Library Mutuals
In case you missed it another big library service spun-out from public control recently, Devon Libraries is now 'Libraries Unlimited'. And according to their
website 'Libraries Unlimited' is;
"a new and independent staff and community-owned
social enterprise, established in April 2016 with the support of Devon
County Council. We are a company limited by guarantee with charitable
status pending. Our formally registered name is Libraries Unlimited
South West."
They were widely congratulated on social media, by the government and members of the Taskforce mainly, and will now join Suffolk, York and Dudley (2016?) in the brave new world of
spun-out library services.
But it appears that not is all what it seems in 'Maude's Mock Mutuals Bargain Land', my Voices for the Library colleague Ian Clark, in response to a tweet stating that the Suffolk 'mutual' was "thriving", recently found out via an FOI that Suffolk (much touted by Sieghart etc) has seen a decrease in usage and by just looking at York's performance figures (
issues &
visits) anyone can see that there's been a decrease in usage in nearly all of York's branches, the Central Library and the Mobile service seem to be propping up the stats. I'll admit that it's still early days and usage stats aren't everything but I'm sure you'll agree that a drop in usage is hardly a definition of thriving.
Mutulisation in the public sector is really no more than a gun to the head for most employees, the
"run it or we'll close it" blackmail threat unloved of most library 'volunteers'. I wish staff and users well but really can't endorse or approve of this risky & unaccountable method of privatisation. For more on the governments mutuals agenda see my earlier post
http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/mutuals.html
Staffless in Calne
Well done to
Calne Labour Party et al for putting up such a spirited fight against the introduction of
staffless opening hours in their local library.
"Members of the newly formed Calne Labour Party handed out leaflets
outside the library on Saturday (Feb 13) to protest the reduction of
staff hours.
Oliver Boaler, co-founder of the party, said: “Staff are essential to
the library’s smooth running. They not only help library users choose
books, use the computers and deal with queries, their supervision means
the library always feels safe and is kept tidy.
“I worry about someone having a fall or somebody causing damage. A
response to this wouldn’t be quick enough with the use of CCTV.”
Similar
concerns have also been raised by Unison
and library campaigners in Barnet
, see;
http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/wp/2016/03/31/unstaffed-libraries-unsafe-and-unproven/#more-4543
see also;
http://dontprivatiselibraries.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/unstaffed%20libraries
