DILON & whiteness in librarianship, my article for 'Opendemocracy' and privatisation in Herefordshire and Hertfordshire.

DILON

Firstly and most importantly - the issue of 'whiteness' in the UK library and information profession (96.7% white) is one that needs to be urgently discussed and addressed so it's great to see a new group 'Diversity in Libraries of the North (DILON)' set up which "advocates for POC/BME/non-white library and information workers in the north of England". For more about the group read this interview with the founder Jen Bayjoo.

'Opendemocracy' article

Recently I wrote a piece for 'Opendemocracy' on the fight against library cuts and the need for Labour to adopt a national policy supporting statutory public libraries and the paid/trained staff who work in them.

"Campaigners were told to "innovate don't save” and urged to "adopt a positive narrative…if you keep saying libraries are in crisis then people will start to believe it"

But groups like Voices for the Library, Speak up for Libraries & the newer Radical Librarians Collective spoke out against the cuts and the closures. We spoke out against privatisation and commercialisation. And we were ridiculed and side-lined but we kept speaking out.

Hundreds of local campaign groups were formed and spoke up too, organising hundreds of marches and protests and union and community activists even managed to organise a national demo in 2016."

Herefordshire

It's heartening to see Labour supporting Unison's campaign and petition opposing the privatisation of libraries in Herefordshire.

"UNISON believes that the public deserve the best possible service when it comes to Museums, Libraries and Archives and our policy is always to keep services in-house."


Hertfordshire

It looks very likely that Hertfordshire CC will adopt the PSM (Public Service Mutual) model for their library service. They cite Suffolk, Devon, York and Northamptonshire as successful adopters of this model but recently worrying figures have shown a 43% drop in usage in Devon and in 2016 both Suffolk and York showed drops!

Proposals to Outsource Libraries in Herefordshire.

In Oct 2016 and then again in Nov 17 Herefordshire CC issued a 'Soft Market Test' for their museum, library and archive services. Basically this is to gauge market interest before making a final decision to outsource/privatise.

It now looks as if the council are ready to push ahead with the process with Halo Leisure Services Ltd, The Courtyard Trust, GLL (Greenwich Leisure Ltd) and Vision Redbridge Culture & Leisure Ltd in the running but concerns and doubts have been expressed in a recent article and council submission by the campaign group Joint Action for Herefordshire Libraries and by Cllr Gandy, a Tory, who not only mentioned the Carillion scandal but said;

"What evidence is there that outsourcing will produce the savings required and by how much?"

As far as I can see the council is looking to cut £65k in the current financial year from the Libraries budget so from these figures and the fact that the council has been pushing the community-led model over the last few years it looks as if the decision to privatise libraries will be an ideological and not a fiscal one, which in my experience is more than often the case.

A pint and a book please!

Now I'm a great believer in protecting local pubs, especially rural ones, I recently mentioned them in a piece i wrote on behalf of Voices for the Library for Age UK;

"In rural areas, the local library, along with the village hall, pub and shop, is the focal point of community life."

But a conversation that took place this morning on Twitter between myself and Russell Hamilton (Cabinet Member Environment, Housing & Planning, Herefordshire Council) has led me to believe that Councils, policy makers, local communities and publicans are looking at library services as one way of protecting this "focal point of community life".
It's not a new idea as you can see from this BBC News video from 2010.

The conversation started with me responding to a tweet from Russell Hamilton;

RH - What is your #local #pub doing to make it stand out? Does yours have a #shop, #library, #PO #wifi #parkandshare #clubs #classes

Me - why on earth would a pub have a library, surely you just mean books? Libraries require paid staff!

RH - A library in a pub is just another way of attracting custom. @PubistheHub_uk

I then investigated his 'PubistheHub' link;

"Established since 2001, Pub is The Hub operates as a ‘not-for-profit’ organisation dedicated to offering advice and support to licensees, rural pubs and community services."

So they are not just about protecting pubs it's about community services as well, all fine on the face of it but I'm afraid for me alarm bells start ringing when i see mention of the 'community right to bid" which is a key part of the Localism agenda, they are also partly funded through the The BIG Lottery Fund– specifically for the Local Community Services Champions initiative.
For more information on the Governement agenda relating to this see;
https://www.gov.uk/government/get-involved/take-part/take-over-a-local-pub-shop-or-green-space-for-the-community

The reason I'm concerned about this is not particularly to do with this organisation itself but with the way that Russell Hamilton and other councillors like him might be using it, especially in places like Herefordshire where local Public Libraries are in grave danger of being slashed. In fact my fears that this might be the case was partly proven by another tweet by RH to the http://libraries.communityknowledgehub.org.uk/, the 'Locality' backed 'quango' which advices communities/volunteers in how to take over the running of closed/cut Public Libraries.

Russell‏@RBHamilton18h

@ckhlibraries I have a community with one in a village hall, working on one in a shop & hope to have others in pubs etc

 

As i said I've nothing against communities fighting to keep their local pubs/services open but Public Libraries need paid, trained and knowledgeable staff, the service can't just be transferred to a room or a few shelves in a pub, it's not a Public Library it's just a pub with books!

For more information on 'libraries' housed in pubs see;
http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/Library/Highlights-from-around-the-globe/Somerset-pub-to-open-library-/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/christopherhowse/7963110/Public-libraries-A-pint-of-best-bitter-and-a-Cider-with-Rosie.html
http://www.richmond.org/community/hudswellpub/
 

Savage cuts proposed to Herefordshire's Libraries

The shocking news from Herefordshire CC is that staff have been told that the libraries budget may be cut by 75-80%, that many will lose their jobs and if the proposals go through then only one library would remain open? There is also talk of volunteers and privatisation.
If this does happen it would be a tragedy and a stern test of the 1964 Act.

for more detail see:
http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents/g4379/Public%20reports%20pack%20Thursday%2016-May-2013%2014.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=10

Please show your support and sign the petition at;
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-herefordshire-s-libraries

Save Herefordshire's Libraries