A happy new year from the Save Barnets Libraries campaign

700 not out (well actually 707 as of now). That is the number of signatures on the online version of the Save Barnet Libraries petition. We have handed the paper version of the petition in, as we had to for it to be included as part of the consultation. This doesn't mean it has finished, it just means we've handed all of the signatures in which re received up to the closure period for the consultation. If you've not heard of the campaign, click this link and sign up :-

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/39319/sign.html

 Given that I've not really plugged the petition here at all over the Xmas period (mainly due to alchoholic inebriation) I was amazed to see we've picked up another 50 or so signatures over the holiday period. What is even more heartening is to read the comments. People get what is at stake. People know why libraries matter. Have a look at some of the signatures and click on a few of the comments :-

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/39319/signatures.html

For the London Borough of Barnet to be a successful community, we need more than nice houses and exclusive schools, which we can get our children into by paying expensive tuition fees. We need community spirit and I firmly believe that libraries help build this. In a time of cutbacks to public services and redundancies, people need the opportunity to retrain and reskill themselves. Libraries play an important part in this process. People will also have less money and more free time. Again libraries have an important role to play. Families facing redundancy, which have small children, will benefit from having access to books for their children, rather than having to spend hundreds of pounds a year at supermarkets, when purse belts are being tightened.

The councillor responsible for the library closure program, Robert Rams has stated that "the public can order books on-line and pick them up at Tescos". My question - who reads books most? The elderly and children. In effect Mr Rams is imposing a stealth tax on these groups by his discriminatory proposals. Mr Rams is a Conservative Councillor. I have one final question - you can choose the answer

Q - Who do you think donates more money to the Conservative Party?

a1 - The large supermarket chains
a2 - Barnets library service

I don't suppose that has anything to do with the proposals to shift users of the library service into supermarkets, does it?

Anyway, once again, if you have only just found out about the petition, please do the following :-

SIGN IT
TWITTER IT
FACEBOOK IT
CUT AND PASTE THE ABOVE LINK AND SEND IT TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.

And if you have signed it already and done all or any of the above (and even if you haven't), a very Happy New Year from the Save Barnets Libraries Campaign.