their wellbeing through and beyond this pandemic”. Various reports.
• Libraries Connected statement on English libraries in lockdown – Libraries Connected. “all decisions on services should be driven by a comprehensive risk assessment carried out with staff and unions. This should also include individual risk assessments, where appropriate, that reflect the specific circumstances of individual staff. “
• Oak National Academy launches virtual library with NLT – BookSeller. “The launch of the free digital library comes as over 2.2 million pupils accessed Oak National Academy in the first week of term, taking part in over 15 million lessons after measures were taken to close schools across the UK to the majority of children on the first day of term.”

“Public libraries are also a vital component in tackling digital exclusion. There are around 2,900 public libraries in England providing a trusted network of accessible locations offering free Wi-Fi, computers, and other technology. The library staff, supported by volunteers, have been trained on digital skills to enable them to provide library users with support in using digital. Their vital role has been recognised in exceptions to tier and national restrictions, where after the first lock-down public libraries have been permitted to allow people to use library buildings for public PC use to access essential public services.”

Carol Dinenage MP, Secretary of State. in parliament.

• Virtual library ‘a wake up call’ for sector over promised national website – BookSeller. “… following news this week that Oak National Academy has launched a new virtual library in partnership with the National Literacy Trust, some have expressed their frustration over the SDP’s slow progress and warn other organisations could fill the gap. Ian Anstice, who runs website Public Libraries News, told The Bookseller: “The announcement that an academy is supplying e-books rather than the public library service should be seen as a combined wake-up call and kick in the teeth to the sector. A national website is something that is highly possible and should have been done years ago. The fact that there is nothing, not even a nationally organised ‘find your local library’ webpage, is an embarrassment to a sector that is, after all, based on information provision.””
• Virtual library gives children in England free book access – BBC.
• Welcome to the Future Funding programme – Libraries Connected. “We are using a development model to guide this so that libraries can align the generation of sustainable income with the needs of their communities.” … ” Future Funding will help libraries to generate the income they need to continue and grow their key role in our social infrastructure.”

International news

• Kenya – Catalogues of three McMillan libraries to be digitised – Star. “The project by the county government of Nairobi, British Council and Book Bunk will enable access to Kenya’s colonial history. 137,705 books at the McMillan Library and two of its branches in Eastlands, Kaloleni and Makadara  will be digitised.”

Local news by authority

• Aberdeenshire – Book Swap Stations: Aberdeenshire Council to work with artists on innovative literary project – Evening Express.
• Bexley – Works begins on Sidcup library & cinema at old Blockbuster – News Shopper. ” Bexley Council called the launch of the project “welcome news” for “many of us looking forward to brighter days.” The contractors Neilcott, who are locally-based, arrived at the site at 106 High Street in Sidcup last week to start work. The project will see the site of the old Blockbuster store revitalised, resulting in nine new apartments, a new community cinema, and library ready by April 2022.”
• Cheshire West and Chester – Libraries Health and Wellbeing Week – About My Area. “There will be a wide range of free activities through their Facebook and Twitter pages to help improve everyone’s mental and physical wellbeing, which is now even more important during the ongoing lockdown restrictions.”
• Cornwall – Find out about Library services in the lockdown – Cornish Times. Click and collect, PCs.
• Croydon – Five Croydon libraries could close as council faces financial crisis – London News Online. “Five of Croydon’s 13 libraries could soon close for good as the council faces a financial crisis. Now Croydon residents have a chance to give their feedback on the plans. The libraries affected are Bradmore Green, Shirley, Sanderstead, South Norwood and Broad Green. Opposition council member for cultures, Councillor Scott Roche, said: “All of these communities are now at risk of losing their libraries and community hubs.”
• Devon – Acclaimed poet calls for stories of remarkable women in Exeter – Exeter City Council. “Quay Words and Libraries Unlimited have announced that Tolu will be the writer-in-residence during February and March. Tolu will be running a series of exciting workshops, events and chances to meet-the-writer online, all with a focus on exploring the stories of Exeter’s women. She is seeking contributions from the general public.”
• Durham – Withdrawn library books get a new use in County Durham schools – Northern Echo. “Following a successful Facebook campaign, hundreds of surplus books which have been withdrawn from Durham County Council’s libraries, have been donated to new homes across the county. Each organisation has received 100 books, with some lucky donors finding a golden ticket with their supply, offering an extra 50 books and 50 withdrawn music CDs. Some of the lucky recipients include Ebchester Community Association, The Eden Miners Centre, Auckland Youth and Community Centre and Shildon Alive.”
• Edinburgh – Holocaust Memorial Day events – Edinburgh Reporter. “Community and School librarians have posted to their online followers and pupils the online Photography competition Light up the darkness from Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. All the best photos will be shown online.” Plus a couple of events.
• Glasgow – Libraries of the Future – Bella Caledonia. “Eilidh Akilade explores the need to defend the public space of libraries but this needs to be a decolonised library space, giving attention ought to be given to decolonised voices.”
• Hampshire – Two north Hampshire libraries to become independent services – Planet Radio. “The reopening of Odiham library as an independent community library is one step closer, as detailed discussions get underway between Hampshire County Council and Odiham Parish Council, which is set to take over the library from Hampshire Library Service this year. Discussions are also underway to secure an independent future for South Ham library.”
  • Fresh hopes for reopening Lyndhurst library after £10,000 grant – Advertiser and Times.
• Kent – Calls to reopen county’s libraries for people without internet – Isle of Thanet News. “Maidstone County Hall opposition leader, Cllr Dara Farrell (Lab), lobbied for an urgent rethink of the decision during a virtual meeting earlier today. The Ashford South member said some residents rely on the internet to access financial schemes, such as universal credit, a monthly government payment to help people with their living costs. Calling for their reopening, Cllr Farrell told a panel of councillors: “I appreciate there are many Kent library staff that will be worried about introducing this. “That being said, what steps are being taken to engage with staff to ensure people can access vital services such as IT?””
• Kirklees – Replacement for ‘outdated’ Edwardian library needs new roof – costing £100,000 – Yorkshire Live. “Council chiefs in Kirklees are being asked why a building chosen to replace a beloved Edwardian library in Huddersfield now needs a new roof costing £100,000.”
• Leicester – Amazing lockdown project transforms windows of Leicester venues with wild makeovers – Leicester Mercury. “Windows of libraries and arts organisations in Leicester are being transformed during lockdown with an enchanted forest theme. It is part of a new project, Overgrown City, by local company Buzzing Roots, which aims to bring together communities to tell their stories by decorating their windows.”
• Northamptonshire – Design a new kit for football-playing chicken to win Irthlingborough Library competition – Northamptonshire Telegraph. “A county library has hatched an egg-cellent idea for a competition to encourage children to join in National Story Telling Week. The creative challenge, launched by Irthlingborough Library, is for young artists to design a new football strip for a fictional soccer star, who happens to be a chicken.”
• Portsmouth – Former Portsmouth library worker launches personal debut novel tackling mother-and-baby homes of the 1960s – The News. Cheryl Missing: “The 69-year-old retired from the Portsmouth library service, where she helped run centres in Portsea and Paulsgrove, in 2009, allowing her to undertake her life-long ambition of writing a book.”
• Shropshire – Mere murder mystery for Ellesmere Library book club – Border Counties Advertizer. “It forms part of an anthology of five stories published by the West Midlands Readers’ Network which works with libraries, independent bookshops and readers’ groups across the region.”
• Solihull – Fines fear will see rule changes introduced across all Solihull libraries – Birmingham Mail. “”There are a number of people in the borough who come to rely very heavily on the services we provide; those people who are maybe families on low income and we want to try and encourage their continued and sustained usage of the service.””
• Windsor and Maidenhead – New library opening hours discussed and waste collections “at a normal level” – Maidenhead Advertiser. Reduced openings hours to be debated after consultation in November. Partial pay wall.
• York – Libraries and a sad story of neglect – Yorkshire Post Letters – Yorkshire Post. “Despite the best efforts of local staff, I’ve noticed a decline in service standards. Books deemed “too expensive” are not purchased, even though they’d interest many people.”