I appreciate the sentiments and support the idea of protest but where should the axe fall exactly and alternatively. Local authorities are not exactly doing these things willingly. They are being pressed to make huge amounts of savings very quickly. They have little choice in the matter .Some London councils are being asked to make savings of 25% before the next financial year and have already cut one o clock clubs and other childrens and family support services.
People should surely be marching on central government for their 'too much too soon and too fast' approaches to making the books balance again, not local councils. Steve Bullock has already put his unease and discomfort about the situation into print.
The first priorities of any Council should be to maintain its statutory responsibilities such as education and social services, environmental health and rubbish collection, and there isn't a lot of change left after thats done.
Is the idea of communities running libraries restricted to the more affluent Tory shires where its already happening or is anyone able and willing in Lewisham to set up some sort of trust to take library services through the next 5 years or so.? Community enterprises is another option.
I think coming up with alternative approaches to running services is what will make the difference to the provision, not protesting against the inevitable. If its not libraries , it will have to be child protection officers or teachers and that won't be an acceptable option either.
The facebook site Save Sydenham Library says that the read-in is at Sydenham Library (which the above flyer doesn't actually say).
Where: Sydenham Library
When: 05 February from 11:30 to 13:00
Definitely worth supporting, I'd say, even if it is a hopeless cause. These libraries will never re-open, and it would be very wrong to permanently close them as a result of a temporary economic downturn. My goodness, we've had those before. What about the three-day week? What about the 1920's General Strike? But these libraries survived those dramas. Why is this one so much worse? I feel sorry for the council, and I blame the government entirely, not Lewisham, but the alternative seems to be not to object at all, and I think that would just be wet.
Im not saying stop protesting just while doing so think of alternatives as Councils may be looking for these.
I still think alternative models of providing library services are needed even if it means providing a reduced service. I don't doubt the benefit of libraries at all or their benefit to local people- the Forest Hill library is a great source of local events and inspiration and is always very crowded. In our own family we spend little on books as we rely on the library and take out about 20 new titles every fortnight. In addition there is story time and children can spend time looking at and choosing books and improving a number of social skills in the process. In order to maintain new and interesting books for our children we would probably have to spend hundreds of pounds a year even if second hand which we probably couldn't afford, so literacy levels would not be as great. I just think there might be scope for community business or approved volunteers to run these services on a rota basis in some places especially where such passion exists- and preferably before the books are emptied officially and the premises boarded up.
There are also local entreprenuers such as Lord Harris- perhaps others - who might be interested in funding the revenue costs for a certain time period. If you don't ask you won;t get.
In the meantime, amazingly, Lewisham spend millions on the town hall http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12151924
and even more on buying shopping centres, despite the fact that other major projects haven't happened yet such as the Swimming pools in Lewisham, the "lewisham gateway 2000 project' (11 years late and counting) and even just changing the paving and some railings in Sydenham High street has taken longer than WW2 from concept to reality and is further delayed by yet another year.
Frankly, yes, we need to let Lewisham Council that Libraries are worth saving (Sydenham would have been closed by now as they wanted to 'dispose' of the building asap until the campaign highlighted just how important it was).
I'm not Impressed by Lewisham Council overall. Yes, they aren't all bad but there are some odd decisions going on at Catford towers and I'm amazed at how long it takes and how much red tape there is to do just about anything bar wiping your own…(I'll leave that up to your own imagination)
Brockley Central provides a useful breakdown of the costs of refurbishment spent on the town hall - http://brockleycentral.blogspot.com/2011...ffice.html
Most of the cost was for their boiler system, rewiring, and maintaining the roof. Not exactly frivolous spending or "age of vanity makeovers" (as Bob Neill put it), although it is surprising just how much it costs to maintain such buildings.
Of course Sydenham library could also do with a new roof, and Forest Hill swimming pool would not have fallen apart if it were properly maintained. But despite this, spending money on essential works in the the town hall has little to do with the question over how many libraries are needed in Lewisham, where they should be housed, and how they should be managed.
Dulwich Library Clock has gone missing, no one knows why, did it need repairing or a clean? Any idea's.
I heard that they are going to paint a white circle on the ground around the lamp post outside the Library and paint roman numerals so that the sun shows the shadow of the post would act as a Sundial.
Thats for the daytime the other post well be used for the night moonlight.
On a moonless night I am going there with a torch and set my own time.
My apologies to Roz, who is more on the ball than I thought. She suggested looking at alternative ways of running services in these threatened libraries, which I thought was pie in the sky. But it seems not necessarily so - Eco Libraries are looking at all sorts of things:
The ubiquitous Chrissie Gittins is at Sydenham, reading from 12:15 to 12:25. Think I'll pop out for a fag then. What is a "local poet", anyway, as distinct from "a poet"?
How misguided and short-sighted is this decision? The library closures will surely exacerbate the falling UK literacy rate, especially amongst children. To quote today's Bookseller...
'The case for the importance of libraries to children's reading is backed up by the latest library loan figures released by the Public Lending Right (PLR), which show children's authors dominant among the most borrowed writers.
Seven of the 10 most borrowed authors in the year from July 2009 to June 2010 were children's writers... This is the second year running children's authors have taken seven of the top 10.
Children's authors have been rising steadily up the top ranks since 2005–06, when only four featured in the top 10. The rise matches the increase in children's library borrowing, following reader development work focused on children'.
(Link to full article: the additional comment says it all!)
5 libraries might close in May. But between now and then community groups are being asked to bid to run services in those libraries that are scheduled for closure. So, it is a little soon to write them off entirely.
Look at the facts - massive,unprecedented, front-loaded cuts demanded by the ConDems.
Lewisham are bound by law to balance their budget, so it's an awful (and in my view, wholly unnecessary and idealogically motivated) set of choices for any council to have to make.....
Incidentally, no Tory or LibDem Cllrs elected to speak in the debate during yesterdays meeting.