Ian Anstice

News

• At last, Tony Blair is talking sense about alienated youth – Guardian. “Likewise, the endless twaddle that the commentariat trundles out about libraries. Again, the focus is on the working-class child who is just waiting to be borne off on a shining chariot marked: “In reading lies knowledge. In knowledge lies wisdom.” Often, this admirable and idealised prodigy turns out to have been based on the writer himself. I loved going to the library as a child too, and I’m grateful to my mother for taking me. But I’d be wary of lionising anything just because it was a helpful addition to a stable, loving, working-class upbringing, 40 years ago. There’s something self-regarding about these misty-eyed arguments….”
• Alan Gibbon comment – “…Wailing that times are tough and saying that we can’t do everything is counter productive. Acting as a liberal Trojan horse and justifying back door attacks on libraries and book gifting is dangerous. Deborah Orr makes some valid points in this article but could end up demoralising the very people who care most about literacy as a vehicle for social change. She can do better.”
• Edinburgh Book Festival sculptures are a “whodunnit?” –  BBC.  “It also contains a teabag full of letters, an unmarked book – and has a label marked “in support of libraries, books, words, ideas and festivals. Over the past year similar sculptures have been left at the National Library of Scotland, the Scottish Poetry Library and the Scottish Storytelling Centre but their creator remains a mystery.”
• GCSEs: sloppy grammar will cost pupils one in ten marks – Telegraph. 
• Karin Slaighter writes story to help save libraries – Huffington Post (USA).  “An outspoken library advocate, the author wrote a piece last year in the Atlanta Journal Constitution stating that “the funding of American libraries should be a matter of national security.”
• Libraries are for everyone – Alan Gibbons.  Emphasises DCMS report says libraries serve all classes and age groups, to great customer satisfaction, despite poor funding.  “To sum up, libraries are as relevant and necessary as they ever were. They could be greater if they were properly led and not served up the dog’s breakfast of the Future Libraries Programme. The principles on which they were built are unimpeachable.”
• New city librarian aims to deliver “great customer experiences” – Seattle Times (USA).   “But the primary reason libraries are still important is their role as a central reference point, Turner said, and not just for term-paper writers who want to know the color of Helen of Troy’s hair or who fought in the War of the Roses. One recently widowed man came in for help with his checkbook because his wife had always handled their finances, said Andra Addison, library communications director.”
• Take a leaf out of New York’s book: Invest in your libraries, don’t close them – London Evening Standard.  “Christopher Platt, director of collections and circulation operations at New York Public Library, which operates 100 libraries, spoke as the Evening Standard’s Save Our Libraries campaign is getting behind Londoners fighting to keep their local branches open in the face of public spending cuts.”
• Library cuts will be devastating for children – London Evening Standard.  “Hundreds of residents have signed a petition calling on Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to look into the closures, which parents said would have a “devastating” effect on children, particularly those who have no other access to books.” 

Changes

• Cornwall: Up to 30 managers (all) to go.  Staffing reduced to, in some cases, one paid member of library staff per library. Non-library staff from other “face to face” services to be used instead.
• Oxfordshire:  Campaign groups:  Save Our Library (Sonning Common),  Save Oxfordshire’s Libraries (Facebook),  Blackbird Leys (Facebook), Save Headington Library, Old Marston (Facebook), Friends of Summertown Library, Save Bampton Library (Facebook), Friends of Benson Library, Save Deddington Library, This is Our Woodcote Library.  
• Surrey: Campaign group: Byfleet Library Action Group.

Local News

• Barnet – Confusion surrounds plan to relocated HGS library into Institute – Barnet Today.  Institute says it is not possible to locate library there, Artsdepot says it has not been asked by Council to locate two libraries there. 
• Bolton – Consultation continues over future of libraries – Bolton News.  “Leader of Bolton Council, Councillor Cliff Morris, said: “We are doing all we can to encourage people to take part in the consultation and have their say on the proposals for the library network. We welcome the views of everyone who has an opinion on the changes and have enabled people to fill out the questionnaire online.”
• Brent – Labour MP Barry Gardiner donates to campaign to save Brent’s libraries – Save Kensal Rise Library.  “Labour MP Barry Gardiner has donated to the campaign to save Brent’s libraries. The Brent North MP is backing the campaign to save the six libraries under threat, which are heavily used by young people in the borough.
• Fundraiser: City of London guided walks – Save Kensal Rise Library. 
• Cornwall – Library service fears raised – Falmouth Packet.  “Liberal Democrats at Cornwall Council have claimed that a plan to strip out managers from the county’s libraries could damage the service for users.” – Council claims most public “will not notice any decline” as up to 30 managers cut and library staff culled.  Non-library staff to be used from other “face to face” services.
• Flintshire – Garden City Library to be demolished – Flintshire Chronicle.   Library closed in May.  “Sealand councillor Chris Jones said: “It is very sad that the building will be gone. It’s the end of an era, but it is better than it being empty. Boarded up buildings are an eyesore.”

• Suffolk – Aldeburgh: group outline library vision – EADT.  “Clive Fox, chairman of the steering group, said: “At the heart of our proposal was the strongly held view that the way forward must be through genuine partnerships between the county as statutory library authority and local people, who should be trusted to know best what they need and how to achieve it.”

News

• Activism, advocacy and professional identity – Johanna Bo Anderson’s blog.  “Activism is about politics and ethics, social outcomes and shaping the future – the aim is not just to promote services and influence change but to be the change.”… “I believe that my need to get involved as an activist stems from a lack of advocacy of public libraries in the past. If we had been promoting them and raising their profile all along we would not be in the mess we are in now”

• Caistor – Village SOS (BBC One). Caistor Arts and Culture Centre – old church turned into library amongst other things, with help from council, the Big Lottery Fund and the BBC.
• Communities anxious for change – Locality.  “With over 500 community-led regeneration practitioners and supporters expected to attend, Locality ’11 will be the largest event of its kind across the country.” Tickets cost up to £420 plus VAT.
• DCMS Taking Part survey: imagine what could be achieved if we invested in our public libraries – Voices for the Library.  “what is most stark about these figures is that social background appears to have no bearing on library usage…The report also demonstrated the importance of public libraries for children, not least considering the increasing cull of school libraries … If authorities are threatening to close up to 50% of libraries when usage has remained stable, will similar cuts be applied to other council services? … Councillors and politicians may be keen to argue that libraries are becoming irrelevant, in order to justify closing them or staffing them with volunteers. The facts suggests otherwise.”
• Ground level view – Community Knowledge Hub.   “Thanks to all the councils and communities that have been in touch, we’ve recently been in discussions regarding the potential community transfer of more than fifty libraries! I will in due course be contacting everyone who has expressed interest to formally join the network, so please bear with me.” … list of volunteer-run libraries currently being developed by CHK/Locality … “All of this demonstrates that, while there is absolutely the potential to support innovative service transformation in relation to libraries, communities need support and the cooperation of local authorities and other partners to achieve this.”
• Outsourcing urged to alleviate austerity – Financial Times.   Chief Exec of Capita says “When you can see local authorities closing libraries, swimming pools, it’s criminal,” he said. “It’s a political agenda. Billions of pounds could be saved and the public wouldn’t notice the difference.” … “The FTSE 100 company, which already provides services such as storing criminal records for the Home Office and collecting television licence fees for the BBC, expects a wave of outsourcing as the squeeze in public spending forces central and local government to look at radical ways of slashing costs.”… ““Why wouldn’t you outsource council tax collection rather than closing a library?” Mr Pindar asked.”.  LGA says ““Cuts to council budgets are both big and front-loaded, which means savings have to be made now and an impact on services is regrettably inevitable. To suggest otherwise is either self-serving or naive,”
• Capita Chief calls cuts criminal – EWeek.   Campaign4Change points out Capita makes huge amounts of money from government/council contracts and that any outsourcing should be to smaller companies.
• September is Library Card Sign-up Month – ALA (USA).  “a time to remind parents and children that a library card is the most important school supply of all” 

• Von Hahn: Turning the page on sleek architecture – Star (Canada).  “In a city as diverse as ours, with a large population of new Canadians from all over the world, free access to great works, tools for learning and information is so essential, it’s obvious cost-efficiency types keen on closures and privatization haven’t read past the introduction.”.  Toronto has been remodellign many of its library buildings, emphasising them as “urban living rooms”.  Usage has gone up by from 22 to 66% in each.

Changes 

Cornwall – 19 library managers may be lost.  £1 million cut.
Herefordshire – 2 mobiles have now been withdrawn, replaced by needs-tested home delivery service.
Warwickshire – Between 86 to 120 jobs to be lost as volunteers take over running of 16 branches.   

Local News

• Barnet  Have you ever used the green? – Times series.  “As part of the campaign to save Friern Barnet Library, we are considering applying to have the piece of green land to the west of the library designated as a village green.”
• Bradford – Campaigns to keep lending facilities open – Telegraph & Argus.  “District libraries under threat of closure have until next week to come up with a rescue plan. Libraries in Wrose, Heaton, Wilsden, Addingham and Denholme are all earmarked for closure as part of a bid by Bradford Council to save £70,000.”  Deadline has been extended twice.  “In Addingham, the campaign to save the village library is turning into quite a success story, with nearly 30 volunteers on board so far. A charitable association has been set up and several meetings have been held to look at developing the layout of the 17th century building once it has been taken over on October 1.”
• Brent – Campaigners raise money to support action against library closures – Harrow Times.    “Residents campaigning to save Preston Library from closure spent last Friday collecting money outside Sainsbury’s, in Kenton, after taking the council to the High Court last month … On Sunday, September 18, Councillor Paul Lorber (Liberal Democrats) will take part in the Fryent Country Park 5km run in support of the campaign.”
• “Give us inquiry into Brent’s library closures” minister told – Harrow Observer.   “Anti-cuts campaigners who manned a stall outside Neasden Library in Neasden Lane, Neasden, on Saturday collected more than 160 names urging Tory minister Jeremy Hunt to intervene.” … “Liberal Democrat group leader Councillor Paul Lorber said: “Irrespective of the outcome of the legal action, the secretary of state still has a responsibility to decide whether Brent Council is capable of running a ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library service with just six libraries. “If there is any element of doubt then he should order an inquiry. He should not judge himself.”
• Petitions rally support for Brent libraries – BookSeller.  “Many people said how much they and their children value the services that the libraries provide. For their sake I hope Jeremy Hunt listens and orders an inquiry.”
• Cornwall  – Library job cuts lead to quality fears – BBC.  19 managers may go.  “Lib Dem Councillor Alex Folks said the library staff “are excellent but this proposal will axe the most experienced leadership”. Mr Roden [UNISON] said losing experienced staff will “inevitably lead to a reduced service” and the proposals could see many of Cornwall’s top library managers taking “voluntary redundancy or revised roles”.  Former manager says “If they are more under stress, they are less likely to give the great personal service which our library staff have in the past.”
• Dorset  – Libraries unite to investigate council’s offer – Dorset Echo.   ““We have also recommended that, wherever possible, negotiations should be run by Ad Lib on behalf of all nine libraries, rather than all try and deal with the County Council on our own.” … However, Mr Chaney added: “When it comes to things like money I think each community will have to do its own negotiations because it may depend how much each community has got in its pot.” 
• Herefordshire – Future of mobile library service – Herefordshire Council.   2 mobile libraries withdrawn, to be replaced by a “library home delivery service” assessed on needs of health and mobility.
• Somerset  – Taunton Library cuts opening hours – This is the WestCountry.   “REDUCED opening hours at Taunton Library will come into effect from October 3 as part of massive cutbacks by Somerset County Council.”  Cut of ten hours per week.  Legal injunction means ““Whilst the injunction stops the withdrawal of funding, the council is still able to change the opening hours of the 23 other libraries.”
• Warwickshire – Residents in bid to take over threatened Warwickshire libraries – Coventry Telegraph.   “Coun Colin Hayfield, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for customers, access and physical assets, said: “It’s extremely encouraging to have heard from all 16 communities where libraries were seen as no longer viable.”  Council extended deadline after just six submissions were originally received.  “The removal of “unsustainable” libraries from council control could see between 86 to 120 people lose their jobs.”
• Westminster – Anger over closure of Victoria library and three One Stop services – Westminster Chronicle.  “St James’s Library and the Victoria One Stop service, both in Victoria Street, closed their doors for the last time on Tuesday.”
• Wirral  – So this is what they mean by “lifelong learning” – Wirral Globe.   “From now on, when parents are going through the legal process of officially naming their child at the Registrar’s Office, they will also be handed an interim membership card for their child for Wirral Libraries.”  Libraries are “packed with music, stories, games, crafts, puzzles, child-size furniture, picture-books, and – significantly – other children.”

News

• Better off more likely to use libraries – BookSeller.  Summary of DCMS report given a rather different headline than that when it was covered by this webpage yesterday.
• DCMS Report suggests libraries are “not just for the Middle Class” – Booktrade.info.
• Fréquentation des bibliothèques stable en Angleterre – Actualitte (France).
• Council chief executives enjoy pay rises as services are cut – Daily Telegraph.  “Town hall chief executives have seen their pay packets rise by as much as £17,000 while cutting front-line services, including libraries, care for the elderly and bin collections.”…”pay package rose as Tory-led Essex council announced that 450 jobs were to be cut as it struggled to find savings of £98 million. The council has faced controversy after announcing plans to close 12 youth centres and cut library hours.”
• Digital readers are changing the traditional library system – Globe and Mail (Canada).  ““It’s bringing new people to the library because they’re thinking, we’re a library, we have books, we must know how to help them with their e-book readers,” said Christina de Castell, manager of online information and news at VPL. “The library hasn’t seen before the same level of interest that e-books are clearly generating.”
• Do mention the war – Sunday Star Times (New Zealand).  Roy Clare, ex-head of the MLA, is interviewed.  He is proud of his record at the MLA “…And he’s unrepentant about supporting library closures. In fact, Clare thinks the UK’s 1800 museums are too numerous, too”. 
• Karin Slaughter to write short story to benefit libraries – Booktrade.info.  “A long-time advocate for libraries, Slaughter’s organization Save the Libraries (www.savethelibraries.com) has raised over $50,000 for her local DeKalb County Library system and served as a model for other library advocacy groups around the globe. Her efforts have been graciously supported by the International Thriller Writers and numerous fellow writers.”
• Librarians as life consultants, interview with Gene Tan (president of Library Association of Singapore) – This Week in Libraries.
• Libraries thriving not dieing – Deseret News (USA).  “What’s perhaps most surprising, considering the oft-predicted demise of the printed words, is that the number of people visiting libraries keeps rising, said Donna Jones Morris, Utah’s state librarian of seven and a half years.”
• Library Voices wear a literary love on their record sleeves – Ampersand.  “And last year, the band played gigs in rural Saskatchewan libraries: “We had in the back of our heads a mellower version of the set that we could perform, and everyone just wanted balls-out rock ’n’ roll.”

“That, however, was before New Labour went to work on it and decided that books were old hat and that what mattered were computer terminals. Books were not only old-fashioned and complicated to manage but smacked of elitism. So the book sections were downsized and the vacated space filled up with computers. This policy overlooked the fact that all over the developing world, internet cafés are as common as grocery stores. Lending libraries, on the other hand, especially ones with English books in them, are as rare as unicorns.” Peter Popham: A sad case of the wrong address – Independent.   

• Reads and the Read-Nots – National Literacy Trust.  “New National Literacy Trust research of 18,141 children reveals a polarised nation of young readers with 1 in 6 reporting that they don’t read a single book in a month, while 1 in 10 say they read more than 10 books in a month. This divide between the “reads” and the “read-nots” is concerning because the research shows reading frequency has a direct link to attainment, as 8 in 10 children who read over 10 books a month are above average readers compared to just 3 in 10 of those who rarely read.”
• Slaughter writes digital-only story to benefit libraries – BookSeller.  “Slaughter said: “Librarians have always stood up for writers and readers in every kind of community across this country. The demand for their programs and services is increasing while their budgets are decreasing. It’s time that we stood up for them.”

Changes

• Croydon – Campaign group: Croydonlibraries.org.
• Lambeth – Consultation until 16th September. Campaign group: Save Lambeth Libraries  #SaveLambthLibs

Local News

• Croydon – Referendum: the future of Croydon libraries – Croydonlibraries.org.  “Croydon’s Conservative Council have rejected community calls backed by Labour Councillors, to hold an Independent Library review for Croydon to see how our local Libraries can remain locally owned and accountable to local people, instead they have decided to ‘market test’ Croydon’s Library service ahead of a possible privatisation. We want to know what the people of Croydon think so please take a minute and vote in our referendum.”
• Devon – French trip inspired Sparkwell’s  new community library – BBC.  “Sparkwell library will be staffed by volunteers and run from the village’s old school building. It is the fourth community library to open in south Devon and will be supported by the county council.”
• New Sparkwell Library – ITV WestCountry Tonight. “A village in South Devon was devastated when it lost its local school. Now its residents have got together and opened their own library using part of the old school buildings.”
• Durham – Sunday closure for Durham Clayport Library – BBC.   “Maria Plews, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for leisure, libraries and lifelong learning, said: “The average number of people using Clayport Library each Sunday has fallen by more than 70% during the last three years. At a time when we have to make significant savings as a result of the Government grant reductions it is simply not sustainable or sensible for Sunday opening to continue.”
• Edinburgh – Hundreds gather in Sighthill to try to smash world record – STV.   “218 children and adults gathered at Sighthill Library in Gate 55 hoping to smash the current record of 290 readers, set in 2010 in Vienna, Austria.  Under the watchful eye of Guinness World Record adjudicator Claire Burgess, each read one sentence from award-winning Scottish author Theresa Breslin’s book Prisoner in Alcatraz.”… UK record reached … “It was amazing to see all the age range of participants. It was great to see the buggies arriving, then grannies and then young people. A good one for the libraries.”

“In the whole it demonstrates the difficulty local authorities are having in making these cuts so quickly. Ideally, a 40% cut in the libraries service (if necessary) and the development of new models would be done over a 3-5 year period with maximum engagement and involvement of local groups and service users. Proposals would be phased in and models tested. Money would be available during this time to ensure some form of continuity. None of this has happened and it seems the model has been decided by officers and then presented to the public.” Gloucestershire – Libraries, raised tempers and Gloucestershire County Council  – We Love Local Government. 

• Oxfordshire – Villagers invited to discuss future of library – Henley Standard.   “This means volunteers would be needed to maintain the current opening hours but the libraries would be given free use of their buildings, access to the council’s book stock and computer network and professional support from librarians.  So far, the council has received more than 1,000 responses to the consultation, which began at the beginning of June after being delayed four times.”
• Community libraries “can work” – Henley Standard.   “David Silvester said that Buckinghamshire County Council saved 20 per cent of the costs of its library service by handing over 14 of its 23 libraries to communities to run. Oxfordshire County Council is proposing to withdraw two-thirds of staff funding from 16 libraries, including those in Sonning Common, Benson, Woodcote, Watlington and Goring.”
• Suffolk – Town pushing ahead with library pilot bid – EADT.   “All I can say at the moment is that we did meet with council officers on Thursday and the process for discussing the start-up of the Aldeburgh pilot next April has begun but there’s lots more detailed discussion to be had.”
• Wigan – Plan for libraries go ahead – Wigan Today.   “The council and its partners in Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, who manage the library service, need to find £1.1m in savings from the library budget following government cuts…” Cuts to library service pushed through council “..Despite 40 or so people protesting at the meeting, councillors said they thought the plans were the right thing to do.”

  
News

• Closing libraries (and other heresies) – We Love Local Government.   “… I would still disagree with the judicial review. The cuts being made by local authorities are next to impossible and if every small group is able to go to high court to challenge the change it will be impossible to do anything at all. I don’t therefore disagree with any of the individual judgments as such; just the principle of it.”.  Comments are very interesting including this one about library campaigners “… you come across as a load of uncompromising ultras living in a fantasy land who don’t make any basis for a discussion with councils or government and who are far, far too comfortable with abuse of public servants just doing their jobs when you can’t get your own way.”

• Neil Gaiman on libraries, Dr Who, fanatical fans and his dreams – Guardian. “”As a kid I would get my parents to drop me off at my local library on their way to work during the summer holidays and I would walk home at night. For several years I read the children’s library until I finished the children’s library. Then I moved into the adult library and slowly worked my way through them. With the kids’ library I did it alphabetically but I discovered I couldn’t do that with the adult one because there were too many big boring books to read, so I did it by interesting covers.”

Changes

• Cambridgeshire – Ramsey Library opens, in new building at Great Whyte. 
• Hammersmith and Fulham – Archives and Local Studies Centre closed, limited alternative provided by London Metropolitan Archives. 
• Southend on Sea – New library “The Forum” will be built, open in 2013.

Local News

• Blackburn with Darwen – “Friends” group launch transport scheme for Darwen readers – Lancashire Telegraph.  “The group is concerned about people struggling to access services since the mobile library was cut as the borough council looks to save £33million.” Community minibus takes readers to library instead.  ““Every Wednesday, FODL will have a range of volunteers on hand to show people what facilities are available, and to provide tea and coffee.”
• Bolton – Consultation for libraries “is not biased” – Bolton News.   Council says “It is set out very clearly and in the next edition of The Scene, there will be a full breakdown of the options and the consultation.”.  Campaigner says ““We were amazed at how many people were prepared to fill in these council forms, despite their jargon and biased questions.”
• Cambridgeshire – Smiles all round as Ramsey library opens – Hunts Post 24.   “The rest of the site, developed by land-owners Luminus social housing association into public toilets, apartments and a community information centre, is due to officially open tomorrow (August 18).”
• Doncaster – Summer Reading Challenge – Save Doncaster Libraries.   “if the council really wanted to get children (and adults) reading, it wouldn’t be closing over half its libraries, making the library service inaccessible to thousands of children, who will no longer be able to walk to their local branch.”
• Hammersmith & Fulham – Archives Centre – City of London.  Reading room closed – London Metropolitan Archives offering a limited alternative until “options for the delivery of the service are assessed and discussed”
• Harrow – Last chance to comment on council services as part of Lets Talk consultation – Harrow Times.   “The council want the public’s views on parks, libraries, arts and sports facilities as part of the Let’s Talk consultation, which closes next Friday.”
• Southend-on-Sea – Town’s new library gets a green light and a new name – Sustainable Gov.   “The new building, which is being jointly funded by the Council, the University of Essex and South Essex College, is to be called The Forum.”
• Stoke on Trent – Council tax arrears “same as budget cuts” – BBC.  “In February, the council approved plans to cut 710 jobs and reduce funding for swimming pools, libraries and care homes.”
• Warwickshire – Bidford villages vote to save their library – Tewlesbury Admag.  “More than 70 people attended the public meeting last Thursday where they agreed to back a proposal to take Bidford Library on as a ‘community venture. More than 50 villagers have put their names forward to volunteer as librarians, computer technicians and cleaners.”… “The library will cost about £9,000 per year and be funded by late return fines, DVD rentals and a £5,000 donation from the parish council for the first year.”
• Wigan – Atherton to lose out in libraries’ rejig? – Leigh Journal.   Library “users in Tyldesley, Golborne and Hindley are anticipating a reprieve for threatened branches. But changes in a report expected to be rubber-stamped by Wigan Council’s Cabinet this afternoon were less welcome in Atherton.” 
• Wiltshire – Fines are a “reading tax” on children – Salisbury Journal.  Council reintroduces late charges for children to raise money and reduce book losses.   Critics say  “All the evidence is that children who read a lot do better in school and are more successful in life.” and that charges will reduce use.

News

• Alan Bennett on libraries of a lifetime – Telegraph.   Edited version of previous article in London Review of Books.   
• Aung San Suu Kyi in first political trip beyond Rangoon – BBC.  “Ms Suu Kyi, 66, delivered a speech to about 600 people as she opened a library in Tha Nat Pin, close to Bago.”

“At the very least, all library closures must now cease. Especially in inner-urban areas, buildings recently shut should reopen. Professional staff must provide the backbone of their service, although volunteers can and should play their part. All those turf-war squabbles about priorities – new books vs new technology, pure reading vs community outreach – should end. And central and local government could stop passing the buck.”  (Boyd Tonkin)

• Children’s laureate attacks Future Libraries report – BookSeller. Report a mere “cost-cutting exercise”.  “Above all, I resent the underlying assumption that libraries should be underfunded by local government and should have to seek alternative ways to survive in the 21st century.”.
• Erna Winters – This Week in Libraries.   “A franchise group for libraries, Library of 100 talents, change management, innovation and wedding dresses. These are some of the topics on episode 49 of This Week in Libraries: your weekly dose of library innovation.”
• Libraries can fill void as book retailers close – Times Report (USA).   Local bookshop closes, public libraries keen to help and also to move into the E-book market.
• Libraries should embrace digital revolution says report – Guardian.  Summary of recent LGA report.  “”The best libraries are at the heart of councils’ approaches to everything from lifelong learning to wellbeing, job seeking, volunteering, education and encouraging more people to get online.”
• Library closures – a view from Caitlin Moran – Nosy Crow.  Article republished, originally in Times magazine as Why library closures are a catastophe (behind paywall).  Some amazingly good turns of phrase. “The shelves were supposed to be loaded with books – but they were, of course, really doors … Everything I am is based on this ugly building on its lonely lawn – lit up during winter darkness, open in the slashing rain – which allowed a girl so poor she didn’t even own a purse to come in twice a day an experience actual magic … A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life-raft and a festival .. a library is where the wealthy’s taxes pay for you to become a little more extraordinary instead … Libraries that stayed open during the Blitz will be closed by budgets. A trillion small doors closing.”
• Not one more library must close – Independent.  “At their best they embody an ideal of voluntary personal development and civic solidarity that few other sites could ever hope to match.”.  LGA have issued a “bland, dispiriting report”
• Stop the privatisation of California’s public libraries – Credo Action (USA).  

Changes

• Halton – £550k for new library/contact centre in former Runcorn market.
• Selkirk – Ettrick Terrace, Duns, Jedburgh, Kelso, Melrose, Innerleithen and Coldstream Libraries to be merged with contact centres.  2 librarians made voluntarily redundant, more to follow.

Local News

• Gloucestershire – Volunteers keen to help library carry on waiting – This is Glos.  “EAGER volunteers who came forward to run Prestbury’s library will have to wait until next month to find out if their services are needed.”.
• In the interest of balance … the people and their libraries – FoGL.   Prestbury will not be closed and therefore is not subject to the injunction.  Many delighted library service is still there in places where branch or mobile would have otherwise closed except for the injunction.  Local press highly biased in favour of council.
• Halton – Runcorn market to become library – Place North West.   “The £550,000 scheme will start on site in October, with completion scheduled for March 2012. The 6,400 sq ft building will be home both to Halton Library Services and Halton Direct Link, providing public access to the library’s lending and reference collections, computer facilities and council services including payments, service requests and general enquiries.”
• Lewisham – £24k price tag to reopen New Cross library – BookSeller.   Cost is in rent for building, to be called “New Cross People’s Library”.  “It is my opinion that we can provide something that is different [from the previous library], in some ways inferior (although in other ways much better). We would all prefer a proper library with properly trained and paid librarians, but the council took that away from us, leaving us to try and build back up to that position sometime in the future, and you have to start somewhere.”
• North Yorkshire – Libraries are owed thousands in fines – BBC.   £180,000 in last seven years. “The county council said it would cost it significantly more than it is owed to collect the outstanding amounts.”.  Council collects £120k per year.
• Selkirkshire – Library switch confirmed amid fears over service quality – Southern Reporter.  “…had been assured there would be more, not less, space for library services in the municipal buildings and said councillors were due to be briefed next week on when the switch would occur.”  Customer contact centres losing usage so their staff would be kept busy in libraries.  ““If these plans are enacted, and I’ve no doubt they are a fait accompli, then patently the level of service offered to the people of Hawick and Galashiels, where facilities won’t be merged, will be of a higher quality than in Selkirk and the other targeted towns.”