The Alternative New Year Public Libraries Honours List.

Depending on what side of the line you stand you were either dismayed or ecstatic about the New Year Honours awarded to library folk this year, 3 out of the 4 awarded went to those actively involved in handing libraries over to volunteers.

For more details see; http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2015/01/new-years-honours-list.html

Now let me just also say that i find the whole Honours thing to be totally archaic and counter-productive in a so-called democratic country and if i ever received one i would take great pleasure in telling the government were to stick it. I mean how could anyone that really loves libraries accept an award from a government that is seeking to destroy, fragment and divest them?!?

So for a bit of fun and to show my appreciation to those whom i think are true supporters of libraries i'm awarding my own in no order of merit (cause we wouldn't want to create more hierarchies would we?) Also i'm sorry to those i've left out, i couldn't list you all.

Shirley Burnham (@ShirleyBurnham)
Fights tirelessly for public libraries and keeps us up to date with all the latest library news (and often helps me with my grammar). What would I/we do without her?

Elizabeth Ash (@ElizCro) and Laura Swaffield (@lswaffield1) - The Library Campaign - (@LibraryCampaign) - Both Elizabeth and Laura help to keep The Library Campaign, the only UK national charity for library users and friends groups, running. They also play an active part in the Speak up for Libraries coalition and Elizabeth in her own right helps to run the Save Croydon Libraries Campaign. See; http://www.librarycampaign.com/ and http://soslibrary.blogspot.co.uk/

Ian Anstice (@publiclibnews) - a fellow colleague on Voices for the Library and the author of the highly influential and regarded Public Libraries News website, the best source of public libraries information in the UK. His commitment to and passion for libraries is unsurpassed (and he does it all in his spare time!) See; http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/

Alan Gibbons (@mygibbo) - Children's author and library campaigner. Alan has recently been heavily involved in the Save Liverpool Libraries campaign and chaired the panel discussion at last years SUFL conference also delivering his trade mark blinder of a closing speech. See; http://alangibbons.net/

Leon Bolton (@Lebol125) - a public librarian who writes and comments about public libraries in a very thoughtful manner. See; http://leonslibraryblog.com/

Radical Librarians Collective (@RadicalLibs) - for trying to raise the level of discussion and for highlighting issues and concerns regarding the neoliberal zeitgeist in libraries management, thought and policy making. And a lovely bunch of people. See; http://radlibcollective.wordpress.com/

Jolyon Jones (@JonesFearless) and the Friends of the Library of Birmingham (@FoLoB_) - for mounting and sustaining a brilliant campaign against library cuts in Birmingham. See; https://www.facebook.com/friendsoftheLoB

And now for my first special category, Union Activists;

Barnet Unison (@barnet_unison) - for fighting tooth and nail for every library user, worker and library in Barnet against an onslaught of privatisation and cuts. (also a special mention for Prof Dexter Whitfield of the ESSU for his work in supporting them and all those fighting to save public services) See; http://www.barnetunison.me.uk/ and http://www.european-services-strategy.org.uk/

Unite members in Greenwich Libraries and the Branch (especially Sarah and Onay Kasab) - for taking on GLL and winning. See; https://www.facebook.com/Greenwich.Unite

Matthew Egan (@medegan) - Unison's person on public libraries, how he puts up with the SUFL meetings i'll never know?

My second special category is an international one;

Nina de Jesus (@satifice), Lisa Rabey (@byshieldmaiden) & #TeamHarpy - two American librarians fighting a lawsuit by Joe Murphy, for details see; http://teamharpy.wordpress.com/2014/09/19/official-teamharpy-statement-on-the-case-of-joseph-hawley-murphy-vs-nina-de-jeus-and-lisa-rabey/

Alison Macrina (@flexlibris) - "a librarian and IT manager at the Watertown Free Public Library and an activist fighting for patron privacy rights and education in Massachusetts libraries and beyond" for why I think she deserves an award see; http://boingboing.net/2014/09/13/radical-librarianship-how-nin.html

Queens Library Guild, Local 1321 (@local1321) - a great bunch of AFSCME union comrades fighting the fight for libraries in NYC. http://www.local1321.org/

And of course a special mention to all the campaigners out there fighting to protect libraries; all the users for continuing to support and use libraries; to all the library staff who continue to provide a crucial service under extreme circumstances and last but not least to all the LIS academics who support the cause and widen and heighten the debate.

 

Cuts to Haringey Libraries including Marcus Garvey Library (with petition)

I've been spending a lot of time helping to fight library cuts and closures in other parts of the UK (and appearing on C4 news, giving interviews to RTTV et al, writing articles for the Guardian and Informed, giving evidence to the Sieghart Inquiry, etc etc) and have taken my eye off my own manor, Haringey.

And in that time it seems that Cllr Adam Jogee, the Cabinet Advisor on libraries, and his council colleagues have been making big statements about not closing libraries but at the same time proposing cutting budgets, staff and floorspace, naughty naughty!

	Adam Jogee (@AJogee)
05/01/2015 14:56 So @haringeycouncil committed to keeping each@haringeylibrary open (ALL NINE). Work to improve them has startedpic.twitter.com/6Zx1OUw1Bg

In campaigning circles it's called 'hollowing out', keeping the lights on and doors open but salami slicing the budgets until all there is left is a shell of a service, the old smoke and mirrors trick!
5000-6000 library staff in the UK have already been culled since 2007/8 (900-1000 in London alone) and outreach/stock budgets/opening hours slashed.

12 redundancies, 15% of the Haringey Libraries workforce, are planned "Ah yes but some/all of them will be voluntary redundancies" I hear you say, let me tell you there's nothing voluntary about being ‘restructured’ and being manoeuvred into a position of early retirement, some are happy with this but many are not. It also means extra workload for the colleagues left behind but not to fear the council also plan to introduce more self-serve in order that library staff be “freed from standing behind counters”, god forbid we would want trained human beings rather than kiosks!!

On top of all this the council are selling Apex House which houses their advice/service centre and moving the services into Marcus Garvey Library meaning that valuable library floorspace will be lost, co-location as the town hall bods like to call it. It looks as if children and adult library users are going to lose out in this arrangement and that dedicated children's staff could be lost?

This ‘co-location’ process is happening up and the country, councils are desperately selling off their real estate and shoe-horning services together, they then try to dress it up by calling the new arrangements ‘hubs’ or ‘Devon Centres or ‘Libraryplus’ but really it’s just cuts with no, or very little, innovation or consultation.

“In effect they are trying to deliver their pledge not to close libraries by shrinking then reducing staffing and facilities and replacing these with other services displaced from buildings they have sold off”
Sean Fox, Haringey Unison Branch Secretary.

Oh and there’s also talk of redeveloping the Wood Green Central Library site and last year, on 21/6/14 to be precise, Cllrs got taken on a ‘regeneration tour’ taking in this site with talk of combining with “private ownerships to provide a significant redevelopment opportunity”, it's hard to say at this time what kind of library will emerge from this "significant redevelopment opportunity" but let's hope it's not another example of the price of everything and the value of nothing.

But anyway what can you/we do?

Well first of all join your local library if you haven't already done so and use it. Councillors are obsessed with footfall and issue figures so the more people who come in through the doors and borrow books etc then the harder it is for them to use non-usage as an excuse to cut and close, but it's no guarantee that they won't.

Sign this petition;
 
'Save Marcus Garvey Library in Tottenham from cuts and reorganisation'
https://www.change.org/p/tell-haringey-council-to-save-tottenham-s-marcus-garvey-library

Let Cllr Claire Kober, Leader of the Council, and Cllr Jason Arthur, Cabinet member for Resources and Culture, know that you oppose the cuts/reorganisation.
claire.kober@haringey.gov.uk
jason.arthur@haringey.gov.uk

Respond to the council consultation, see;
http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/council/strategiesandpolicies/strongerharingey.htm

And most importantly unite and fight.

Brent Council proposes to privatise the management of it's library service.

Martin Francis of Brent Green Party has just blogged about proposals by Brent Council to privatise the management of it's library service, see;

http://wembleymatters.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/will-privatisation-of-brent-councils.html

"This is the proposal (ENS18) in the documentation that went to Cabinet last month

To change the management of the library service to a trust arrangement. The exact arrangement will need to be determined. Within London, five authorities deliver their services in conjunction with other authorities, one delivers through a charitable trust established by the Council which also delivers other services such as leisure centres and seven have outsourced delivery to a social enterprise or a private sector provider. Elsewhere in the country, some library services have been outsourced to a staff-managed mutual or social enterprise, and larger library services have been commissioned to run smaller ones. Charitable organisations are eligible for an 80% rebate on NNDR. Changes to rules on business rates in 2013 mean that 70% of the cost of this rebate is borne by Central Government with the remainder being covered by the local authority. Therefore the saving to the Council on business rates of transferring a library service to the charitable sector is 56% of the total rates bill - in Brent this amounts to a saving of approximately £160K. The exact level of savings would depend on the tenders received.

It will take approximately 12 months to complete this work and switch to a new management arrangement.

How would this affect users of this service?

•There would have to be public consultation and a full impact assessment before proceeding.

•There would be no direct impact on service users as there will be no reduction or significant change in service levels or quality. "

Save Bob Lawrence Library Campaign - an update.

Save Bob Lawrence Library

 

 

 

A grassroots resident led campaign to save the library in Edgware from closure is underway.  Campaigners braved the rain this morning to bring signatures to over 1500.  There is still time to sign the e-petition https://www.change.org/p/harrow-council-save-the-bob-lawrence-library  and complete the Council’s consultation document, Take Part.

In 2013, at the Reading Agency Annual Lecture, Neil Gaiman said “Libraries really are the gates to the future. So it is unfortunate that, round the world, we observe local authorities seizing the opportunity to close libraries as an easy way to save money, without realising that they are stealing from the future to pay for today. They are closing the gates that should be open.”

He also said: “…libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information.  I worry that here in the 21st century people misunderstand what libraries are and the purpose of them. If you perceive a library as a shelf of books, it may seem antiquated or outdated in a world in which most, but not all, books in print exist digitally. But that is to miss the point fundamentally….. But libraries are also, for example, places that people, who may not have computers, who may not have internet connections, can go online without paying anything: hugely important when the way you find out about jobs, apply for jobs... Librarians can help these people navigate that world.”

Between 2004 and 2010, 83 neighbourhoods in Brent and Harrow became more deprived, one of the fastest growing areas of deprivation.  Edgware, where Bob Lawrence is situated ranked the most deprived when Free School Meals was used as an indicator and is one of the 5 most deprived wards in the borough.  In the circumstances, it makes little sense to close Bob Lawrence Library, a vital community space in an area which has few resources.

To support the campaign, you can do the following:

·         Sign the e-petition to stop the closure https://www.change.org/p/harrow-council-save-the-bob-lawrence-library  or sign in person at Morrisons, Queensbury on Sunday 4^th January 2015.

·         Attend the In-Person Consultation on Tuesday, 6^th  January 2015, 6:30 pm – 8 pm at Bob Lawrence Library, 6-8 North Parade, Mollison Way, HA8 5QH 

·         Follow us on Twitter @librarymuststay, https://twitter.com/librarymuststay 

·         Like our Facebook page www.facebook.com/boblawrencelibrary & leave a comment.

·         Take a selfie in front of library & post it on Twitter & Facebook. 

·         Email any suggestions to saveboblawrencelibrary@gmail.com

 

Farah Sadiq

Bob Lawrence Library Campaign

 

Background Information

Neil Gaiman Reading Agency Annual Lecture, 2013

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/datablog/2012/apr/12/deprivation-poverty-london#data

Harrow Vitality Profiles 2010

Privatising the City of Culture (or can we trust trusts?)

Only a year after being awarded the accolade of the 2017 'City of Culture' Hull City Council are proposing to set up a "leisure company" to take over the running of their leisure facilities, libraries, museums, park ranger and catering services. Now one thing strikes me straight away about this; why are libraries part of the bundle, after all they are statutory and they aren't in my opinion solely a leisure service?
The answer to the above question probably lies in the fact that most councils place their library services in 'Culure & Leisure' directorates, that someone including the LGA has been perpetrating the myth that libraries are non-statutory, that we have a government and a Sec of Sate who fail to intervene to stop library cuts and closures and that we have a chasm in the leadership and promotion of the national service. Libraries have become easy to offload.

So what is a 'leisure company' or 'leisure trust' and what are some of the issues with this model of privatisation?

"What a Leisure Trust means in practice:

Leisure services are outsourced to a separate organisation/company. The Council

retains ownership of the facilities, which are leased to the Trust.

Virtually all the savings come from rate reductions and VAT savings, which are much

smaller initially because of the high set up costs.

Direct democratic control of the service will cease - elected member representation on

a trust is limited to less than 20% of the board. Company law requires that Board

members must put the interests of the leisure trust before those of the local authority.

After a year the Trust will usually cease to use council services and will be responsible

its own procurement and contracting or corporate and other services."

http://www.european-services-strategy.org.uk/news/2008/leisure-trusts-briefing/leisure-trusts-briefing.pdf

Unison Scotland have also raised concerns;

"UNISON is concerned that large sections of public service delivery are

being shifted off to arms length bodies with very little research into the

effectiveness of such change."
http://www.unison-scotland.org.uk/response/CultureTrusts_ResponsetoSPEducation+CultureCttee_Sep2012%20.pdf

Recently in Renfrewshire there have been protests against plans to pass the running of similar services to Renfrewshire Leisure Limited (RLL).
http://www.the-gazette.co.uk/news/roundup/articles/2014/12/30/520090-hundreds-opposed-to-leisure-trust-transfer-/

And there are similar plans being proposed by Angus Council and Unison have yet again raised concerns;
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/angus-the-mearns/angus-council-warns-of-cuts-if-leisure-and-culture-services-don-t-move-to-trust-control-1.760954
“Unison is not convinced that farming out leisure facilities to arm’s-length trusts improves the service for the public or the staff.
“They are not an alternative means of community ownership of public assets. In fact the policy tends to be used to save local authorities tax.
“Our experience so far is some trusts perform satisfactorily after the initial separation but the promised savings, extra funding and other benefits tend not to materialise.
“There is no evidence the public see an improvement in the service nor will the trust see a higher rate of private donations, which are often the reasons put forward.”
 

For more on leisure trusts see;

http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/campaigning/trusts/trusts-con 

Managers and staff of Havering Libraries put forward new proposals.

 

The following was sent to me by the Havering Libraries Campaign, it's a summary of the new proposals put forward by managers and staff of the service.

 

 

 

"This proposal has been produced by managers and staff within libraries and achieves the required budget reduction. The hours suggested for opening have been drawn up in line with not only current usage, but also with staff input to reflect community needs and service usage.

Alternative proposal 2 offers:

*53 additional hours (original plan to reduce service offered 350 hours from the current 533) to bring opening hours to 403

*retains 16 jobs (which reduces redundancy costs for the council). Original proposal was to reduce staff from 86 to 41, with this proposal bringing staff to 57.

*retains 2 areas of excellence (Romford and Hornchurch)

*there will be less impact on community services and groups (i.e. CAB)

*offers improved potential for income generation

*increased hours at Upminster, Gidea Park, Collier Row and Elm Park Libraries - politically, especially in the light of the recent attendance of 120 people at Upminster Library to protest at the current plans, this would be a great improvement.

*retention of an additional Reader Development post - which will allow the Summer Reading Challenge to continue - again, politically, this is an area which is particularly sensitive as it closely links to children's continued attainment over the Summer and is a nationwide scheme (no library authority has cut this yet - so Havering would be the first to do so - not something to be proud of!).

*retention of limited Local Studies Department

I hope you will take the time to look at the proposals suggested. Politically, I feel that these proposals offer the council the opportunity to show that they have listened and responded to public feeling about the current proposals. The proposal has been put forward by current staff and management of the service (as opposed to senior managers who produced the current proposal with little consideration for the practicalities of running the service).

Thank you for taking the time to read this email, and I hope you will be able to at least consider this as a viable alternative which meets the savings required whilst retaining more opening hours, more staff and more services within libraries."

Save Bob Lawrence Library - An open letter to Harrow Council.

The open letter below is from a library campaigner in Harrow who along with others is trying to prevent the closure of their local library.

They have also set up an online petition;

https://www.change.org/p/harrow-council-save-the-bob-lawrence-library



An open letter to the Harrow Council

A couple of weeks ago, I found out that the Bob Lawrence Library on Mollison way was earmarked for possible closure due to budget cuts. I was extremely disappointed to hear this as it is the closest and most conveniently located library for this community.

Libraries are a resource for education, a venue for socializing, a community and cultural building establishment and a low cost channel for a whole host of facilities beyond just borrowing books.

I embarked on a campaign to save the Bob Lawrence Library two weeks ago and have been actively gathering support through signed petitions both online and offline. So far I have managed to gather over 600 signatures from people who want to keep the library.

Over the last two weeks, I have come to understand how important the library is to our little community and how many people are dependent on it.

I have come across so many people who will be affected by the closure of this establishment.

An eight year old boy comes to the library because his mother cannot afford a computer. He comes here to complete his assignments. He's not the only one.

A woman shared that she is upgrading her skills to make a better life for her family. The library staff taught her how to use the computer so that she can complete her teaching diploma. She is at the library 3 times a day. The staff are like her family.

A number of elderly people are at the library every morning. The walk to the library is their morning exercise, they spend a few hours at the library flipping through Gujarati books and socializing. They tell me that it keeps body and mind active.

A young mother of two children under 2 is a regular at Rhyme Time. It's her outlet to meet other young mothers. Her two little ones will only make it to nursery when she gets the 15 hours free. She can't afford a nursery without the free hours.

These are only a handful of stories. I have so many more heart wrenching stories to share.

Let me introduce you to our library users -

1. Between 20 - 30 toddlers regularly visit this library 3 times a week for the Rhyme Time sessions. They laugh and they sing and they stay on to color. The young mothers meet other mothers and exchange stories/ideas on parenting.

The grand parents watch as their grand children jump up and down to "5 cheeky monkeys" and many other popular nursery rhymes. Most of the nurseries in the area have a minimum age of 2 making this a popular venue for engaging and stimulating the under 2 year olds in a fun social setting.

2. There are multiple nurseries within a 10 minute walk to the library. These nurseries regularly visit the libraries, children in toll to develop an early interest in reading and a love for books. Often the library conducts adhoc rhyme time sessions and story telling specifically for the local nurseries.

3. Children from at least 3 schools visit the library after school. It provides a great resource especially in terms of literature, arts and history. In the age of technology, they prefer to skim through books. To them, digital compliment libraries, it does not replace them as a resource for knowledge.

4. Many of the older people in the community come to the library to flip through magazines and read newspapers. They socialize with friends. There is no other place on this parade of shops  for this group of people to sit indoors and connect with other people.

They will not be represented in the very expensive survey that the council is conducting because the survey is 10 pages of questions and for many of these people, English  is not a 1st language. It's an English only survey in a community that is predominantly non-English speaking! Will the feedback and information from this exercise really represent the community sentiments?

It's a poor community. They need the library to stay open because it makes a difference to the quality of their lives! Something many of us take for granted.

I went to the in-person consultation session and was told that the council needs to make these cuts. Choose between social services for the old or the library. I should not have to make this choice. The council budget should be better managed without the community having to make sacrifices on basic needs & services.

Instead of spending thousands of pounds on the library survey, it should have been invested in increasing the traffic coming through the council managed libraries.

The alternative options provided are

1. Kingsbury library.  This is inconveniently located and difficult to get to. It's also managed by the Brent council. If Brent decides to make its own cuts and close this library the community will not be able to use this as an alternative source of library services.

2. Reducing the hours open. This will eventually mean restricted access to library which in turn will result in less footfall. So a year from now, we will be having the same discussion on relevance of keeping the library open based on traffic / usage numbers.

3. Self managed libraries with access cards and CCTV. In other words, the council is prepared to invest thousands of pounds in more technology and infrastructure for the handful of libraries to be kept open at the expense of the unlucky communities which will see their beloved library closed permanently with no viable alternative in sight.

The fate of the library rests on the feedback from the survey which is not representative of the community here. I can only hope that the council weighs out all considerations before determining whether this library should close its doors to our little community!