On 29th March 2011 Barnet Council’s Cabinet meets to decide the fate of Barnet’s Libraries.
On 19th March 2011, Barnet Alliance for Public Services, The Barnet Eye, Barnet Unison and the East Finchley Library Users’ Group are inviting the residents of Barnet to take part in a Library Love-In.
We are encouraging residents to visit their local library on this day, to show the Council how much their library means to them. They can do this by emulating recent protests in the Isle of Wight and Milton Keynes by taking out their full entitlement of books. The Council collects statistics on library visits and book issues and this will send a quantifiable measure of the love residents have for their library service.
They can also request and fill in a comments card during their visit where they can express their feelings further.
Additionally, on 19th March, stalls are being organised at East Finchley Library (between 2 and 4 p.m.) and East Barnet Library (between 3 and 5 p.m.) where residents will have a chance to sign the Save Our Libraries petition before it is finally presented to the Council.
They will also be able to add a line to the communal poem “Why I Love My Library”. Poet Fleur Adcock, OBE, who will be in attendance at East Finchley Library, has written the first line.
Crime writer Mark Billingham, creator of the character ‘Thorne’ as seen on Sky TV, will join the East Barnet event between 4 and 5 p.m.
Junior residents will be invited to design a “Love Your Library” poster.
Residents who are unable to visit the stalls can still sign the petition online at http://www.gopetition.co.uk/petition/39319/signatures.html
Interesting link here - the wonderful Public Law Project are supporting libraries
ReplyDeletehttp://ht.ly/4chxK
The Government is "consulting" on withdrawing legal protection from libraries, meaning Barnet could close them all if it wanted. Your help is need to stop this. See link http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/?page_id=1365
ReplyDeleteFor the most complete list of UK library cuts, closures and news see
http://publiclibrariesnews.blogspot.com/
Thank you.
Am I the only one to find the tone of this debate quite depressing and lacking in imagination. One the one side there are campaigning that Libraries in Barnet are something other than they are. Let's face it they are drab, open and funny hours, often in the wrong place and many with poor facilities. Yet they are presented as somehow magnificent and essential.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand is the Council who clearly has no imagination nor ability to run this service. It is done in a cack handed way with very strange practices. For example I remember once asking wny it was Osidge Library didn't have the popular computer games to lend out that East Barnet did and was told, 'we don't allow Libraries to compete against each other'. Well why not! Healthy competition drives standards up and keeps everyone on their toes.
I think Libraries are great, but what are called Libraries in Barnet are just dreadful. We need great Libraries in Barnet and it should be cheaper than ever to run a library and keep it well stocked. Libraries could even stock second hand or donated books.
Why don't those with energy to spend on Libraries, instead of just combating the Council, look to the powers Eric Pickles is putting in the localism bill for local people to take over Council services and run them 10x better?
Libraries run by people passionate about them could really rock. Each Library could choose its own services and innovate for the local community. Why not grab the opportunity on offer rather than just moaning about the Council. After all if you campaign is 'won' and the Council doesn't 'close' the Libraries would that really be better than others running them for the local community? I think not.
Dan,
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I dispute your view of libraries. The reason I started the local campaign was because I know first hand the value the existing service provides. Until my mother died I (or on of my siblings) would take my mother every week to Mill Hill Library. She'd take out 2 or three books. That was the only source of large print books and was the only pleasure in her life after a stroke (well apart from Guinness and scotch).
I don't dispute the fact that Libraries could do more, but I knew first hand the great work they do. The library was always busy when I'd take her with all ages, creeds and colours.
If Barnet sell the properties and shut them down, the resource is gone forever. Then any of the ideas you may have could never be implemented.
As with many things in Barnet, the current campaign is all about preventing the scorched earth policy of the Tories. If by some miracle they ever dump Hillan and get a vaguely sensibe cabinet, maybe we can talk about rel improvements, but right now we are in dunkirk mode, getting as many things saved as possible
Dan, you hit the nail on the head by saying the council has a complete lack of imagination. That doesn't mean that you should give up on our librraies. I would sack the senior council officers and the councillors responsible for the libraries and engage with the community who know what they want but DO NOT HAVE THE RESOURCES to run the libraries. I love East Barnet Library but a couple of years ago the Council spent thousands "refurbishing" the library. Frankly I think they just wasted their money. We used to donate our secondhand books to the library and they were allowed to sell surplus books to raise funds. That policy was stopped so we now donate our books to the charity shop. I think our libraries are jewels in the community that should be cherished but handing them over to eager members of the is not the answer. There just aren't enough eager people around who have the time to run all our libraries. To me localism means delegating the budget for libraries down to each library, get them to set up user panels, hold open meetings, listen to what users want and then allocate the budget to reflect the local requirements. That would give us a libray service that is much more responsive to the community and which should then be used more.
ReplyDeleteThat there is some consensus here is warming to my heart. The Council running anything is usually a recipe for 'bog standard' services. There is nothing at all that the Town Hall has to offer this service.
ReplyDeleteThey should do what is necessary to see it flourish which could well be the Conservative approach of true blue Wandsworth here http://bit.ly/gBoPJA
Barnet should keep a small central team, perhaps, of professional Librarians and let the community reclaim their resource.
And, as much as I agree with most of your comment Mr Reasonable, the public just don't share your view on the current state of Libraries being the jewel in the community. They should be, they are far, far from it now.
Just take East Barnet Library as an example. If you were starting from scratch, would you put it there?
The campaign right now should be to get the Council's Officers OUT of the Libraries and for the locals to run them with a grant from the Council in that building.
http://vimeo.com/21035754 is required watching from the lefty BBBC. This is the debate about Libraries we should be having...
ReplyDeleteIt strikes me that neither the Council nor the Left in Barnet are engaging at this level.
http://vimeo.com/21035754