Editorial

The power of local public protest to cuts in public libraries never ceases to amaze me. A campaign to save libraries in Lanarkshire managed to get 8,500 signatures, which is quite amazing by the way, resulted in Cambuslang staying open and smiling pictures of local people in the newspaper. Kirklees also has a petition in the thousands but it’s less clear if there will be a happy ending there for the 47 library staff who may lose their jobs if the cuts go ahead. But if there’s no protest then such reductions certainly will go through, so it’s worth a placard or two.

In other news, it looks like the change of computer system in LibrariesWest has caused big problems, resulting in official apologies being issued. There’s pretty big investment announced in Australia, a country which appears to genuinely value their libraries. Then there’s the sad stories of cuts in Birmingham and other councils. Finally, the two articles about what to do with old Carnegie Libraries prompts some sadness. There are 660 such libraries, or were, in the UK but with closures and moves, quite a few are undergoing changes of use. But there’s hope at last for at least one in Bradford, which has been derelict for a while. Can’t see that happening in Australia.

Changes by local authority

National news

  • Basic dataset for Libraries – Arts Council England. Updated list up until December 2023. “The Libraries Basic Dataset is intended to capture permanent instances of libraries, local history libraries, and archives from 1 April 2010 to 31 December 2023. It is also intended to capture the number of mobile libraries. It is possible to use this data to gain a national overview of the number of libraries and archives within local authorities in England, and some basic information about them. Data accurate as of May 2024.”
  • GLL Libraries promote Summer Reading Challenge – GLL. Marvellous Makers.
  • Participation Survey 2023–24 annual publication – Gov.uk. “Total engagement in the arts (91%) was the highest, whilst library engagement was the lowest (30%).”
  • Public libraries in England: Work towards a new national strategy – House of Lords Library. “This briefing provides a summary of work over recent years towards a national library strategy, including Baroness Sanderson of Welton’s independent review of public libraries. It has been prepared ahead of Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay’s (Conservative) debate scheduled for 12 September 2024 on whether the Labour government plans to publish a new strategy for public libraries.”
  • System problems affecting book lovers at libraries across the Vale and beyond – Blackmore Vale. “New IT system is causing problems for library users in Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset and beyond. The system, which manages library stocks, lending, borrowing histories and more, has been installed at hundreds of outlets which are part of the LibrariesWest group” … ” people trying to return or check out books, or perform other actions, have found the system not working, including crashing or freezing.”. LibrariesWest say “we have been having repeated issues with our new Library Management System running slowly, crashing and generally not performing as we would expect. “We appreciate this is causing significant disruption in using our services and we would like to apologise to you for the negative impact this is having on your customer experience.”

International news

  • Reading as a Social Act : 15 Micro-Libraries in Urban and Rural Settings – Arch Daily. “Public libraries have transformed into contemporary community centers, offering various social engagement opportunities while utilizing minimal urban space. Emphasizing the importance of building a sense of community, these institutions prioritize connecting individuals with common interests.”
  • Australia – Victoria invests in public libraries – Government News. “The state government has invested  more than $48.2 million in Victoria’s 283 public libraries this year as part of its Living Libraries Infrastructure Program, which was established to help councils and regional library corporations fund infrastructure and minor works.” – Victoria has 7 million population so equivalent for UK would so this is around $450 million / £228 million.
  • Greece – We Need Books. “We are Athens’ first multilingual lending library and multicultural center. We house an ever growing collection of over 14,000 books in over 60 languages, a children’s library, and a serene little garden. We aim to make our library a friendly atmosphere where migrants, refugees, children, locals, visitors, students, and pensioners come to read, have conversations, work or participate in our various language lessons, artistic workshops and cultural activities.”
  • Ireland – ‘Meet a Farmer’ at Offaly library this August – Offaly Live. [For some reason, I find this very funny but I don’t know why – Ed.]
  • Israel – Approved in final readings: Reregulation of public libraries’ activity and sources of funding – Knesset News. “It is proposed to replace the Public Libraries Law -1975, with a new law that would be adjusted to the current situation and would regulate issues such as the appointment of a public libraries council, defining its roles, and streamlining and regulating its activity, as is customary in updated legislation pertaining to public councils. It is further proposed to regulate the budget of the activity of public libraries, and determine that the government will allocate a sum of NIS 100 million [£21m – £125m to UK population] towards this activity, annually, beginning in 2026. This amount will be linked to the Consumer Price Index beginning in 2027.” Currently, there are some 680 [4000 equivalent in UK population terms] public libraries in 220 local authorities..

Local news by authority

“DCMS officials have met with Birmingham City Council officers to ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities to provide a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service across the area as required by the Public Libraries and Museums Act 1964, and to advise on superintendence processes. However, the development of options for future library service provision in Birmingham is the responsibility of the Council.”

Birmingham – Chris Bryant The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
  • Bolton – Radcliffe Library to stay in current building during conversion works – Bolton News. “As part of the £40m Radcliffe regeneration project, the existing library building in Stand Lane will be turned into an enterprise centre to support businesses. Construction is due to start in the next two months and cannot be delayed, because the £1.2m secured from the government, complemented by £455,000 from the council, must be fully spent by March 2025. Only last month the council ruled out keeping the service within the present building during conversion due to health and safety issues.”
  • Bradford – Plan to revive town’s former library building – BBC. Shipley Carnegie Library now derelict.
    • New fears over future of Keighley Library – Keighley News. “Opening hours are set to be cut at the North Street building and other Bradford Council-run libraries across the district. And additional money-saving measures are being introduced, including the scrapping of national newspaper provision. In total, the council is looking to chop £175,000 from its libraries service. The plans have come under fire, amid concerns that more reductions in provision could follow.”
Bromley – Children’s Librarian Jenny Hawke [yes, Hawke} with owl. 12 events with owls this Summer
Gloucestershire