Boost in library volunteers

Say what you like about the Big Society but if you want to see it in action take a visit to your local library.

In 2009/10 the annual CIPFA Libraries survey recorded that there were 17,550 library volunteers, in 2010/11 it was 21,494 and in 2011/12 it was 23,397. That has made a fantastic contribution to the library service. In many cases volunteers have taken over libraries which councils could not afford to keep going - the result has been longer opening hours, more visitors and books being read.

There have been some library closures (overwhelmingly under Labour councils.) But also new libraries opening (usually under the Conservatives.) In total the number of libraries is down but often it is small or mobile libraries closing and big libraries opening. Spending is down by 10% over the last couple of years to under a billion pounds. But much of that saving has come in back office costs.

While there have been well publicised areas of decline, such as Brent, overall the library service is being enhanced while the cost is being reduced. Volunteering is a vital component in this being possible.

Conservative councils are opening new libraries

Recently I wrote about how the number of library closures is pretty low and how those we have seen have been overwhelmingly from Labour councils.   They are responsible for 41 closures against the 14 that are the responsibility of Conservative councils. Those figures cover the last financial year and this year since April. There are over 4,000 libraries in the UK.

However, this is only one chapter in the story. There is also the matter of the new libraries opening, which I fear has not attracted enough interest for The Independent to splash across their front page - or even make into a small paragraph on page 27.

With the county council elections next year, we have several Conservative councils that have managed to open new libraries, despite the well known cuts in the central Government grant. Thus we can be proud of Conservative councils delivering more for less - cuts in spending combined with better services.

Library closures are overwhelmingly taking place under Labour councils

Recently there was a press release from the Shadow Culture Minister Dan Jarvis highlighting the number of library closures and blaming the Government. It got prominent space in The Independent.

However the attack by Mr Jarvis was misconceived on several levels. First of all he tried to conflate the number of libraries closing, and the number that are being kept open and run by volunteers. "157 libraries have been reported shut down or handed over to unpaid volunteers since April 2011," he says. Mr Jarvis does not reveal his source for this figure. However I have discovered it is Ian Anstice's blog Public Libraries News.

Why was Mr Jarvis so shy about acknowledging his source? I suspect the reason is that the more you look at the details assembled by Mr Anstice the more discreditable they are to the Labour Party.

For a start, the blog lists 46 libraries closed in the last financial year, and 13 since April 1st this year. So that's 59. To suggest that those libraries where volunteers are involved are in the same category as those being closed is insulting. Take this example in Bexley. It will be run by a charity but there will still be professional librarians as well as volunteers; the opening hours wil be longer; the number of books you will be allowed to borrow will increase. Would Mr Jarvis like to visit and tell them their efforts are worthless?

Does Mr Jarvis believe that Croxteth Library, run as a community library, might just as well be close? Book lending is 500% up compared to when it was run by Liverpool City Council.

Why are the sexual preferences of Islington's residents any of its council's business?

By Paul Goodman
^{Follow Paul on Twitter}

Islington Council already has form on asking residents about their sexual orientation if they want to borrow a library book.

My colleague Harry Phibbs has written about the matter on this site previously, arguing correctly that local authorities should not be sex snoopers.

Now I see that Islington has been at it again: the Telegraph reported late last week that the council has accidentally published personal details of over 2000 people online.

These included "the names, addresses, relationship status, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual preferences of 2,400 people re-housed by the council".

It goes almost without saying that Islington's blunder was a breach of the data protection act.  But it should also be asked what the council was doing collecting this data in the first place.

(The Telegraph didn't pursue this question, devoting its report instead to a very full account of Islington's blunder.)

The council cannot blame central government.  Because as Harry pointed out, Eric Pickles has issued guidance stating that there is no requirement for councils to issue such surveys.

The guidance was contained in a single page - which replaced the 56 pages of John Prescott’s so-called ‘Best Value’ guidance.

Footnote: all's well that ends well, since the council said that it would be intensifying our efforts to ensure all staff receive appropriate training".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residents lose legal challenge against library closures in Brent

The Court of Appeal have rejected a legal challenge by residents in Brent to a proposal by  the Labour-run Council to close six libraries. I'm not sure what the campaigners next move will be. Their website urges supporters to email the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and :

...ask him to use his statutory powers to investigate, intervene and order a public inquiry.

Pure localists might argue that councils should not have to provide libraries. That it should be a democratic decision rather than a legal requirement - if the councillors close the libraries vote them out. This would be taking a localism a bit too far in my opinion. Councils might not have to run the libraries themselves but they should have to ensure that a service is provided. It is also reasonable that the requirement that it should be "comprehensive" should  be maintained. Expecting people in Kensal Rise to trudge off to Wembley does not constitute a comprehensive service.

Lord Justice Pill said:

13 libraries saved in Cambridgeshire

John Bald writes:

Cambridgshire County Council’s new leader, Nick Clarke, kept his promise to listen to public opinion by reducing cuts in Cambridgeshire’s library budget from £3.2m to £1m this year, thus saving 13 libraries from the imminent threat of closure.

This should be a beacon to Conservative authorities across the country – libraries have to take their share of cuts in hard times, but the original proposition was disproportionate, as are library cuts across the country, notably in Labour authorities, which generally consider literacy to be an elitist concept, and are not sympathetic to it. Libraries are essential to civilised life, both for the growing number of children who do not have their own books, and for adults who need their services for study and to help look for work.

Is Brent Council worried volunteers running a library would fail? Or that they would succeed?

Labour-run Brent Council has been causing dismay for closing libraries without allowing volunteers to keep them going.

In a report in the Daily Telegraph, the Council leader Cllr Ann John, says:

“We didn’t turn our faces against a Big Society solution."

But Margaret Bailey, a leader of the Save Kensal Rise Library Campaign says:

“The council is ideologically opposed to communities running public services: they don’t want to be seen to support the Big Society.” What would happen, she argues, if the local community took over the library and ran it better?

Just how serious Brent really was about the Big Society solution can be judged by reading this document they produced which has been analysed by Toby Young.

Bolton Council to close a third of its libraries

Labour-run Bolton Council is pressing ahead with closing a third of its libraries. Five out of 15 are being closed. At a Council meeting last night a Conservative proposal to find alternative ways of saving the £200,000 was rejected.

For the Conservatives, Cllr David Greenhalgh said:

"From the consultation ending, then it going to the executive, the scrutiny committee and here, this has been done with undue haste and has not given the right impression to communities out there who have been fighting to keep their libraries open."

Closing libraries is a bad way to save money, as is only emptying the dustbins fortnightly, or slashing funding for the voluntary sector. Bolton is keen to embrace all of these options.

They have combined fortnightly bin collection with poor recycling rates. They think monthly collections are the way ahead.

Public libraries should include e libraries

Glyn Gaskarth says more councils should follow Surrey's example in offering books that can be downloaded at home

Local authorities are closing public libraries. 250 of the 4,500 public libraries in the UK are estimated to be earmarked for closure in the current public spending cuts. We are doing this to save money. The impact is often a reduction in service. Instead of simply dismantling the existing public libraries network through attrition we need to reform libraries to make them work for all citizens. One option is for us to divert part of the savings we achieve to build local e library networks.

Building an e library network may require the closure of additional public libraries to release the funds to pay for developing this new service. Local politicians need to be willing to show courage and argue for this. E books are not that revolutionary an idea. Kindle is one of Amazons best selling products. Hundreds of thousands of books are available at the click of a button. Local citizens should be able to order books online and have them delivered to their home, place of work or electronic devices such as their home computer or e readers like the kindle.

An e library collection could provide citizens with access to a wider range of books at a time convenient for them. We could develop this in cooperation with a private company such as amazon. A number of councils could group together to share the costs. Access to the platform could be provided to other councils for a charge to allow the initial members to recoup costs. Advertising on the site could be sold to private providers to subsidise the operation costs. Members could order books for purchase from the site to earn revenue to subsidise the service.

Volunteers taking over a library is different to closing a library

Maintaining libraries while Council spending is cut is an important test of the Big Society.

Gloucestershire County Council is seeking to keep libraries open with Big Community Offer. One business case likely to get the green light is the bid from Painswick Parish Council and Community Library in Painswick (CLIP).

Peter Corley said:

"We aim to develop a community library for the 21st century as the core of a wide range of services to be developed to meet the needs of Painswick and the surrounding areas.

"We have formed a group of trustees which includes professional librarians and people with a wide range of relevant experience in business, marketing, charity administration, law and the public sector.

"We have received an enormous amount of support from the community."