Editorial

Trafford has shocked the UK public library world by announcing that they will be removing all library fines from 1st April. The reasons put forward for that by councillors is that fines are off-putting for customers, no fines will increase usage (and indeed will increase returns as people know they won’t get fined if they’re late) and that there should not be any barriers to accessing libraries. Children were especially mentioned as benefitting from no fines and Trafford will also be giving a library card to every child. One suspects as well that it will be a nice thing to say the council has done if local elections are coming up.

This is not the first library service in England to remove fines – Rutland does not have fines and I understand from Twitter that there’s one or two in Scotland (West Lothian and West Dunbartonshire) – but it is the first major (sorry Rutland) or metropolitan library service in England to go down this route and so will inevitably be noticed more. It also ties in with a global trend I’ve been noticing for a while (especially in the USA and Australia) where libraries have been removing fine due to it being a barrier (after all, we’ve removed physical ones years ago), inequitable and no longer needed now we have the power to automatically online renew.

The big barrier to this in the UK is of course where the money is going to come from if we get rid of fines. Charging people for late books does bring in some money that will need to be replaced in another way. There’s also – no surprise in the library world this – a fundamental lack of research of shared data on how effective removing fines are. We need that evidence shared in order to spread good practice and identify bad. Personally, I am tired of seeing people arguing over fines in libraries and I know that fines are a reason people tell me socially they no longer use libraries. So I really hope this is a successful experiment. And an experiment that produces what a good experiment always does: actual shareable data on the result.

There’s more information on pros and cons on fines (and the thorny problem of fines recovery) on this page.

Changes

• Northamptonshire – Under threat libraries given one more year of funding.
• Rhondda Cynon Taff – Mountain Ash Library may move into co-location in community centre.
• Trafford – To cease all library fines from 1st April. All children to be given a library card and BookStart book.
• Warrington – Great Sankey Neighbourhood Hub (combined leisure centre/library) opens next week.

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Editorial

Ealing and Harrow have both responded to the collapse of Carillion by temporarily continuing library services in-house. Reading behind the lines, and despite having had their fingers burnt, it looks to me that both councils – who have been sold on outsourcing once – are likely to go that way again. Who this is (hello GLL?) remains to be seen and precumably tendering would need to be done.

Elsewhere, more details have come to light about deep cuts to Shropshire and Somerset. In the former, only 6 libraries are going to be run by the council in six years, with the rest being euphemistically called “cost-neutral”. This apparently means that someone else has to pay for them, be it lower-tier councils or volunteers: so there will be a deep drive to cut costs (i.e. paid staff) and increase income (e.g. parish taxes, grants, fundraising). The timescale for this was originally wildly unrealistic and a brush with consultation has meant that the council has extended the time limit a bit longer, possibly even long enough in some cases., if Shropshire library users are lucky, for another national government to come in and reverse the deep austerity that necessitates such damage in the first place.

I am sorry to see Somerset is once more up against it, with 15 out of 34 libraries due to close or pass to volunteers. The county was one of the first to face deep cuts when I first started PLN and it was only a court case that got them to stop closing libraries that time. Five years later and it looks unlikely that such a court case would happen again, given the generally lower levels of service now expected in council services and the lessons learnt from what went wrong last time. This time, the hope must be that the consultation is taken seriously by the public (I am sure it will be by the council – one bitten twice shy and all that) and the reaction helps persuade the council to lessen the cuts. Again reading between the lines, it seems unlikely that the new revolving-door libraries minister will intervene in either case.

Changes

• Ealing – Considering options for libraries after Carillion liquidation inc. transfer to other provide or taking back in-house.
• Harrow – Considering options for libraries after Carillion liquidation: emphasises possibility of transferring to other provider.
• Hertfordshire – Hoddesdon Post Office may move into library.
• Inverclyde – £189k cut to Central opening hours and staffing at HQ, £55k cut meaning Inverkip and Kilmacolm libraries will pass to volunteers or close.
• Lancashire – Barrowford Library reopens.
• Renfrewshire – New Paisley Library postponed.
• St Helens – Central Library may close due to building problems – to be relocated, probably to World of Glass.
• Shropshire –  Libraries divided into three tiers (1) standard / fully-funded (Bridgnorth, Ludlow, Market Drayton, Oswestry, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch). (2) need to be completely unfunded by five years time (Church Stretton, Pontesbury, and Shrewsbury’s Library at the Lantern, as well as libraries that are already run by community groups – with support from Shropshire Council – such as Albrighton, Bishop’s Castle, Cleobury Mortimer and Ellesmere) (3) need to be completely funded in 3 years time (Bayston Hill, Broseley, Craven Arms, Gobowen, Highley, Much Wenlock, Shifnal and Wem) (sources – 1, 2)
• Somerset – 15 out of 34 libraries to turn volunteer or close, a further 7 to seek volunteers. £300k to £520k cut depending on option taken.

National news

• Arts Council England announces new director of museums – Arts Council England. “Sue Williamson joins ACE as director of libraries and Birmingham from St Helens Library Service, where she most recently delivered its award-winning Cultural Hubs Arts in Libraries programme and oversaw the successful application to the Arts Council’s National Portfolio. Williamson also represented public libraries as part of a DCMS in a recent discussion on the future of digital technologies in arts and culture. “I am thrilled to be joining Arts Council England as Director: Libraries and Birmingham and to have the opportunity to support and champion the role of Libraries in delivering the wider cultural offer to the communities they serve. With the recent announcements of Coventry as the next UK City Of Culture and Birmingham as host for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, this is a time of great challenge and opportunity for the whole of the cultural sector in this area.””

“Three library services [out of 151] in England – Croydon, Ealing and Harrow – are managed for these local authorities by Carillion through its subsidiary, Cultural Community Solutions Ltd (CCS Ltd).  We [Libraries Taskforce and DCMS, through the Taskforce’s Chief Executive Kathy Settle] have made contact with the library services. We are available to assist and discuss with the library services if needed, however they have confirmed that contingency plans are in place and that they are proceeding with next steps. The library services are in contact with PWC, which has been appointed as special managers for the insolvency of Carillion, and discussions are underway about plans for the future. The Councils have been working with library staff and managers and the services have been opening and operating as normal. ” Libraries Taskforce

• CILIP’s new president on his key challenges – BookSeller. Ayub Khan: “It’s an exciting time to be president of CILIP, the Library and Information Association, as the organisation implements changes in response to the challenges ahead. To my mind, challenges are often opportunities in disguise. So in this piece I’m going to focus on some of the key challenges for public libraries – through the lens of opportunity. We’ve heard a lot of doom and gloom about closures and reductions over recent years and a lot of good news has been lost along the way. We can’t ignore the problems but we also need to highlight opportunities for the sector – and deliver a more positive narrative. As Carnegie UK c.e.o. Martyn Evans pointed out at the end of last year, libraries are the most visited cultural service, most trusted civic space, most used by young people, offering the most innovative public service in the most extraordinary buildings.”
• Library groups call for inquiry after Carillion collapse – BookSeller. “CILIP chief executive Nick Poole believes the Carillion collapse exposes flawed government thinking that private outsourcing provides the best quality services and highest efficiency. He called for a public inquiry into whether local and national government continued to knowingly to issue contracts for the delivery of vital public services to a failing company. “The current policies of austerity and privatisation are putting statutory services like public libraries at risk,” said Poole. “This is why CILIP is actively lobbying for a fair financial settlement for local authorities which enables them to meet the current and future needs of local communities and for standards which ensure that people receive the quality of service they have paid for.””. Also includes views from myself, Laura Swaffield of the Library Campaign and Tim Coates.

With the main question being “how do you define a library”? With thanks to Mike Bedford

• London libraries assess impact of Carillion collapse – Guardian. “Croydon council has reacted to the service provider’s liquidation by taking the service in-house again, while Ealing and Harrow are laying contingency plans” … “On Tuesday, Croydon council announced it would immediately terminate its eight-year contract with Carillion, which was set to run the borough’s 13 libraries until 2020, and take on the responsibility itself, rather than outsourcing to another firm. All 73 staff positions were guaranteed, it said.” … “Councillor Timothy Godfrey, cabinet member for culture, leisure and sport, said that the council had been considering parting ways with Carillion for years, and claimed that the firm had failed to provide a satisfactory library service” … “The cost to the council to take on the borough’s library service would be slightly higher than paying Carillion, because Croydon council was a living wage employer, admitted Godfrey”. … “Harrow council is set to consider its future plans for its six library branches at a cabinet meeting on Thursday night, but a council spokesman said that it was business as usual, and maintaining consistency for residents and staff was its priority. Under Carillion’s care, no problems in the library service had been reported to the council, he continued, and while the current contract was working, it expected to need a new provider after Carillion’s liquidation.” see also Public sector looks for ways to plug gap left by Carillion – Public Finance.

““They hadn’t fixed the issues flagged when Hounslow left. They hadn’t been paying paper suppliers and photocopier engineers. Their annual library plan was always behind schedule. It’s been really unfair on the staff on the front line because they were the poor souls holding the service together, and they had no managerial support. There were staff paying out-of-pocket for things like for craft materials for activities with kids.””

• Michael Ellis confirmed as new libraries minister – BookSeller. “Michael Ellis has been confirmed as the new libraries minister at the department of digital, culture, media and sport (DCMS), following Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet reshuffle last week. Ellis was formerly the deputy leader of the House of Commons. He is now parliamentary under secretary of state for the arts, heritage and tourism with responsibility for libraries”
• On borrowed time? – BookSeller. “Meanwhile at Westminster, we have the third new libraries minister in 18 months: Northampton North’s Michael Ellis—an MP whose chief claim to fame thus far is persuading the government to put more money into pothole repairs. With the constantly rotating door of ministerial posts, will he stay in the role long enough even to master the brief? Waterstones m.d. James Daunt decried the “disgrace” of library cuts in an interview this week, saying the decline of the service will damage the future of British society; a view widely shared in this industry. If between them Khan and Ellis can push the case for libraries up national and local agendas, that assistance is badly needed; but the chronic threats to the service must be acknowledged, and whatever the digital opportunities for the library service, books and reading must stay absolutely at its core.”
• Want to tackle loneliness? Stop closing libraries – Politics. “The knitting group changed all that. It arranges trips to garden centres and market towns. They get together for meals out. My mum now not only regularly visits the library but she also volunteers there. It’s not an exaggeration to say that it changed her life. But all that could soon come to an end. Northamptonshire county council recently opened a consultation on its library services. Three options were put forward. The first would require local groups to run many of the county’s libraries to keep them open. The second would see 21 out of 36 libraries closed. The third would see 28 out of them closed. Option two and three would see my mum’s library close its doors. Even the mobile library would be axed. This isn’t an isolated case”

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Editorial

This post is even later than usual being I’ve been in pantomime over the last couple of weeks. It was a fun amateur production, and being a librarian I felt really at home as Baron Hard-Up, but it did not half reduce my blogging time.

That’s me on the right. Oh yes I am.

While I was away, the Libraries Taskforce, in their most recent Libraries Deliver newsletter, has added up some useful council survey replies and come to the conclusion that more than twice as many libraries opened or moved since 2010 than were closed. At first blush, this will come as a shock to anyone who has even a passing relationship with the reality of the situation but, to be fair, the same article makes clear that this is only a reasonable claim if you discount the 500 or so volunteer libraries (really) and also if you count libraries possibly co-located with ten other services or in a corner somewhere as the equal to a stand-alone building. But it’s a claim you can expect the new libraries ministerial team, when they work out where their office is, will be using repeatedly, without any such qualifications any day now.

Statistics are wonderful things

In other news, it’s interesting timing that Harrow and Ealing are recommending staying with Carillion running their libraries while at the same time it’s in all the newspapers that Carillion will go bankrupt without hefty government intervention. The reason, though, is clear: both authorities agreed to massive fines (£485k and £693k respectively) if they decided to leave the private company before ten years was out. They must now be privately regretting that, especially as the evidence suggests Carillion are far better at negotiating hard-nosed handcuffing contracts than, well, actually running a successful business.

Changes

• Aberdeenshire – To become some sort of trust in expected £1m cut.
• Birmingham – Sutton Coldfield Library to be partially converted into play café to help fund it.
• Buckinghamshire – £37k staff cut, £125 bookfund cut, £375k other cuts, £140k opening hours cut.
• Bolton – Dumers Lane Community Centre and Library to be volunteer in five-year lease.
• Darlington – DCMS investigating closure of Crown Street Library,
• Ealing – Recommended Carillion keeps library contract (£639k penalty if terminated early).
• East Riding of Yorkshire – Stamford Library refurbished.
• Essex – Volunteer libraries to be established after cut to mobile libraries.
• Hampshire – Gosport co-location: older persons, heritage and meeting rooms to be installed in addition to existing café and welfare/other services.
• Harrow – Kenton Library to be refurbished. Recommended Carillion retain contract for further five years (£485k penalty if terminated early).
• Hertfordshire – Further £500k cut by 2019/2020 expected after £2.5m cut 2016/19. Consultation on becoming a trust.
• Islington – £30k bookfund cut.
• Kent – Three month refurbishment for Tonbridge Library
• Lancashire – Oswaldtwistle Library will reopen. Freckleton Library reopens.
• Staffordshire – Consultation on further cuts (£1.3m, cut announced in November on top of previous £1.6m cut) to library service: more volunteers and card/pin-entry expected in surviving 20 libraries (23 others now volunteer-run).
• Warrington – Post office moves into Burtonwood Library.

Ideas

• Free sanitary products for those on low incomes.

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Editorial

Some more coverage on the dire recent CIPFA figures, which are analysed further (for yet more depression) and shown to be incomplete, meaning the real picture is (joy!) likely to be even worse than hitherto shown. The potential economic and political impacts oif this are explored (admittedly, partly by me) of this are explored in a New Statesman article. The public support for libraries was shown on Twitter by a double whammy from Dawn Finch – first the “tweet heard around the world” (see below) and then the #ThankALibraryWorker hashtag. Have a look at both if you can. Give yourself an early Christmas present.

Changes

• Manchester – Withington Library to be refurbished.
• Northumberland – Alnwick theatre will include co-located library.
• Thurrock – Aveley community centre co-location may include “self-serve library facility”
• Warwickshire – £100k cut, Sunday opening at Nuneaton, Rugby and Leamington again threatened.
• Wirral – £125k tender for shared reading for mental health

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